A Firefox Quick Search is one of the coolest Firefox features and at the same time the least known one. Using Quick Search feature you can search a website of your choice directly from the Firefox address bar. So instead of say going to www.youtube.com and then searching for standup comedy, you can set up a [...]
A Firefox Quick Search is one of the coolest Firefox features and at the same time the least known one. Using Quick Search feature you can search a website of your choice directly from the Firefox address bar.
So instead of say going to www.youtube.com and then searching for standup comedy, you can set up a Firefox Quick Search for Youtube and then type in the address bar y standup comedy. Hit enter and you will be taken straight to the search results on Youtube.com.
Let me illustrate how this actually works by setting up a quick search for MakeUseOf.com. And the best thing about this feature is that it takes only about 10 seconds to set up. So, follow me! Once we’re done you will be able to do this for any other website as well.
How To Create Quick Search for MakeUseOf.com
- (1) Right click on the our search field and choose ‘Add a Keyword for this Search …‘ option.
(2) Next, you should see a small window like the one below. Here basically you need to enter a name for that Quick Search (I usually use the name of the website here) and the keyword that you want to use for it. You might want to use something short and easy to remember for the keyword. For instance, for MakeUseOf it can be muo, for Youtube y or yt or you, etc.
(3) Once it’s been added to your bookmarks you will be able to search the website right from the address bar. For instance, as can be seen above when creating Quick Search for MakeUseOf.com we used the keyword muo.
Now let’s say I want to search MakeUseOf.com for some reverse phone number lookup website. To do that I can simply type muo reverse phone number lookup website into the address bar and hit enter.
And here is where it takes me … directly to the search results.
So as you can see, quick searches can be major time savers. Instead of going to the website and searching from there you’re able to search directly from the Firefox address bar.
I highly recommend you setup Quick Searches for the websites you frequent. Here are some of the essential sites I have on my quick searches.
- MakeUseOf - Whenever I need to find some web app or software I first search for it on MakeUseOf.
Youtube - I guess it’s fair to assume that for many of us Youtube became the to go place for videos. It’s the only video sharing site I visit. I use keyword you for it.
IMDB - I am a major movie addict and frequently use IMDB (Internet Movie Database) to check reviews and ratings before watching the movie. A quick address bar entry imdb some_movie_title takes me straight to the needed page on IMDB.com.
Wikipedia - The Wikipedia search is already included among default Firefox search engines, nonetheless it’s still a lot faster to search it directly from the address bar. My keyword for Wikipedia search is wik.
Del.icio.us - Believe it or not but I use del.icio.us as much as Google these days. Since you’re searching through people’s bookmarks it can be quite effective when it comes to finding the right website for the task.
PriceGrabber - This lets quickly lookup the price of a product across different retailers. No need to digg through eBay or Amazon listings, simply type in the keyword and product you want to check inside the address bar and hit enter.
ThePirateBay - If you frequently download torrents then setting up a keyword search for your favorite torrent search website might be a good idea as well. I prefer to use ThePirateBay, you may use something else.
What are you favorite Quick Searches? Let me know in comments.
(By) Aibek, the guy behind MakeUseOf.com
New subscriber? Get your freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!
Tags:browser tips, firefox tips, productivity, shortcuts
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