Before Firefox users who had installed the add-on needed to specify the root url of the website they wanted to search with the core search keyword > in front of the command in the address bar. The term >ghacks.net windows would for instance initiate a Google search for the term Windows on the site ghacks.net

The change now is that the the root domain name is no longer needed in the search phrase if the user is already on the right website. The search parameter would therefor be >windows to search for the term windows on Ghacks.net if the site is the active website.

It is still possible to use the generic search parameter to search other websites, for instance to search Lifehacker or Download Squad while on our website. All the other features of the CyberSearch add-on are still there. Users who never heard about the add-on before can take a look at the following demonstration video for an overview.

The CyberSearch add-on can be downloaded directly at the Mozilla add-on repository.

The basic principle is the same in both web browsers. The first step is to locate the search form on the website. Ghacks has the search form embedded in the sidebar on the right side of the screen. A right-click on that search form opens the context menu.

Firefox will display the entry “Add a keyword for this search” while Opera will display “Create search”. Both have the same effect. They open a small popup window that requires some input to define the keyword for the search; But do not worry, it is not complicated.

Firefox:

Opera:

The important part is the addition of a keyword that can be used in the address bar in conjunction with a search term to search the website. The keyword gh for Ghacks was chosen in this case. A search would then be conducted by using the “gh term” in the address bar of the browser.

gh screenshot would search for all articles that have been indexed with the term screenshot while gh image editor would do the same for image editors. The results are displayed as if a normal site search would have been used. This is working for most sites that offer a site search and can really save some time. Other websites where this might make sense are online shops like eBay or Amazon, hardware portals and even forums or news sites.