[mg]

I had a similar idea a while back and built Gnod Search around it:

https://www.gnod.com/search

You can enter a search term and then click on the button of a search engine.

Or you can just press the first char in the name of the engine. So you can search Google for "hello world" by typing "hello world<enter>g". And then go back and just hit "c" to send the same query to ChatGPT.

[Leftium]

I came up with the concept of the "double-keypress" (a la mouse double-click) to solve the problem of selecting the search engine without any clicking: https://zz.leftium.com/

- First of all, search bangs actually already removed the need to click the "search" button.

- However, I wanted to support multiline input (on a mobile virtual keyboard.)

- ENTER,ENTER solves this. (Double-keypress ENTER)

- I also wanted the search box to filter the list of 10,000+ available search bangs.

- So Q,Q selects the first entry; W,W the next; and so on... (The first Q must be uppercase, but the following Q may be lowercase to support how mobile virtual keyboards work)

- (Notice Q is right under the key for 1; W under 2; and so on )

I have to tune the double-keypress UX (often I initiate a search when I just want a newline.) Perhaps I will also add triple-keypress.

[mg]

That's a cool idea.

So a simple return makes a newline, and two quick returns have a different meaning. I like that.

The way I support multiline is via the little triangle in the search bar. I think I'll keep it, because it is easier to discover. The double-return would need some kind of textual hint. Like when you press enter once, a little hint could pop up below the search area telling you that to leave the text entry, you can hit enter twice.

And on mobile I rarely use multiline searches I think. On the Desktop I use shift-return to create a newline.

[ganessh]

How do I select duckduckgo after pressing enter, because DeepL appears before DuckDuckGo?

[mg]

Have you seen that you can customize the list of engines when you click "more engines"?

For now, if you have two engines in your list that start with the same letter and want to use the second one, you have to click on it.

I was thinking about changing it so that when you press the letter, then both engines lit up so you know you have to press another letter to select which one you want. So DeepL would be "de" and DuckDuckGo would become "du".

Not sure if it is a feature in high demand. If I get feedback from a user that they want it, I would implement it.

[wwickey]

Ah, cool, yes, same idea! I like it.

Any of the expanded search options get much action?

[mg]

Not sure. I have not much insight into how people use it. Just like you, I mostly have built it (and keep building it) for myself. And yes, I also think it saves time.

[wwickey]

Cool, thanks.

Some of the options, for example, ReelGood, I personally use all the time, but I’m not sure how common that is for others.

I’m sure there are searches (maybe things like arxiv, Google Translate, Google Scholar, Spotify, etc.) that other people use more often. I initially opted to keep things tidy (and "'simple'") vs comprehensive, but I will add those and others if anyone wants them!