[monkeybrain]

Does anyone know of any trick or even app that lets you search in several search engines at once?

Specifically I look up a lot of words in online dictionaries and want to load them all at once in different tabs. I use Butler at the moment, but unfortunately it is like most other apps that other a search option and only allows you to search in one engine at a time. I bet there's a way to do it in Quicksilver, but I want to stay with my trusty Butler!

[Curiosity]

The easiest way to do that is by using a metasearch engine. Dogpile (Dogpile Web Search Home Page) is one, Mamma (Mamma Metasearch - The Mother of All Search Engines) is another.

[zro]

For Safari (and I believe Firefox) you can do this with a bookmarklet.

javascript:if(getSelection()!=''){q=getSelection() ;}else{void(q=prompt('Enter%20search%20term',''))} ;if(q){window.open('http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?go=Go&search='+escape(q));window.op en('http://www.google.com/search?q='+escape(q));}

Which will search Wikipedia and Google for any term highlighted on the page, or if none is selected will prompt for a term.

Note that this will only work with search forms that submit GET data. The trick is to add a properly formed URL sans query string to a window.open function - window.open('http://www.google.com/search?q=' +escape(q)); - in the bookmarklet before the last right curly brace.

I personally use this bookmarklet for searching different sites of differing purpose. One at a time, of course.

[monkeybrain]

Hi zro, I've been trying to get that bookmarklet to work but to no avail. If I enter the javascript in the location field of Camino or Safari nothing happens at all. I'd really appreciate it if you could explain the process a bit more, as I think it is exactly what I need.

[zro]

You need to paste it into the URL field of a bookmark and access it that way.

In Safari I hold Option and drag any bookmark to copy it. Then you can replace the URL in the copy with the bookmarklet and give it an appropriate title. Then select it from your bookmarks to run it.

Not sure about Firefox or Camino, but I imagine Camino will let you Option drag a bookmark to copy it.


More info and examples - Scriptable Applications: Safari Bookmarks

[mpancha]

I ran across this from another newer hint... but just wanted to add a little trick that might help...

once you have the bookmark in your bookmarks... if you then drag it to your bookmarks bar to the beginning of your list of bookmarks, you can now use a builtin shortcut.

The first bookmark in your bookmark bar (that isn't a folder) is OPTION + 1, the second OPTION+2.. and so on. I use that to get back to my home page (iGoogle) and for TinyURL, two sites I use frequently each hour.