2 replies to this topic

[andresf91]

Hi!
I use Firefox, and searching from the search bar of the browser is one of the things I do most. It's useful and simple: Ctrl+E -> type query and enter!
However, I find really annoying the fact that I have to use the mouse to drop down the list of search engines if, e.g., Google is selected but I want to use Wikipedia.
I'm a big fan of the keyboard, so although I know this question may sound a bit dull for those others who prefers the mouse, I'd be really grateful if someone can give me a keyboard shortcut or any kind of trick to drop down that list.
Thanks

[BuffaloHelp]

Hummm, this sounds like a challenge.

The first think I can think of is using Greasemonkey to develop your own keyboard short-cuts. Since you're using Firefox, Greasemonkey is an excellent add-on for customizing web pages (localized only, of course).

I'll get back to you if I find or code any.

==============
Update for now
==============

Found a user script called Multiple Engine Searcher

// ==UserScript==
// @name		  Multi Engine Searcher
// @description	  Adds links to other search engines when searching for something on google.
// @namespace	 http://www.openjs.com/
// @include	   http://google.co*/*
// @include	   http://www.google.co*/*

//by Binny V A (http://www.openjs.com/)
// ==/UserScript==

(function() {
	var loc = document.location.href.toString();
	var parts = loc.split("?")[1].split("&");
	var total = parts.length;
	var bits;
	var query = "";
	for(var i=0;i<total;i++) {
		if(parts[i].indexOf("q=")!=-1) {
			bits = parts[i].split("=");
			if(bits[0] == "q") {
				query = bits[1];
				break;
			}
		}
	}

	if(query) {
		var writing = '<span style="font-size: small;">Try your search on \
<a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p='+query+'&amp;ei=UTF-8">Yahoo</a>, \
<a href="http://web.ask.com/web?q='+query+'">Ask Jeeves</a>, \
<a href="http://www.alltheweb.com/search?q='+query+'&amp;cs=utf-8">AllTheWeb</a>, \
<a href="http://s.teoma.com/search?q='+query+'">Teoma</a>, \
<a href="http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q='+query+'">MSN</a>, \
<a href="http://search.lycos.com/default.asp?query='+query+'">Lycos</a>, \
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?url='+query+'">Technorati</a>, \
<a href="http://www.feedster.com/search.php?q='+query+'">Feedster</a>, \
<a href="http://www.bloglines.com/search?t=1&amp;q='+query+'">Bloglines</a>, \
<a href="http://www.altavista.com/web/results?q='+query+'">Altavista</a></span>';
		var ps = document.getElementsByTagName("p");
		var first_result;
		for(var i=0; i<ps.length; i++) {
			if(ps[i].className == 'g') {
				first_result = ps[i];
				break;
			}
		}
		if(!first_result) first_result = ps[0];
		
		if (first_result) {
			newElement = document.createElement('span');
			first_result.parentNode.insertBefore(newElement, first_result);
			newElement.innerHTML = writing;
		}
	}
})();

Or go to Installing link to install (you must install Greasemonkey first)

Looks like you can customize easily by adding, subtracting from the list

<a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p='+query+'&amp;ei=UTF-8">Yahoo</a>, \
<a href="http://web.ask.com/web?q='+query+'">Ask Jeeves</a>, \
<a href="http://www.alltheweb.com/search?q='+query+'&amp;cs=utf-8">AllTheWeb</a>, \
<a href="http://s.teoma.com/search?q='+query+'">Teoma</a>, \
<a href="http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q='+query+'">MSN</a>, \
<a href="http://search.lycos.com/default.asp?query='+query+'">Lycos</a>, \
<a href="http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?url='+query+'">Technorati</a>, \
<a href="http://www.feedster.com/search.php?q='+query+'">Feedster</a>, \
<a href="http://www.bloglines.com/search?t=1&amp;q='+query+'">Bloglines</a>, \
<a href="http://www.altavista.com/web/results?q='+query+'">Altavista</a></span>';

And appears right the top of the google search engine. So search with google and the same query will be applied to Yahoo, or whatever you place in

Screenshot



The steps are that you launch google search and type in the query. After that, click on Wikipedia (from your customization) and you'll have the same query searched by Wiki.

[andresf91]

Thanks for the answer BuffaloHelp.
I hadn't take Greasemonkey in consideration before, so I'll take a look at userscripts.org to see if some of the scripts there work for me.
However, the script you posted is not exactly what I was looking for... I want to be able to drop down the list of search engines in the search bar at the right top section of Firefox screen, using only the keyboard.
I know it's lazy of my part and that using the mouse wouldn't take more than a couple of seconds hehe...

Anyway, thanks for your tip!