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Firefox allows to search your bookmarks by prepending * (an asterisk) to the input of the adress bar. They have also added a button for that a while ago. It's n

Firefox allows to search your bookmarks by prepending * (an asterisk) to the input of the adress bar. They have also added a button for that a while ago. It's next to the search engine buttons at the bottom of the results panel. These buttons also show the shortcut symbols in their hover-text.

cookiengineer 5y ago
The search functionality is still very limited, though. I don't remember URLs with /some/post/id/123.html. I remember headlines, I remember mentions of the thing the article is telling about. Local bookmarks need an offline cache that at least contains the text content and headings of the URL. Otherwise, the search will stay useless because nobody can organize them manually without making (human) mistakes after a while. Ironically, Chromium's omnibar search worked by searching through headlines for a while; but meanwhile it's broken again, and it never worked for bookmarks and only for history entries.
- _Microft 5y ago
  I agree that the feature is limited and could be greatly improved. Tab titles and tags are usually good enough though to find what I am looking for.
- ttctciyf 5y ago
  > I don't remember URLs with /some/post/id/123.html. I remember headlines When I open a new window[1] in Firefox and start typing in the address bar, I get matches based on the page title not just on the url. For example, I open a new window and type "brow" and the matches I get include "I closed a lot of browser tabs | Hacker News" (see image[2].) So I rarely if ever use bookmarks, I can almost always find what I'm looking for by typing in the url bar, or if that fails by searching in history. 1: Are you seated? Good. I don't use tabs, I just open new windows with ctrl-n and use alt-tab & ctrl-w to navigate. I have middle-click set to open in a new window. I use customise to put the "open new window" icon onto my buttons, next to the address bar. I would happily use a version of firefox with no tabs, they add nothing to my life. 2: https://i.imgur.com/loFZ0Mm.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/loFZ0Mm.jpeg
  - tomsmeding 5y ago
    > I use customise to put the "open new window" icon onto my buttons, next to the address bar. Note that ctrl-shift-N opens a new window.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - ttctciyf 5y ago
      > ctrl-shift-N opens a new window As does ctrl-n, which I mentioned in the comment you're replying to ;-D
HunOL 5y ago
It's necessary to add that it's searching all bookmarks by title, URL and tags. Another convinien search shortcut is ^ (for history) and % (for open tabs).
stronglikedan 5y ago
Not to mention allowing you to add custom tags to your bookmarks, so you can search for them on your terms.
piyh 5y ago
I went the nuclear option in Firefox and disabled search suggestions and history from my omni bar. The only thing that shows up when I type now are my bookmarks, which purposefully only include stuff like personal finance, gmail, and project documentation links. The omni-bar reinforcing past browsing habits that were formed out of addiction by putting them in the top of the suggestion list is a dark pattern for me.

cookiengineer 5y ago

The search functionality is still very limited, though. I don't remember URLs with /some/post/id/123.html. I remember headlines, I remember mentions of the thing the article is telling about. Local bookmarks need an offline cache that at least contains the text content and headings of the URL. Otherwise, the search will stay useless because nobody can organize them manually without making (human) mistakes after a while. Ironically, Chromium's omnibar search worked by searching through headlines for a while; but meanwhile it's broken again, and it never worked for bookmarks and only for history entries.

_Microft 5y ago
I agree that the feature is limited and could be greatly improved. Tab titles and tags are usually good enough though to find what I am looking for.
ttctciyf 5y ago
> I don't remember URLs with /some/post/id/123.html. I remember headlines When I open a new window[1] in Firefox and start typing in the address bar, I get matches based on the page title not just on the url. For example, I open a new window and type "brow" and the matches I get include "I closed a lot of browser tabs | Hacker News" (see image[2].) So I rarely if ever use bookmarks, I can almost always find what I'm looking for by typing in the url bar, or if that fails by searching in history. 1: Are you seated? Good. I don't use tabs, I just open new windows with ctrl-n and use alt-tab & ctrl-w to navigate. I have middle-click set to open in a new window. I use customise to put the "open new window" icon onto my buttons, next to the address bar. I would happily use a version of firefox with no tabs, they add nothing to my life. 2: https://i.imgur.com/loFZ0Mm.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/loFZ0Mm.jpeg
- tomsmeding 5y ago
  > I use customise to put the "open new window" icon onto my buttons, next to the address bar. Note that ctrl-shift-N opens a new window.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - ttctciyf 5y ago
    > ctrl-shift-N opens a new window As does ctrl-n, which I mentioned in the comment you're replying to ;-D

HunOL 5y ago

It's necessary to add that it's searching all bookmarks by title, URL and tags. Another convinien search shortcut is ^ (for history) and % (for open tabs).

stronglikedan 5y ago

Not to mention allowing you to add custom tags to your bookmarks, so you can search for them on your terms.

piyh 5y ago

I went the nuclear option in Firefox and disabled search suggestions and history from my omni bar. The only thing that shows up when I type now are my bookmarks, which purposefully only include stuff like personal finance, gmail, and project documentation links. The omni-bar reinforcing past browsing habits that were formed out of addiction by putting them in the top of the suggestion list is a dark pattern for me.