Since when did Firefox make it so difficult to set custom search engine?
So been moving around a lot with browsers, waterfox, librewolf and very recently degoogle chromium, figured id look at Firefox and holy theres less than half the option in setting then there were afew years back but I gotta say the biggest sin is that adding custom search engine is obfuscated, and the chooses of engines are google, bing, duckduckgo and fucking Amazon! Wtf is that about? But anyway all these search engines are pretty awful including duckduckgo but beyond that the browser scene is a joke, mullvad are about the only company I feel compatible with using now
Edit: instead of saying how easy it is to add custom search engines, I'd like to know why the "add search engine" feature in settings is gone?
This entry was edited (1 year ago)
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Tio
in reply to squid • •True...Harder now to add a custom search engine unless you visit it and then click the url on top to get a dropdown to add it...but manually adding it is hard.
Speaking of search engines I highly recommend searx.neocities.org/ - it randomly uses the best Searx instances. No ads, no tracking...
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squid
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Tio
in reply to squid • •squid
in reply to Tio • • •Tio
in reply to squid • •- read more here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searx and see the source code here github.com/searxng/searxng
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gregorum
in reply to squid • • •Generally speaking, I’ve noticed that, for inexperienced users and beginners, the settings pages/windows/tabs for many web browsers aren’t very… friendly. They’re designed mostly for advanced users and users who are already accustomed to their design/layout.
The one exception to this would be Safari, which is designed to be far more accessible, but most advanced users dislike using it for this reason (and a few other novel UX decisions).
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squid
in reply to gregorum • • •The obfuscation of default search engine is predatory is more of what I'm getting at
Also no, setting page is not for advanced users, about:config is
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gregorum
in reply to squid • • •Yeah, I agree with you re: obfuscation of changing the default search engine. That’s crappy.
I was speaking in a general sense of FF’s and most popular browsers' settings pages’/panels’ UX design, not trying to impugn your own ability to find the setting. Apologies if it came off that way.
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Mike Macgirvin 🖥️
in reply to squid • • •Incidentally unless somebody removed it in the last ten years you should be able to add your Friendica site as a search engine. I recently upgraded this in streams with an updated permissions specification as a direct response to what is in my opinion a horrible search specification proposed for the fediverse by a project that I will refrain from calling out publicly.
fediversity.site/help/develop/…
Help
fediversity.siteatlasraven31
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s20
in reply to squid • • •What are you talking about?
support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/a…
That took me like two second to find. You can also use addons, like this one for Qwant:
addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firef…
Which I like. But none of this is hard or "obfuscated", and it's literally identical to changing or adding a new search engine on Waterfox.
I have a lot of issues with Mozilla, not least of which is their reliance on Google for income. It's like hiring a dingo as a babysitter. But c'mon, man.
Qwant VIPrivacy – Get this Extension for 🦊 Firefox (en-US)
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BananaTrifleViolin
in reply to squid • • •That doesn't make sense? How would you have the "add from search bar" feature in the settings screen?
It's a context specific method of adding a search engine - you add it when you're at the site. Meanwhile the setting screen is global for the browser.
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s20
in reply to squid • • •Maybe. But even if that was the case, the way it is now isn't obfuscated. It's not difficult. It's not hard to find out how to do it. You made a big long post to complain about an "obfuscated" feature that I found in under a minute.
Next time, either do a search or ask for help, instead of whinging like a n00b. Or worse, some kind of Google FUD-spreading parasite.
FFS, Jesus Wept. I finally understand those blokes over at FreeBSD telling me to RTFM twenty years ago.
Edit: Apparently, the synonym for complain I used before was offensive. It was not the "B" word, which I only use in reference to female dogs. Just wanted that to be clear.
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squid
in reply to s20 • • •s20
in reply to squid • • •TL;DR: Don't lay this one on me, buddy. You walked in here looking for a fight.
I didn't much care for the direction you started in. If you wanted an actual discussion, then opening with hostility and claims that could be refuted if you'd bothered with less than a minute of research is the wrong way to go.
If you want a civilized discussion, you have to start with a civilized post. My responses have been no more hostile than your opening salvo.
As it happens, Google's influence over Mozilla is of massive concern to me. And I agree that the change was not needed. But it's not obscure, it's not hard to find out how to do what you wanted to do, and your hostility to responses suggesting DuckDuckGo only confirmed my suspicion that you didn't want an answer, you wanted a fight.
So I gave you one.
Here's the deal. If you walk into a place with guns blazing, you don't get to act all surprised and indignant when someone fires back.
squid
in reply to s20 • • •s20
in reply to squid • • •Yes. It is. And so was doing a big complainy rant without doing any research.
Again: if you want polite discourse, you have to open with that, not rant and get mad about it later. You set the standard, I just went along with it.
squid
in reply to s20 • • •I don't believe you'd read the body of my post. As I'd never said default search engine couldn't be changed
So point is that while your saying I didnt do research what gave you that impression. My dispute is with obfuscation
s20
in reply to squid • • •It's not obfuscated if it takes less than a minute to find the answer, dude.
I liked it better the old way, but the feature isn't hidden.
ETA: My point is you don't get to complain when people reflect back the energy you put out.
squid
in reply to s20 • • •The dictionary definition of obfuscation means to purposely obscure , make harder, and there is no mention of a time frame. So with the add by URL gone from settings and a limited amount of defaults search engine thats are all shit and no clear reasoning for the removal of that setting then how does that not fit the definition of obfuscation.
I definitly can complain as can you and anyone else. I am admittedly stoborn (not for stobornness sake or pride) but I have not resorted to name calling
s20
in reply to squid • • •You know, I had a big long thing about my local grocery store obfuscating the peanut butter, but I deleted it. I think I'm just gonna let this one go.
Look, dude, I think we probably caught each other at a bad time or something. I'm not generally this confrontational, and I kinda doubt you are either. I'm sorry I dragged it out so far, and I'm sorry I responded the way I did to your expression of frustration.
I'll try to be better. Have a great day, yeah?
squid
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arglebargle
in reply to squid • • •What? Settings: search for search. Change default. Click find more search engines. It offers hundreds of them.
This was not hard, nor obfuscated.
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arglebargle
in reply to squid • • •Right there where it says Find More Search Engines:.
Or the other way, go to on any site, click the search bar and the option to add it as a search appears at the bottom of the search bar: i.imgur.com/c3bFc7g.png
I went to the Quant website, and then it offered for me to add it as a search, hence the + symbol. Or click the settings button to "Find more search engines".
I will admit that having to browse through Firefox extensions is not as easy, but the ability to add an engine at any time, without even using settings, simply by visiting the web page is pretty simple.
Edit: I didnt find it hard at all, using the keyword search in the settings menu. But they also have a guide: support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/a…
Add or remove a search engine in Firefox | Firefox Help
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arglebargle
in reply to squid • • •Perhaps it is easier for them to have search engines offer their services through that avenue?
But it doesnt matter, if you go to any site that has search, all you have to do is click the + "add search engine" right in the address bar. Doesnt get much easier.
Even sites like Shodan work.
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BananaTrifleViolin
in reply to squid • • •I am confused by this post, there are 4 ways to add search engines to Firefox:
Android Firefox offers slightly different routes but again any search engine can be added. It is a bit more involved though.
Firefox includes certain search engines by default as it gets revenue from the search engine providers for doing so, and Mozilla is transparent about this. Although Mozilla is independent, the Go
... show moreI am confused by this post, there are 4 ways to add search engines to Firefox:
Android Firefox offers slightly different routes but again any search engine can be added. It is a bit more involved though.
Firefox includes certain search engines by default as it gets revenue from the search engine providers for doing so, and Mozilla is transparent about this. Although Mozilla is independent, the Google search engine deal remains one of its biggest sources of income. That's how it survives.
The default add-ons site meanwhile is a compromise between security and convenience for the majority of users, but people are not locked in to it and other search providers are not locked out of it.
The Mullvad browser is modified Firefox btw, as is the Tor Browser it is itself based off. I don't know how much either contribute to the Mozilla foundation. Tor is an open source project but Mullvad is a commercial enterprise.
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donio
in reply to BananaTrifleViolin • • •One thing that is difficult to do though is adding a custom search engine query that is not already offered in the OpenSearch XML format. For example, how would you go about making
https://lemmy.world/search?type=All&listingType=All&page=1&sort=TopAll&q=%s
the default search engine pattern?When I tried to do something similar I ended up creating and serving the XML from my own web server. Would love to know if there is an easier way. It used to be trivial to do via preferences.
Edit, sorry, Lemmy insists on turning ampersands into
&
for some reason, here it is the example URL pattern as a linkAlso, this support post has some discussion on the issue.
Set up custom default search URL | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support
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ducking_donuts
in reply to squid • • •Not sure why you get downvoted so heavily, I have also found that adding a custom search engine is unnecessary hard in Firefox these days.
There is a way to get the “add” button back in the settings described here: superuser.com/a/1756774
How to add a custom search engine to Firefox?
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squid
in reply to ducking_donuts • • •Never kick an underdog even if the underdog is directly funded by google, I should imagine google had a large part to play in these changes. But anyway thanks for the link
I've also come off and confrontational with my stance, its hard not to be when a large portion of replys have been dancing around the stated issue of senseless removal of a key setting
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MangoPenguin
in reply to squid • • •support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/a…
But I also agree that they really need better defaults in that list, while adding more isn't complex, most people are going to either use the default, or just pick from the dropdown of defaults which are bad.
Add or remove a search engine in Firefox | Firefox Help
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