Nothing changes on a site#
- Check the address is one of the supported sites. Open the popup: it should show the site name and "RTLY active".
- If the switch is off, turn it on. RTLY reloads the tab.
- If you installed RTLY while the tab was open, reload the tab once.
- Check the mode. Font keeps the direction as the site sets it. RTL keeps the site's font.
- Make sure there is Persian (or other right-to-left) text in the block. A block with no such letters is left as it is.
- If everything is right and it still fails, the site has probably changed its page. Report it.
The direction is right but the font is not#
The font is applied only to text that contains Arabic-script characters, and not in RTL mode. In Full or Font mode, an element that RTLY skipped (for example one that contains an icon) may keep the site's font.
An English paragraph is aligned to the right, or a Persian one to the left#
Direction comes from the share of right-to-left letters in a block: at least 30% (or 20% with an Arabic-script punctuation or vowel mark). A Persian sentence made mostly of English terms can fall below that bar, and an English paragraph that quotes a lot of Persian can rise above it. See the examples in Modes and direction. If a normal paragraph is wrong, report it.
A code block or table looks wrong#
RTLY leaves code blocks left-to-right and does not process them. If the surrounding text or a table is misaligned, it is probably a site-specific rule. Report it with a screenshot.
I type Persian but the line does not go right#
The message box follows the first strong letter of each line. A line that begins with an English word or a number is left-to-right. Begin the line with a Persian word, or press Enter and start a new line. In Font mode RTLY does not touch the box's direction.
The shortcut does nothing#
The shortcut works on supported sites only. Your browser may have given Alt+Shift+R to something else. Check the shortcuts page (see Shortcut and right-click menu) and set a free key.
The page reloaded when I switched RTLY#
That is by design when you switch a site on or off. Changing the mode or the font size does not reload.
A red heart appeared on the toolbar icon#
That is the monthly support reminder. Open the popup to see it and to clear the heart.
Some words in the RTLY popup are in English#
In ten of the interface languages eight strings are still English. See Languages and appearance.
Firefox: RTLY disappeared after a restart#
The Firefox build is loaded as a temporary add-on, which Firefox removes when it closes. Load it again from about:debugging. See Installation.
How to report a problem#
Open a broken-site report (for a site that looks wrong) or a bug report (for RTLY itself). Include:
- the page address (use a chat with no private content),
- a screenshot, with private text hidden,
- your browser and the RTLY version (shown in the popup header and on the extensions page),
- whether RTLY is on for that site in the popup.
Security problems must not go in a public issue. Use private reporting.
Questions#
- Does RTLY read my conversations?
- It reads the text of messages on the page, inside your browser, to choose a direction. It never stores or sends it.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. It needs no server. The chat sites themselves need a connection.
- Does it work in private (incognito) windows?
- Only if you allow it for private windows in the browser's extension settings. This was not tested for this guide.
- Does it slow the page down?
- RTLY is written to do little work: it skips unchanged text, avoids layout reads and works in short slices. It has been checked by hand on long ChatGPT conversations, not by an automated performance test.
- Can I use it on mobile?
- RTLY is built for desktop browsers. Mobile browsers were not tested.
- Why is it free?
- It is a hobby project, released under the MIT license. If it saves you time, you can buy the author a coffee.