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I am thinking about switching my web browser to Google Chrome on my ASUS EEE because it has better screen usage but I really do like a lot of the handy things Opera provide.

In particular, I especially like custom search keywords that let me search on various sites in the address-bar by using keywords. For example g something would search for something at Google, while w something would search at Wikipedia and k something would search at Wiktionary.

After having used this for years I find it very annoying when I have to actually visit the sites to do the search...

Does anything similar to this exist in Chrome?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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Options - Basics - Default search - Manage. This opens a dialog box that allows you to set keywords for each of your search providers. For example, I use "g" for Google, "y" for YouTube, and "z" for Amazon.

These are the same search providers that do the "Pres TAB to search..." function. As you browse the web, Chrome adds websites with search boxes here so you can use them from the address bar. You can use them either by pressing tab, or by setting up keywords.

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  • but that just changes the default search as far as I can see. I like to be able to search easily on a range of sites.
    – Svish
    Jul 15, 2009 at 8:58
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    The dropdown box changes your default search engine, but if you hit the "Manage" button you can set keywords on each search engine that Chrome has seen.
    – Stephen Jennings
    Jul 15, 2009 at 9:03
  • Nice !
    – Svish
    Aug 10, 2009 at 20:16
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If you've used the search on a site before, you can press tab while typing the name of the site to perform that site's search. For example, I can type

wTABopera

to seach on Wikipedia for Opera. However, this leads to having to type enough of the site name to switch sites, like

wiktTABopera

to search for opera on Wiktionary. I haven't figured out if this can be configured or not yet to accept a user defined keyword. It is possible to change them using the method described by Stephen Jennings - just go to Options/Basic/Default Search/Manage.

I feel your pain; I used Opera extensively before switching to Chrome on my laptop because it's hard to perform gestures.

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  • Yeah, those guestures don't work too well with a touch pad :p Very good tip on that Tab stuff though... will ease the pain a bit, although probably not make it go completely away :p
    – Svish
    Jul 15, 2009 at 8:57
  • I wish I had known about it when I actually started using Chrome - I knew it was able to perform site searches from the address bar, but I didn't know how. Then one day, I saw the "Press TAB to search..." on the right side. Don't know how I missed it. To continue with things I miss from Opera - spacial navigation, and using / to search a page (and then be able to use spacial navigation from there).
    – Cristián Romo
    Jul 15, 2009 at 9:02
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For better screen usage I think you should still use Opera as you can hide every bar and create gestures and/or shortcuts for that purpose. See my Opera show off here.

Search a little or come back and create threads here − or on my.opera.com − to ask how.

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  • I was going to explain how to create a pure white sheet or glass slab browser, but that would be too off topic (and long). Still... it pounds the point about Opera's screen usage and customizability.
    – allanrockwell
    Aug 27, 2011 at 18:27

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