Document window snapping to the top

[KevinB9]

I am having the following problem – my document window snaps to the top when I make changes in CSS designer. It also happens sometimes when I use the scrubber bar. This is a big time waster when there is a lot of content in the window. How can this be avoided? Thanks, Kevin

PS Please do not ask me what kind of computer and what version of Dreamweaver I am using. That is the kiss of death.

[Jon Fritz]

<CANNOT_RESIST>
What version of DW and which OS are you using?
</CANNOT_RESIST>

Seriously though, that is usually pretty important info.

If you're not touching the named tab/bar for the window and it's snapping in place anyway, I'd try restoring preferences. That tends to clear up a lot of weird behavior in DW: https://helpx.adobe.com/dreamweaver/kb/restore-preferences-dreamweaver.html 

[KevinB9]

Hi, Jon

Thanks for getting back to me. Very much appreciated. Restoring the preferences did not help but I think I came up with a solution on my own - if I select the element, say a paragraph, in addition to the CSS selector, the document will stay pretty much in place. It still jumps around a little but doesn't snap to the top.

I saw another piece of advice in this forum that involved switching to Design View, but this was not so good because there is no scrubber bar in Design View. (I was using the scrubber bar a lot and that was also causing the document to snap to the top.)

About answering the question with a question ("which version are you using?"). My heart sinks when I see this. It means that the "expert" really doesn't know the answer to the problem. For me this goes back more than ten years.

Anyway thanks again from cold and snowy Massachusetts

Kevin

[Jon Fritz]

Thing is, people come here with questions about DW going all the way back to the Macromedia days. Dreamweaver 6 is not Dreamweaver CS6 is not Dreamweaver CC2022. 

A ton has changed with the program over the last 20 years and similar number of software versions. It really does help us give you better answers when we know what you're using.

With the explanation in your reply, I now understand what you're talking about. I had thought you meant the entire document window was snapping to the top of your application frame, when you're actually talking about the position of your cursor within the Code View jumping to the top of the document itself when modifying CSS in the CSS Designer.

For example, I don't see that behavior in CC2015 or CC2021 under Windows 10 when modifying in-page CSS, or external CSS files from the CSS Designer. 

If you are using a different version than those, it's possible there was a bug that was fixed later, or reintroduced (if you're using CC2022) where there is no fix other than moving to another version.

There are no updates to older software any longer. Each version is its own animal and gets a couple "dot releases" then stops receiving updates when the latest full-release comes out. 

[KevinB9]

OK. I am using Mac OS 11.2.3 and Dreamweaver 21.2

[Jon Fritz]

Hopefully, someone with a setup a bit more in line with yours will swing by to let you know if you're stuck.

As a possible short term solution, you might try installing the older version from your CC Desktop App and seeing if the problem is stll there. 

I hate to say it, but it could be a Mac-only, or version-only bug. Adobe has even had a handful of installation-language-specific bugs lately.

[Nancy OShea]

Switch to Design View from your Document Toolbar.

Or toggle with Ctrl + Shift + F11.

[KevinB9]

Hi, Nancy

About "document window snapping to the top". Thanks for getting involved. I have been having this problem for more than ten years and I would really like to get to the bottom of it. Has Adobe ever acknowledged the problem?

I am currently using Mac OS 11.2.3 on a brand new MacBook Pro and Dreamweaver 21.2. My site is an amateur history site with a lot of content – the equivalent of thirty pages of text, so I do a lot of scrolling up and down. Let me describe the problem again because the word "snapping" has caused some confusion. 

Let's say I am styling a figure element (width, margin) near the bottom of the site in live view (scroll bar near the bottom of the window). When I touch the scrubber in CSS Designer, the document suddenly flips to the top of the page and shows that the <body> tag is now selected (blue outline)! The same thing can happen when I try to use the scrubber bar in Live View.

One thing I have tried to do is to select the element I am working on in Live View (blue border or orange border) before going to CSS Designer or using the scrubber bar. This is a partial solution, but not total. I can still get the flip-up effect. On advice I have tried restoring preferences, but that is no help.

I have also tried your advice – switching to Design View, but sometimes with Dreamweaver the cure is worse than the disease. I loathe Design View. For one thing there is no scrubber bar in Design View and I like to use that a lot to test responsiveness. Secondly, my layout is scrambled when I go from Live View to Design View. For example, figure captions which are below a figure image in Live View are off to the side in Design View.

If you would like to see my site, go here: trinkit.org/redcrosscom.html

Sorry to drag you into this mess!

Kevin

Cambridge, Massachusetts

[Nancy OShea]

Kevin,

I don't have the problems you describe.  Perhaps because I use Windows 10.  Or perhaps because I never use CSS Designer Panels.  I edit CSS in Code View.  It's faster and more efficient with code hints and auto-code completion than panels.

Design View is a holdover from the old Macromedia days when everyone had table-based layouts.  It's not as reliable at rendering as real browsers and can't support advanced CSS properties but it's good enough for quick editing because it doesn't require a full page refresh after every edit as Live View does (the dreaded jump to top of page you describe). 

When I need a more accurate rendering of the layout, I toggle to Live View and check my work in real browsers, then toggle back to Design.

I also work with database driven sites which produce way less HTML code than static sites so I'm typically looking at no more than 200 lines of actual code in any given document.  

[KevinB9]

Kevin,

I don't have the problems you describe.  Perhaps because I use Windows 10. 

Hi Nancy

Yes, if you're not having a problem, it's hard to fix it.

I have been having this problem for more than ten years with different Macintosh computers, different operating systems and different versions of Dreamweaver. I'm surprised that this topic has not generated interest from Mac users.

Are you saying that it is the internal browser in Dreamweaver that is causing the "jump to top of page" when it tries to refresh? That would not explain the following symptom – when I use the scrubber bar in live view to test responsiveness I also get "jump to top of page". There's no refreshment going on there, is there?

I wonder if it could be the size (height) of my sites. I am an amateur historian and I put up sites that have a lot of content, text and photos – the equivalent of a book chapter. Is the size of the page "choking" the browser and sending it to the top?

Your point about abandoning CSS Designer and going to Code is well taken but this does not work well for someone in my position who wants to use trial and error to experiment with colors, borders, drop shadows, etc.

Anyway, thanks again for trying to help.

Kevin

[Nancy OShea]

Validate code and fix all reported errors.

Window > Results > Validation.  Click the chevron to check document.