In Part 1, I said that Firefox was my preferred browser and listed some extensions that I like. They’re cool and useful, but pale in comparison to my favorite and most indispensable feature – smart keywords.
I used Firefox for a long time before discovering smart keywords. After I did, it has been a monumental shift in how I use the browser and search for information.
Keywords
Let’s start with keywords in general – not the smart kind. Keywords can be assigned to any of your existing internet bookmarks. Here’s how:
- Show the bookmarks sidebar by pressing Control+B (Command+B on a Mac)
- Search for or navigate to a bookmark, right-click and choose Properties
- Add a keyword that describes the bookmark (e.g. ‘goog’ for Google), press Save
- Type the keyword into the address bar and hit return
In step 4, you should have gone straight to your bookmarked page. For commonly used bookmarks this saves you time – you don’t have to go hunting for the bookmark in a menu, you just type the keyword and it goes straight there. Continue reading »
