IMPORTANT NOTICE: Since publishing this article, an error on the website thesaurus.com has invalidated Option 1 (detailed below). Instead of searching thesaurus.com, your search will transfer onto thesaurus.reference.com, which is incorrect and will present Error 404. This error is specific to thesaurus.com. Other applicable websites are unaffected, including dictionary.com (which is affiliated with thesaurus.com). Additionally, Option 2 (also detailed below) remains perfectly functional.
With very little prep, you can use your address bar to search an online thesaurus, Wikipedia, or any other searchable website, the same way that it searches Google. Even better, you can rapidly swap between search providers!
Here is the effect in action. By typing “t writing” into my address bar, my browser immediately goes to www.thesaurus.com with the search already complete.
The preceding “t” sends my search query specifically to thesaurus.com. I also have “d” for dictionary.com, “w” for Wikipedia, and so on. Best of all, typing anything into the address bar without a keyword still searches Google, just like normal!
Bonus tip! Pressing F6 in your browser will immediately take you to your address bar, ready for rapid searching.
Bookmark Keywords
A key component of this process is bookmark keywords, which are shorthand codes for website addresses. Once defined, you can visit the bookmark by simply typing the shorthand into the address bar.
Here is an example using Firefox. The process for Chrome is explained below, but please read this section if you aren’t familiar with bookmark keywords.
In Firefox, right click a bookmark and go into its properties. In the keyword field, assign whatever keyword you prefer. These keywords must be unique across all of your bookmarks, so try to pick something easy to remember and quick to type (if you create a conflict, Firefox will yell at you).
As easily as that, you can now visit the bookmark by typing only the keyword into the address.
Next, we combine these keywords with website search queries for extra effect.
Availability: I personally use Firefox, and so far I have achieved the same functionality in Chrome. Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer appear to lack this feature, and I have not done any testing with Opera, Safari, or any mobile browsers. If you’re using one of these other browsers, hopefully this article will provide enough information for you to figure out the remaining steps.
Searching in Mozilla Firefox
There are two search methods available in Firefox, one for the address bar and one from the search bar. As such, there are two ways to achieve this type of functionality.
Option 1: The Search Bar
The search bar is the smaller separate text input to the right of the address bar by default. This method is the easier of the two to initialize, but will only work on some websites. Here is how to make it work for www.thesaurus.com.
- Go to www.thesaurus.com
- Peform a search. In the screen shot, I searched for “writing”.
- In the search bar, the magnifying glass should adjust to include a plus sign.
- Click on the magnifying glass and select ‘Add “Dictionary.com”‘. Don’t worry, it will get the right site, it’s just a little confused.
Warning: There is a minor bug involving specifically thesaurus.com and dictionary.com. When adding both sites, you must add thesaurus.com first and then dictionary.com. This is because Firefox appears to believe that they are both dictionary.com, and so it will not offer the option to add thesaurus.com if dictionary.com is already included. However, if thesaurus.com is added first, it will still offer the option to add dictionary.com, because it doesn’t think it exists yet.
Next, click on the magnifying glass again and select “Change Search Settings”. You should see an options screen that shows your search engines in “One Click Search Engines”. To add the keyword that precedes your search terms, simply double click in the keyword column and assign the appropriate keyword of your choice.
That’s it, you’re done! You can now search with your keywords in both the address bar and the search bar!
Option 2: Universal Keyword Search
This second method is slightly more challenging to initialize, and will affect only the address bar. However, it will work on essentially every possible site, even those that Firefox does not recognize as providing search functionality. This step may require some trial and error, so don’t be dismayed if it fails to work immediately. Here is the process I used for setting it up on www.eesomeink.com.
- Go to www.eesomeink.com (or another website that you wish to add).
- Peform a search using the search bar at the top.
- Bookmark your search and open the bookmark properties.
- In the properties dialog, remove your search query from the link and replace it with %s.
- Add a keyword and appropriately rename the bookmark.
That’s it, you’re done! If you followed these steps, you can now search Eesome Ink Press directly from your address bar using the keyword “ee”.
Searching in Google Chrome
In Chrome, follow these steps to add a keyword search to your address bar. The example here is for Eesome Ink Press, but will work on almost any website with a search bar.
- Go to www.eesomeink.com (or another website that you wish to add).
- Peform a search using the search bar at the top.
- Copy the post-search address from the address bar (ctrl+c or right click).
- Right click in the address bar and select “Edit search engines…”
- In the dialog, paste the copied link into the third field in the highlighted row
- Replace your search query with %s.
- Provide a name and a keyword for your search in the appropriate fields.
That’s it, you’re done! If you followed these steps, you can now search Eesome Ink Press directly from your address bar using the keyword “ee”.
Success!
To test your changes, type your keyword into the address bar, followed by a space, and then your search term. If successful, you should see a change in the address bar when you type your keyword, indicating which website you are searching.
In Firefox, it looks like this:
In Chrome, it looks like this:
Notice that in Chrome it removes the “ee” keyword and replaces it with a special header that reads “Search Eesome Ink Press”.
That’s how you add a thesaurus, or any other search, to your address bar! Happy writing!
