Filed under: Software, Freeware
Keywurl adds keyword searching to Safari
You can assign specific keyword searches in the Safari preferences. So for instance, if I wanted to search for "Steve Jobs" on Wikipedia, then I would type "wiki Steve Jobs" in Safari's address bar; the query would then be sent to Wikipedia, where it would be parsed in a search and the wiki page displayed.
Keywurl is available as freeware from the developer's website. It runs on both Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) and Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4); and requires Safari 3.0 or later. What's not to love with the price of free and the ability to add custom keyword searches to Safari?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yorgle said 2:55PM on 2-25-2008
How does it compare to Sogudi?
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Max said 3:18PM on 2-25-2008
You can already do this with SafariStand. And Saft.
And it's built into Omniweb and Firefox.
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John Russell said 1:36AM on 2-26-2008
I've just been using Safari Stand all of this time, but that's about the only reason, so I might just check this out.
dastranger said 3:29PM on 2-25-2008
Or, just use yubnub. Works on any browser and already has most of these search engines built in. If not, just add it yourself.
w00master
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Kevin Ballard said 5:52PM on 2-25-2008
Heck, you can even use my YubNub plugin to turn the Google search bar into a YubNub bar
http://www.tildesoft.com/Files/YubNubSearch.tgz
mkio said 3:31PM on 2-25-2008
But in my opinion Inquisitor does this better, you don't have to assign yourself certain preferences - Inquisitor already knows them.
Ok ok, Inquisitor is one keystroke further away but it's still fast to press cmd+L, tab and start writing "wiki Steve Jobs" and then you just select what you want.
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Jared said 7:52PM on 2-25-2008
You can actually press CMD+Option+F to go right to the Google search bar.
qwert said 3:38PM on 2-25-2008
im not impressed.
opera does this since years, and contrary to safari, its fast and usable.
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S said 7:45PM on 2-25-2008
It's okay to prefer one browser over another, it's not okay to lie about stats and pretend that all other browsers are unusable. Don't ruin your credibility over some sort of blood loyalty you have for Opera.
Bassir said 4:19PM on 2-25-2008
I can't believe I just figured out Firefox can do this too.
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Ian said 4:47PM on 2-25-2008
Saft has done this for years, along with its many other useful features such as session restore, search box customization, full screen mode, and numerous more. Check it out at http://haoli.dnsalias.com/Saft/.
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S said 7:49PM on 2-25-2008
I will say that I like the price of this product more, but I appreciate the other features Saft offers (ad blocking, preventing websites from popping their tab up, full-screen browsing, undos in text fields, etc) as well as the knowledge that the pittance I paid gets me a new, certified version every time Apple updates Safari. He's super quick about that, too.
Hannes said 4:48PM on 2-25-2008
Bah, I wrote this years ago ;) (http://hannesp.se/software/)
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Alex Bowen said 12:34AM on 2-26-2008
this is done is SAFT and its much easier to add new queries. just find the search box you want on a website, right click on it and choose "Add as saft shortcut" and a box will pop up, enter the keyword and your done.
talk about a filler article
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Hein Tore Tønnesen said 3:30AM on 2-26-2008
Fantastic - now I can switch between Opera and Safari, without cursing and swearing over Safari's lack of address bar search and shortcuts!
Now if someone could make an iPhone version ...
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Todd Sieling said 11:31AM on 2-26-2008
I ditched Saft when Leopard came out as most of what I used it for was in there. Shortcuts to specific search engines was something I was missing, so this is great for me.
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Alexander Staubo said 10:22PM on 3-23-2008
A few comments from the author of this plugin.
It is true that Saft offers keyword searches -- but Saft is a large package that should have been 7-10 separate plugins. It has also been plagued by instability in the past.
Saft is not free, nor is it Free software; the Mac community has historically been catered by small-time shareware, a tradition I have no intention of upholding, since I believe the source should be there for anyone to hack as they please. That's why Keywurl is licensed under the free-for-all BSD license.
You will find a comparison with Sogudi here: http://scotth.tumblr.com/post/28362388
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Alexander Staubo said 10:25PM on 3-23-2008
@Alex Bowen: Keywurl has the right-click-on-a-form-field feature now in the latest beta.
Oh, and many thanks to TUAW for featuring my plugin.
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