/dev/nikc/blog

Not satisfied with Answers.com, I created a search engine add-on for Wordsmyth.net for Firefox (or any Mozilla-based browser, I think).

Check the dropdown menu next to the search box (upper right corner [see image below if lost]) for Add Wordsmyth.net search to add it to your arsenal.

As a bonus, I thought I’d share how to do it yourself. I will be using this Wordsmyth.net search as the example.

Search add-on How-to (the extremely concise and slightly arrogant version)

Step 1: Go to your favourite search engine, and spy on the search-url.

Step 2: Copy this XML-template and replace all the relevant texts to your liking. You will especially want to replace the value of the href-attribute of the url-tag. Be sure to place {searchTerms} in the right spot. (If you need to ask what the right spot is, maybe you shouldn’t be doing this. At least ask someone else. Yeah, I’m mean.)

<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/"
                       xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/">
    <ShortName>Wordsmyth.net</ShortName>
    <Description>Wordsmyth.net search</Description>
    <Tags>Wordsmyth</Tags>
    <Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="http://www.wordsmyth.net/live/home.php?script=search&amp;matchent={searchTerms}&amp;matchtype=exact"></Url>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Step 3: Save the XML-file, and upload it somewhere. You’ll probably want to make a note of where you uploaded the file to, if you’re the forgetful type.

Step 4: Create a webpage with the following content. Be sure to check the href-attribute. The other ones as well ofcourse.

<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" title="Wordsmyth.net search" href="wordsmyth.xml">

Step 5: Point your browser to the webpage you just created, and presto, you're done.

Step 6: Pssst. Remember to try it before claiming bragging rights.

***

I'm sure there is a lot more to it if you really want your add-on to shine (for instance how to add an icon), but this is sufficient for me. Check out the ones at addons.mozilla.org for more clues. There are probably some really good tutorials about this subject as well, I just can't be bothered to look for them for you.