# Help me break a stupid internet search habit! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288 "2010-05-04T15:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/41 "2010-05-08T00:14:24Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Our company name has 7 letters. They don’t even need the “www”, just writing “[Company.com](http://Company.com)” will bring them to site. Better yet: **type “company” + Ctrl+Enter = [http://www.company.com](http://www.company.com)** I use this one all the time. Had to look up the rest: **type “company” + Shift+Enter = [http://www.company.net](http://www.company.net)** **type “company” + Ctrl+Shift+Enter = [http://www.company.org](http://www.company.org)** Add Alt to any of these to open in a new tab. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/42 "2010-05-08T02:42:28Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Ok, so you got to the add a keyword bit right? > > The dialogue box pops up and it has three fields. Name, File, and Keyword. Remember, what you are literally doing is creating a bookmark to that search field and a keyword shortcut that you can type into the URL bar to tell firefox how to populate that search field when you hit enter. > > So the dialogue box pox up and you can leave name and folder just as they are. Go back and rename the bookmark and file it away later. > > Down in the add a keyword field type in a quick easy to remember code that you want to type into the URL bar when you want to run a search. For google I used GG. For IMDB I used IMDB. For Wiki I used WI. > > I like to stick to two characters for the most part, but you could have it be only a single character if you want. > > Hit enter. > > Now go to the URL bar and type in that code. Let’s take Wiki as an example. > > I go to the URL bar and type WI and hit enter it takes me to [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=&go=Go)page > > If I type wi okapi and hit enter I get [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi)page. > > This essentially turns my URL bar into the same thing as the search bar that I have to the right of my URL bar, but I can get to it faster because I don’t have to select from the dropdown which search engine I want to use. > You can use these sorts of keywords for any bookmark. I already was for places that I visit regularly like the SDMB. But I never knew you could run searches using them too. That’s what makes it neat. Thanks for your response, NAF1138. Pretty cool, indeed. MMM ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/43 "2010-05-08T03:54:01Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I find Chrome awkward to use. Tips? It’s a really fast browser? I’m not sure what’s so awkward to use about it. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/44 "2010-05-09T00:05:18Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > It’s a really fast browser? I’m not sure what’s so awkward to use about it. OK, I’m trying it out. Now where is the adblocker that works - the one I installed doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/45 "2010-05-09T00:48:21Z")
Some times when distracted I will think, “I need to look for this on the web, Google is the tool I shall use, I must navigate there” I then type [google.com](http://google.com) in the address bar. Then when the page comes up I type “google” in the search box. It helpfully brings up a link to google, which I then click to be taken to a page with which to search for the original topic. Apparently many other people do this as well, because when you type a g into the google search box it helpfully brings up [google.com](http://google.com) as the third option. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/46 "2010-05-09T04:48:32Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > OK, I’m trying it out. Now where is the adblocker that works - the one I installed doesn’t. nm - it worked after a computer reboot. Next question (or should I start a new thread?): how do I save a link to a page (shortcut in IE, deskCut in Firefox)? Chrome does seem faster than Firefox - if I can figure out how to use it the way I want to, it may become my default browser. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/47 "2010-05-09T05:07:00Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > I include “http://” when I type it in. I’m only 20, too! It seems like everyone else who does this is old. > > I don’t particularly care, though. I have other personality quirks that are much more unfortunate than this one so there’s no point worrying about it. I am old and I don’t do that. I stopped it years ago. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/48 "2010-05-09T11:58:06Z")
You really need to take the most straightforward approach to dealing with this habit. Just memorize the entire internet; that way you’ll never have to look anything up at all. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/49 "2010-05-09T12:00:27Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Actually, the one that makes me bonkers is that probably 90% of the employees in my office first type: [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) into their address bar, then type our company name in the search bar, then click on the link at the top of the search ranking, just so they can refer to an on-line list we have. > > Our company name has 7 letters. They don’t even need the “www”, just writing “[Company.com](http://Company.com)” will bring them to site. It completely skews our web stats that we use for tracking marketing stuff. We’ve set it up so our stats will disregard queries coming from our own IP. But I’m one of the only people who makes direct queries from our IP, everyone else goes through a pointless Google search, which makes it look like Google is really driving traffic to our site. > [@NAF1138](#): > > Wow, people really do that? > > That’s nuts! The internet has been around way too long for people to still surf that way. That’s not really “surfing” the internet. It’s more like “paddleboarding.” ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/50 "2010-05-09T20:12:52Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > nm - it worked after a computer reboot. Next question (or should I start a new thread?): how do I save a link to a page (shortcut in IE, deskCut in Firefox)? I’m not sure I understand. If you want to Bookmark it, just click the Star left of the url/omnibar (if it’s a link you’ll use frequently, add it to the bookmark bar, so it’s always right there–super convenient). If you want to create a desktop shortcut, simply drag the link onto the desktop. Done! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/51 "2010-05-09T23:28:22Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > You really need to take the most straightforward approach to dealing with this habit. > > Just memorize the entire internet; that way you’ll never have to look anything up at all. That’s just crazy enough to work! ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288/52 "2010-05-10T03:37:57Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > If you want to create a desktop shortcut, simply drag the link onto the desktop. Done! Good idea, but I’d have to resize my browser. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-break-a-stupid-internet-search-habit/538288.md?page=2)