I’m a huge fan of optimizing the way I use my computer, if I stumble upon a task I know I will be doing in the future (e.g. looking up opening hours for the local grocery store) I usually try to make this task easier. So I’ll write a couple of articles about what techniques I use to do these things, the first being Firefox search keywords, which I’ve talked about before.
Firefox has a built in function that lets you add keywords for search fields on websites by right-clicking them and pressing “Add a Keyword for this Search”. This makes it possible to make a search on a site by typing “<keyword> <search term>” in the address bar (e.g. “i die hard” searches IMDb for “die hard”). This obviously has a lot of possibilities, and it’s probably the one thing that saves me the most time on a day to day basis. I use the following keywords:
- Google
A standard Google search. Type “g <search keyword>”. - Keepvid
Download video from sites like YouTube, Metacafe, etc. Type “d <video URL>”. - Port Check
Checks if a certain port is open. Type “p <port number>”. - Google Maps
Searches Google Maps. Type “gm <location>”. - Google Maps – Directions From Home
Search for a direction from your home. Change “blegdamsvej 78A, københavn ø, denmark” to your own address. Type “gmd <destination>”. - Google Translate
Type “gt <text or url>” to translate something from English. - YouTube
Search on YouTube. Type “y <search term>”. - WikiPedia
Search on WikiPedia. Type “w <search term>”. - IMDb
Search on IMDb. Type “i <search term>”. - Kino
Search on Kino.dk Type “k <search term>”. - RottenTomatoes
Search on Rotten Tomatoes. Type “rt <search term>”. - Play.com
Search on Play.com Type “p <search term>”. - UrbanDictionary
Search Urban Dictionary. Type “u <search term>”. - Ordbogen
Search on Ordbogen.com. Type “o <search term>”. - Google Currency Converter
Convert money to Danish Kroner. Type “dkk <amount and currency>” (e.g. “dkk 50 usd”). - Google Currency Converter (USD)
Convert from US Dollars to Danish Kroner. Type “usd <amount in US Dollars>”. - Google Currency Converter (EURO)
Convert from Euro to Danish Kroner. Type “euro <amount in Euro>”. - Google Currency Converter (POUNDS)
Convert from Pounds to Danish Kroner. Type “pounds <amount in Pounds>”. - Dansk Wiki
Search on the Danish WikiPedia. Type “dw <search term>”. - Wiktionary
Search on Wiktionary. Type “wi <search term>”. - Amazon.co.uk
Search on Amazon.co.uk. Type “a <search term>”. - Filestube
- Search for files on Rapidshare. Type “f <search term>”.
You can follow these steps to import my keywords:
- Right-click on my Search Keywords bookmarks file and choose “Save Link As…” Place the file somewhere on your computer.
- In Firefox, from the Bookmarks menu, choose “Manage Bookmarks”.
- From the Bookmarks Manager File menu, choose Import. Choose “Import Bookmarks from File.” Browse to and open the file you just saved.
The next article will be about Greasemonkey scripts.