Get More Firefox Search Plugins

The first place to check out would be Mozilla’s own search engine page. From here you can add many of the top search engines from around the Web. From Live.com to Wikipedia to even Flickr – the best of the best are all listed.

To remove one, click on your search box and select “Manage Search Engines…”. On that new options window you can sort your search engines and remove the ones you don’t want.

Resize the Firefox Search Box

Need the Firefox search box to be a little wider or narrower by default. This can easily be taken care of in your userChrome.css file. This special file might be located in different places depending on your computer’s OS.

Add this to the userChrome.css file:

#searchbar {
-moz-box-flex: 400 !important;
}
#search-container {
-moz-box-flex: 400 !important;
}

This would make the search box 400 pixels wide. Change that number to a higher or lower value both places to change the size of the search box. Now save and restart Firefox, and your search box should be a different size.

Open a Search in a New Tab

By default, Firefox will open your search up in the current tab you are in. If you want it to be opened up in a new tab – type in our old friend, about:config into the address bar and search for this string: browser.search.openintab

You have to change browser.search.openintab from false to true.

Add Any Search Box to your Search Toolbar

Next, to becoming a true searching guru – you need to pick up the Add to Search Bar extension for Firefox. This extension will allow you to right-click any search box and select to add it to your Firefox search bar.

Here are a few other search extensions to try out.

• OpenSearchFox
• Searchbar Autosizer

Jump to the Firefox Search Box via Your Keyboard

Want to jump to the Firefox search box without using your mouse? Here is a keyboard shortcut to get the job done: Ctrl/Cmd+K

Clean Out Your Search Box History

Want to clear out your search history and start fresh? This is another search bar issue that some people have a problem figuring out how to do. Go to:

Tools > Options > Privacy

Then click on the “Settings…” button under Private Data. From there a new box will come up and allow you to tweak how much Firefox remembers about you. Saved Form Information is what you want if you’re looking to clear your searching history. Now go to Tools > Clear Private Private Data and you should be cleaned out.

More Firefox Search Tools, Tips and Tweaks

• Post Twitter Updates from Firefox
• Turning a Bookmark into a Search Tool

Know of anymore? Which is your favorite! Feel free to share with the rest of the class and maybe we can all take a turn at being the teacher.

Options include clearing the searchbar and resetting the search engine after each search. A time delay can be set in order to reuse search strings or search engines before changing the state of the searchbar.

Search results can be loaded into the active tab, a new tab, or a new background tab. An option allows new tabs to be created regardless of whether the current tab is blank. New tabs can also be created by using the Alt key.

+ Learn More About the SearchLoad Options Extension for Firefox!