One of my all-time favorite nerdy browsing tools is the use of keyword searching to make finding things on commonly-used websites easier. Instead of loading up a site to search it or using Google to search for everything, I can just go to the address bar and type, say, ‘wp Poland’ and when I hit enter I get the Wikipedia page for Poland.

It’s a feature built into Firefox and Camino (and available for Safari thanks to the Keywurl plugin). Only a few sites are included by default, but it’s easy to add more — I just bookmark the results of a search, then add a keyword to the bookmark and replace the search terms in the URL with ‘%s’. After that, whenever I type that keyword into the search bar, anything I type after it before hitting enter becomes the search terms. (In Safari you have to go through the Keywurl preferences, but it’s just as easy.)

I have built-in searches for all kinds of sites: Amazon, IMDB, YouTube, the dictionary, you name it. I even have special searches for stuff that’s normally a hassle to do. Like if I want a track a package, I just type ‘track’ and paste in the tracking number, and I get the shipping status on Boxoh in no time. No pointing and clicking through multiple pages, just simple syntax and instant information.

Easily the thing I search for most is maps and directions, so I have a ‘map’ keyword that loads Google Maps.  Google recognizes ‘from’ and ‘to’ in the search query and automatically loads directions, which is great. The only catch is that it defaults to driving directions, and I usually want transit directions. (Or bicycle: blogspot/MKuf (Official Google Blog)&utm_content=Twitter , now that they have them!)

So my latest trick: Separate keywords! In links to transit directions, Google adds an extra ‘dirflag=r’ variable to the URL so it knows you want transit, not driving. It does the same for walking directions (‘dirflag=w’) and cycling directions (‘dirflag=b’) as well.  So I made separate keywords (‘transit’, ‘walk’, ‘bike’) and added the appropriate flag to each.

So now, if I want to know how to bike from the old TBG office to the new one, I just go to the address bar (command L gets me there without having to use the mouse), then type ‘walk from 455 broadway to 11 beach street manhattan’, and hit enter. Done. 455 broadway to 11 beach street manhattan