Firefox - Search bar

The Search Bar is the text bar found in the top right corner of the Firefox window. Using Firefox's Search bar, you can use the most popular search engines without having to visit their web sites. When you enter a term in the Search bar, the indicated search engine is queried, and the search results are displayed in Firefox. In the Navigation toolbar, the Search bar is displayed in the far right corner.

• To use the search engine indicated in the Search bar, enter a term in the space provided, and press EnterReturn. The search results are displayed.

Included search engines

By default, Firefox includes the following search engines, each one suited to a specific type of search:

Firefox 3:

• Google for searching the web via Google
  
  
• Yahoo for searching the web via Yahoo
  
  
• Amazon.com for searching the Amazon.com retail web site
  
  
• Answers.com for searching the Answers.com online dictionary and encyclopedia
  
  
• Creative Commons for looking for images, documents, and other media available for reproduction and other uses
  
  
• eBay for looking up items for sale or auction at eBay
  
  
• Wikipedia for searching the Wikipedia free online encyclopedia
  
  

Firefox 2:

• Google for searching the web via Google
• Yahoo for searching the web via Yahoo
• Amazon.com for searching the Amazon.com retail web site
• Answers.com for searching the Answers.com online dictionary and encyclopedia
• Creative Commons for looking for images, documents, and other media available for reproduction and other uses
• eBay for looking up items for sale or auction at eBay

Switching search engines

The name of the active search engine is listed in the Search bar and is identified by the small icon. In the following example, the active search engine is Google. To change the active search engine, click the down arrow next to the search engine's icon, and select a new search engine.

Managing search engines

Through the Search Engines Manager, you can download and install additional search engines for Firefox. You may find that you need additional search engines to look for specific types of content, such as encyclopedia articles, recipes, or song lyrics.

• To open the Search Engines Manager, click the search engine icon and select Manage Search Engines....

Adding search engines

Through the Search Engines Manager

In the Search Engines Manager, you can add new search engines that have been released for use with Firefox.

1. To open the Search Engines Manager, click the search engine icon and select Manage Search Engines....
2. To add a search engine, click Get more search engines.... The Mozilla Add-ons Search Engines page is displayed.
3. To add one of the displayed search engines, click the Add to Firefox button. The Add Search Engine dialog is displayed.
   
   
   
   
4. To begin using the search engine immediately after you add it, click Start using it right away.
5. To add the selected search engine, click Add.
6. The search engine is now available through the search engines list in the Search bar.

While visiting a web site

Some web sites offer search engines that you can add to Firefox. These search engines are specific to the web site.

1. For example, when you visit the YouTube web site, the search engine button acquires a blue glow, indicating that the web site offers a search engine that can be installed in Firefox:
   
   
   
   
2. To add the site-specific engine, open the search engine list and select Add "YouTube Video Search".
   
   
   
   
3. The search engine appears in the search engines list.

Removing a search engine

1. Click the search engine icon and select Manage Search Engines..., to open the Search Engines Manager.
2. To remove a search engine, select it from the list, and click Remove.

If you accidentally delete a default search engine, click Restore Defaults to recover the default search engines.

• If you accidentally delete a search engine that you installed, you must re-install it.

Re-ordering search engines

1. Click the search engine icon and select Manage Search Engines..., to open the Search Engines Manager.
2. In the Search Engines Manager, select the search engine you want to move. To move it up in the list, click Move Up. To move it down, click Move Down.

Firefox 3:

Keywords

Keywords are an easy way to search specific web sites directly from the Firefox Location bar, instead of using the Search bar. For instance, you could assign a keyword such as ebay to the ebay search engine, then type ebay lamps, that will search ebay for lamps. For more information, see Smart Keywords.

In the Search Engines Manager, you can assign keywords to search engines in your search bar.

1. Click the search engine icon and select Manage Search Engines..., to open the Search Engines Manager.
   
   
2. In the Search Engines Manager, select the search engine you would like to assign a keyword to.
   
   
3. Click Edit Keyword....
   
   
4. In the Edit Keyword window, type the keyword you would like to use for that search engine, and click OK.
   
   

The Search Engines list has a "keyword" column, where you can see the keyword for each search engine in the list.

Search suggestions

If needed, you can allow Firefox to prompt you with search suggestions. When search suggestions are enabled, as you type in the Search bar, Firefox presents a list of suggested matches based on the letters that you have typed so far. Instead of typing the remainder of the search string, you can scroll the list to find the search suggestion for which you wish to search.

To enable search suggestions for all of your installed search engines, select Show search suggestions in the Search Engines Manager.