CFA/Search-Research/SearchBar

« Comparative Feature Analyses
« Search Notes
« Search Research

Current Capabilities

• highlight entire search field when clicking in the box
• drag and drop search
• highlight, right-click, and search
• button information on mouse-over
• site-specific search using search box - google

Upcoming Capabilities

• Resizable search bar (Neil Deakin) - FF3 P2

Features on other browsers

• SnapBack - safari
• button to clear search field - safari
• search this site - camino (same as google capability)
• Search bookmarks and history from Search Bar - flock
• wrap up feature for search engines, to search all at once - maxthon
• keyword web searches - maxthon

Additional features

• support for multiple search boxes - Groowe Search Toolbar - FF add-on
• targeted search options: audio/video podcast, photo, code, technorati searches

Screenshots

"site:" lets you use google to search a specific site:

Safari SnapBack button takes you back to search results:

Safari button clears the search field:

Google Toolbar Search Bar settings:

Camino Search this site:

Conclusions

• A button to clear the search field isn't really necessary when clicking in the search box highlights its contents
• the SnapBack functionality is very useful to control the number of tabs open in a browser
• Google's search this site capability is a useful function that should have improved discoverability.
• Bookmark and history search is helpful, and something to consider as a configurable option.
• multiple engine search is an edge case; it's a better idea to have a short, yet varied default engine list, but make it easy to add a new search engine (like how Opera has done it).