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CyberSearch Firefox Extension

Current CyberSearch Version: 1.0.3 (Install - 32KB)
Release Date: August 10th, 2008
Compatibility: Only works with Firefox 3.x

cybersearch.pngWhat is CyberSearch? It lets you perform various types of Google searches right from the address bar in Firefox 3. As you’re typing the extension will send your query to Google, grab the results, and then display them along side the history results that Firefox normally shows.

To make the extension even better we’ve supercharged it with a completely customizable keyword system. If you’re familiar with the built-in Firefox keywords understanding how to use these will be second nature for you. The video demonstration below will help put these in perspective, and show just how powerful they make the extension!

–Installing CyberSearch–

You can go ahead and download the CyberSearch extension from Mozilla. This extension is still experimental, which means you’ll need to login to the Mozilla site before being able to install it.

If you get a hash error when you try to install the extension see if this article helps.

IMPORTANT: After installing the extension you may want to enable the keyword system, which is the first thing that I do in the video demonstration. This is disabled by default to avoid any confusion that might occur from us shipping the extension with a default list of keywords.

–Video Demonstration–



CyberSearch 0.9.1 was used in the video.

–Features–

  • Supports Multiple Google Services
    You can perform searches and assign keywords to any of the following Google services: Web, Local, Videos, Blogs, News, Books, Images, and Patents.
  • Customizable Keywords
    Pick and choose the keywords that you can remember! You can have one keyword for doing a Google Web search, another for Google News search, and so on. The possibilities are endless!
  • Restrict Searches to a Site
    Using the keyword system you’ll be able to restrict a particular search to a certain site. For example, you can create one keyword that will only return results from Wikipedia while a different keyword will only show results from CyberNet News. Want results from multiple sites using just one keyword? No problem, just separate them by commas!
    Note: This feature is only available for Google Web, Blog, and Image searches.
  • Smart Keywords
    CyberSearch can automatically turn a URL into a keyword so that you can quickly search any site. This means you don’t have to remember an extensive list of keywords in order to search specific sites! [read more]
  • Website Icons
    You can customize the icon shown for each keyword search, or you can leave the icon URL field blank to have CyberSearch try and find each site’s icon automatically making results from your favorite sites easily identifiable. [read more]
  • Image Previews
    Get thumbnail previews located next to Google Image searches by leaving the icon URL field blank. [read more]
  • Distinguishable Results
    Easily distinguish CyberSearch entries from others by looking for the CyberSearch logo in the upper-right corner of each result. You can also customize the background color of each result. [read more]
  • Retrieve Multiple Pages of Results
    A customizable “keyword” is available so that you can even retrieve multiple pages of search results. Checkout the video for more information on how this works.
  • Doesn’t Interfere with Existing Firefox Keywords
    If you already have existing Firefox keywords setup this extension will not interfere with them. Our keyword system is completely separate from the one that is built-in to Firefox. You can, however, import existing Firefox keywords from the browser’s search box. [read more]

Here are some screenshots from the configuration section of the extension (these were taken from CyberSearch 1.0.3):

(Click to Enlarge)
cybersearch keyword 103.png cybersearch general-1.png cybersearch appearance.png cybersearch reset-1.png

One thing that we placed throughout the preferences are the small question marks, and you can hover over them at any point to have a feature explained to you.

–Supported Google Services–

cybersearch-types.png

Eight different Google services are supported in CyberSearch, and we’re sure you want to know what the results look like in the address bar for each of them. Here’s a screenshot for each of the different types of Google searches that we support:

  • Web Search - Your typical Google search. Opening a result will take you directly the site.
  • Local Search - Find the address and phone number for any business in seconds! Opening a result will take you to a Google Map that shows where the place is located.
  • Video Search - Search Google Video and Youtube. Opening a result will take you to that video.
  • Blog Search - Find blog articles that have been written. Opening a result will take you directly to the article.
  • News Search - Pull up news items. Opening a result will take you directly to the article.
  • Book Search - Find books. Opening a result will take you to the Google Book page for that particular selection.
  • Image Search - Searches for images, but isn’t all that useful since there is no image preview. Opening a result will take you directly to the image.
  • Patent Search - Search for patents. Opening a result will take you to the Google Patent page for that particular selection.


–Changelog–

  • August 10, 2008 (1.0.3)

    • NEW: Sort the list of keywords in ascending (A-Z) or descending (Z-A) order. This is probably the most beneficial for people who have created more than 10 keywords.
    • IMPROVED: Minor speed optimizations.
  • August 4, 2008 (1.0.2) [read more]

    • NEW: When using a keyword or domain search, pressing Enter without selecting any of the results will take you to the respective Google Search. Precedence is given to keywords designated in the Firefox search box.
  • August 1, 2008 (1.0.1) [read more]

    • IMPROVED: By popular demand we’ve brought back the ability to change the background color of results. It’s also been improved… you can instantly see the affects of any background color changes in the address bar without needing to restart Firefox!
  • July 30, 2008 (1.0.0) [read more]

    • NEW: Import and manage built-in Firefox keywords.
    • NEW: Google Image searches are now capable of showing thumbnail previews.
    • NEW: Website icons can now be retrieved for each result from Google web, blog, and news searches.
    • NEW: A “Search Google for” entry will appear at the end of each keyword search. Opening this option will take you to the Google search page where you can see the full list of results.
    • NEW: Quickly assign a site a CyberSearch keyword by right-clicking anywhere on the page, and choosing the new “Add to CyberSearch” option.
    • IMPROVED: The CyberSearch icon is now shown in the upper-right corner of each result. That way CyberSearch results can easily be distinguished from the rest.
    • IMPROVED: When viewing the list of keywords from the drop-down menu in the CyberSearch settings you’ll now be able to see at-a-glance what type of Google search each keyword is used for.
  • July 24, 2008 (0.9.11)

    • FIXED: Pre-release versions of Firefox 3.1 are now supported.
  • July 10, 2008 (0.9.10)

    • FIXED: There was a bug where search results were not being shown alongside the history results. This bug was caused by a new feature I had just added in 0.9.9.
  • July 10, 2008 (0.9.9) [read more]

    • NEW: Smart keyword system for searching any site instantly.
    • NEW: Better icon management. A preview is now shown for keyword icon URL’s that you enter in, and the URL can be automatically generated.
    • FIXED: HTML characters that appeared in the titles of results (ampersands, quotes, etc…) should show up as expected.
    • FIXED: When configuring keywords CyberSearch will truncate long URL’s that may appear in the drop-down menu.
  • July 8, 2008 (0.9.8)

    • FIXED: Keywords haven’t been editable since version 0.9.6.
  • July 8, 2008 (0.9.7)

    • FIXED: This fixes the keywords for those of you that haven’t customized them yet. The last version accidentally shipped with the non-default set of keywords, and this will correct that. If you have already created custom keywords you will notice no difference in this update.
  • July 7, 2008 (0.9.6) [read more]

    • NEW: We’ve included the functionality that the Edit Middle extension offers due to a conflict with the extension. If you’re using the Edit Middle extension please uninstall it before using the keywords in CyberSearch.
    • FIXED: Pressing the down arrow to select a result now works. This was a problem for those choosing not to have Google results intermingled with the history results.
    • FIXED: The “unending” loading icon has been fixed.
    • FIXED: There was a compatibility problem with some extensions, such as GooglePreview. CyberSearch should now play nice with all of the extensions.
    • FIXED: If you choose to show history results even when a keyword is recognized the extension will now ignore the keyword for history results, too. I think this makes more sense, but I might make it an optional thing in a future release.
  • June 30, 2008 (0.9.1) [read more]

    • First Public Release.

–Contact/Support–

Feel free to contact me with any issues you may be having. I’ll do my best to help, and please tell me what operating system and version of Firefox you’re using. Alternatively you can leave a comment on the CyberSearch announcement article.

–Press–

Still not sure about CyberSearch? Don’t just take our word on how great it is. Below are some reviews that have been written about CyberSearch, and don’t forget to send us a link to your own personal review!

–Reviews on Mozilla–

Here’s what other people are saying about our extension:

“I love this add-on! Remove default search bar and optimize your view.”
-tcjucrecci

“Excellent extension. The features this provides should have been integrated into Firefox from the start. Must-download!”
-bdawg

“This extension should be called The Really Awesome Bar. Not often an extension can dramatically increase productivity for just about anyone.”
-Brett Zamir

“This extension rocks! It keeps getting better and better too, makes the awesomebar so much more valuable!!”
-Change

“Just reinstalled windows and I spent almost 20 minutes finding this awesome extension. Says a lot how much I missed it from a clean Firefox installation. This is a MUSH HAVE!”
-Tommy

“I’ve found that I feel naked without this powerful tool.”
-GiveIt2Me

“My awesome bar is now way better. I haven’t used it for anything more than Google, but its still great!”
-Flakeparadigm

“Whoa! Search simplicity at its finest!!!”
-digitalking

“This is a true time saver. In my opinion, it deserves to be a default feature in the Firefox browser.”
-ChrisRossini

“This extension makes very good usage of the new “awesome” bar search feature, by efficiently mixing local and remote search, using “search engine keywords”. And, good to say, initial bugs have been corrected very quickly!”
-klint

“Excellent way to be able to perform quick search with no need of anything else.”
-Leland

“This has removed a (cumulative) time consuming step in my web searching, now there’s no need for the search box in the toolbar or to go to the google page.”
-agwyllie

“Whoa. This definitely removes the step for when I want to search wiki for something. Usually I type in wikipedia and whatever I am searching for, and I usually end up on google. Now I can go directly to the site. Thanks.”
-Buggin Menot

–Credits–

This plugin was originally based on AwesomeSearch (now called Searchery), and the reason I decided to create the extension was because I saw how it could make me more productive. I just happen to see it becoming useful in a different way than Ian did. A big thanks to Ian for the hard work he initially put in on the project!