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Add Any Web Search to Launchy 2.0
Posted by Adam Pash at 9:00 AM on December 28, 2007
The latest version of our current favorite Windows app launcher, Launchy, saw several nice interface updates and some plug-in improvements in the latest release, and one hugely useful feature improvement that may have snuck in under your radar is the impressively updated Weby plugin, which adds simple customization of web searches directly inside of Launchy's preference pane. For example, reader Nicholai say he prefers the lightning quick definitions from web site Definr, so he simply added Definr to the Weby plug-in by clicking the '+' button, titled the site Definr, added http://definr.com/ in the URL box, and put %s (your search term) in the query section. Likewise, another reader is searching his Gmail from Launchy with Weby. Granted, you can accomplish similar tasks with keyword bookmarks in Firefox, but the improved Weby plug-in works like a charm, too. Thanks Nicholai!
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Destrox
Posted 2:36 PM 27/12/07
The first search I added last week when I first got it was a Lifehacker search. Since I am kinda new to Lifehacker, when I hear something new, I like to see if Lifehacker has somethin about it.
Destrox
Adam Pash, LH Senior Editor
Posted 3:34 PM 27/12/07
@da5id_nz: Actually, Launchy already could do this, but it's been updated to be a lot easier.
@GBirdii: Oops! ;)
Adam Pash, LH Senior Editor
GBirdii
Posted 3:18 PM 27/12/07
You better tell them about the "tab" key required to use this feature. Bad Lifehacker for not being fully informative =(
GBirdii
da5id_nz
Posted 2:56 PM 27/12/07
Of course, Dash Command already has this built in.
It's not free though but well worth the spend.
da5id_nz
andrewl85
Posted 4:53 PM 27/12/07
Keybreeze also has this built in, and it's much easier than Launchy. Instead of typing the web site and pressing tab, you just type the following:
"s lifehacker" - searches Google
"w lifehacker" - looks up lifehacker in Wikipedia.
"d lifehacker" - Dictionary.com search, though I don't know if Lifehacker would return any results :(
and of course you can add your own.
andrewl85
DmitriKaramazov
Posted 4:35 PM 27/12/07
This feature is awesome! I have just been doing it with keyword bookmarks, but this actually should work better for me, since Launchy seems oblivious to my Firefox 3 bookmarks.
Has anyone been able to get this feature to work for Google Reader?
DmitriKaramazov
greeze
Posted 8:01 PM 27/12/07
Yeah, I tried Launchy. I really did. I gave it my all and it just isn't quite there for me. Anytime I added an alias to Weby or Runner, it either took forever to be added to Launchy's list, or it never got added at all. Its indexing caused a noticeable slowdown on my machine, and Launchy just never felt "snappy" enough. The Launchy website is non-intuitive and the only support forums are the bare-bones Sourceforge forums. I'm not trying to trash Launchy, because I think it's useful and all, but it just isn't the be-all end-all that Lifehacker seems to make it out to be.
On the other hand, I installed Keybreeze today and was instantly hooked. Right-click to add custom aliases for any folder/drive/app; add custom web searches; run macros; replace text; add notes; and so on and on and on. And it's FAST. And it's currently using 3Mb of RAM on my system versus the ~30Mb that Launchy was using. Why oh why does Launchy keep getting pushed when there are so much better alternatives out there?
greeze
omarz
Posted 8:52 PM 27/12/07
I'm a fan of SlickRun, but I'm willing to give that Keybreeze a try. I've also tried Launchy in the past, but haven't been that impressed, partly because of its memory usage. SlickRun uses less than 9 MB. In today's systems of 1+ GB RAM, 30 MB (Launchy) doesn't seem like a lot, but during work lots of apps demands lots of RAM so I try minimizing what I don't need.
omarz
DmitriKaramazov
Posted 9:19 PM 27/12/07
I tried Keybreeze, and while I will grant you that it's more versatile than Launchy, at least for the time being, I am not going to be switching. For one thing, it seemed to be concerned with my spelling, which I found presumptuous. Furthermore, during my trial period I saw not the slightest hint that it was interested in modifying its behavior out of deference to my computing habits, unlike Launchy.
You Dash and Keybreeze fanatics are a tenacious lot, I'll give you that.
DmitriKaramazov
desipenguin
Posted 11:36 PM 27/12/07
Just to add to previous post, DOMercury also has this feature (I've 2.4 of DOMercury)
desipenguin
desipenguin
Posted 10:23 PM 27/12/07
Has anybody tried DOMercury ? It is similar to QuickSilver, and allows you to do more that just launch the applications. I'm trying that for a week, and haven't missed launchy (I had 1.25)
desipenguin
da5id_nz
Posted 4:14 AM 28/12/07
Dash Command has fuzzy searching now too. You can do things like type in the first letters of words in a shortcut etc.
da5id_nz
malbec
Posted 5:40 AM 28/12/07
Hi, in my computer launchy use only 9mb of RAM. I don't know why are you saying that that use 30mb or more.
malbec
Frank Meeuwsen
Posted 6:59 AM 28/12/07
For some strange reason the Google Search in Launchy keeps opening the mobile searchpage in my firefox. It does have the right paramters for a normal search though. Any one has seen this behaviour as well?
Frank Meeuwsen
webnesto
Posted 8:27 AM 28/12/07
@GREEZE: Thanks for that well thought out comment. It really articulated a few problems I've had with Launchy. My love affair with Launchy as been waning since the developer decided to quit allowing multiple instances. I had previously managed Launchy's tendency to bloat RAM use with the amount of files/directories indexed by having 3 different Launchy instances for different tasks, 2 of which were non-critical and could be stopped anytime I needed the RAM.
@MALBEC: The amount of RAM Launchy uses is related to the number of directories and file types you have it index. With the files I index, and the numerous book marks I have that the Weby plugin pulls in, Launchy is typically sucking over a 100MB of RAM on my system.
webnesto
dnthomps
Posted 9:21 AM 28/12/07
Decent way to mask a link as well.
Lifehacker: [www.google.com]
dnthomps
dnthomps
Posted 9:19 AM 28/12/07
So check this out...
[www.google.com]
This is the search query used when you press I'm Feeling Lucky. It also includes the Google Suggest operative in case you are redirected to Google search results and need to redefine your search query(I♥Google Suggest).
Alright, so it isn't that cool, but I love typing 'g lifehacker' or 'g whatever' and getting the results I expect.
dnthomps
DawMatt
Posted 6:02 AM 28/12/07
Hi, I recently posted about adding Windows Desktop Search to Launchy using the Weby or Runner plugins (depending on the WDS version). [tech.niques.info] has the details.
DawMatt
gfrobe
Posted 10:24 AM 28/12/07
Just tried Keybreeze after using Launchy for many months now and have to say, this Keybreeze is pretty good. Indexing my music files, Launchy was typically using 30mb of RAM. Keybreeze is using less than 6mb and doing just as good a job. Time to uninstall Launchy I think.
gfrobe
Y1n_X1
Posted 12:27 PM 28/12/07
There is a feature in Firefox that when combined with Launchy creates the fastest searches imaginable. By right clicking on any search box and selecting "Add keyword for this search..." you can create a bookmark that allows you to type a keyword for any search followed by your search query in the address bar to search that site. For example if you want to look up a rating for a movie on IMDB you can have it set so you type "movie I Am Legend" into the address bar and it will search IMDB for I Am Legend. Since weby automatically recognizes your bookmarks, which the search keywords are, you can simply type in your search keyword press tab and then type your search query and wah la your search is under way.
Y1n_X1