Use Keywords to search faster in Firefox

Firefox is already really comfortable when it comes to searching the web. One search box is displayed by default which is great if you want to do a fast search for something. Did you know that there is another way, even faster and better than this one?

Firefox supports so called keyword searches which means that you define a keyword for a certain search engine and can use that keyword to search it without visiting the website of that search engine or using the browser's search form that is displayed in the address bar.

Let me give you an example to clear things up. You may right-click any form field in Firefox and select the menu entry Add a Keyword for this search to create a new keyword powered search in the browser.

Selecting this opens a new add Bookmark menu which asks for a name and a keyword.

Keyword Search example

To give you an example of how this works:

1. Go to duckduckgo.com and wait until the site has fully loaded.
2. Right-click the search form on the page and select the add a keyword for this search option from the context menu.
3. Use the suggested name or change it, and add a keyword to it as well, e.g. dgg.

When I want to search on DuckDuckGo now I only have to enter ddg "phrase" into Firefox's address bar, e.g. ddg firefox.

The same method works for other websites including, Google, Yahoo, IMDB, Deviantart, Myspace and Slashdot.

There is another possibility to add keywords in the browser. Every bookmark has a keyword field associated with it that is normally empty. By assigning a keyword to a bookmark you can use that keyword to open the url. If you use gH for Ghacks for instance it would open my site if you would type in gH into the address bar. Pretty nice for sites that you do visit a lot as it can speed up the process for you.

Last but not least you can add wildcards to urls as well. If you edit a bookmark you see that it asks for a location and a keyword. The location is normally the url of the website and the keyword the shortcut key. A wildcard would be added to the location to further customize a search or visit a special part of a website.

The wildcard symbol is "%s" which means that a valid location would be for instance http://%s.google.com/. If g would be assigned as the keyword you are able to access Google websites such as adsense (adsense.google.com) or video (video.google.com) by entering g video in the address bar of the browser.

To sum it up:

1. You can use keywords to search on different search engines in Firefox directly from the browser's address bar.
2. Keywords enable you to load websites that you map to them right from the address bar without having to enter the full address.
3. Wildcards are supported so that you can easily access subdomains or directories on websites.

Verdict

Firefox's keyword feature is a mighty tool that can improve web search and how you access websites significantly. While it may take a minute or two to setup, and some time to get accustomed to the new options, it is well worth it in the end.