Search flexibility Mar31 '06
Search is a big part of my site. Not so much for the readers (however small of a group you are), but mainly for me.
If I can’t quickly reference a past post, my "archived" entries become almost useless. After all, what’s the point of putting them in a database, if I can’t get them out?
That’s why I’ve spent lots of time enhancing my site’s search capabilities.
I want search to be quick, instant, and easily accessible.
My preferred search method is to use the URL, such as:
matthom.com/search/[searchterm]
This way, I don’t have to use the mouse at all, to manually point it to a search text field, on the page.
In Firefox, I can just open a new tab (Ctrl + T), and immediately begin typing the URL above.
To make things even quicker, in Firefox, I’ve created a keyword search, which means instead of typing this every time:
matthom.com/search/[searchterm]
... I can simply type:
mt [searchterm]
'mt' is my custom search keyword, which tells Firefox that I want to search this domain.
So, to sum up, you can currently search my site using one of four different approaches:
- The HTML form at my search page ( matthom.com/search/ ).
- Typing: /search/
[searchterm]( ie: /search/php mysql ) - Typing: /search/q=
[searchterm]( ie: /search/q=php mysql ) - Typing: /search?q=
[searchterm]( ie: /search?q=php mysql )
This gives me plenty of flexibility, and hopefully you too.
Categories: Search 
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is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from Chicago.
Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.
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