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Find All for Firefox somewhat alleviates crappy default Find functionality
So I don't like Firefox's native Find functionality; and it turns out I'm not the only one. There have been lots of comments on my post; the one I found most entertaining was the one calling me to "stop acting like a tabloid" – gotta love those comments!
The most useful comment, however, came from reader Ken Saunders. Ken pointed me towards Find All, which is an add-on that goes a long way to fixing the Find problem.
Basically, with Find All installed, you open the Find box normally and start typing your search string. You see the first instance highlighted on the screen, as per usual. But when you then hit Enter, something really cool happens: A new pane opens at the bottom of the window, with all instances of the word on the page, each with its context so you don't have to skip to it to see if it's relevant. A single click on the line takes you to that spot on the page and highlights the word.
In addition, all instances of the word are highlighted on the page. I know this is an option which exists without the add-on, but it's switched off by default (why, Mozilla?), and the comments to my original post show that many people are unaware of it. So Find All switches this on for you.
While the add-on has less visual flair than Opera's Find, it is very useful and I will definitely keep it installed. Thanks for the tip, Ken!
Comments
8
Subscribe to commentsAditya ThawardasJul 14th 2010 3:15PM
The best find for Firefox extension is "XUL/Migemo"
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5239/
It has the highlight like Opera and Safari.
benJul 14th 2010 3:09PM
wtf are you talking about..... Can't you just click "Highlight all"?
It's not an add on, basically at the same position as the "Find all".
AhmadJul 14th 2010 3:54PM
Ben is right, Highlight All has always been there and does exactly what you're complaining about.
Maybe you're not aware that by pressing / you get a different options than when pressing Ctrl-f
NeelarkJul 14th 2010 4:41PM
I have to agree with Ben and Ahmad, been using "Highlight all" since as long as I can remember in Firefox! Doesn't appear on Quick Find though.
Patrick.J.McNallyJul 14th 2010 4:41PM
@ben and @Ahmad,
This is an addon and is different than just clicking "Highlight All". When using "Highlight All" there can still be words hiding in difficult places. As the author points out...
"But when you then hit Enter, something really cool happens: A new pane opens at the bottom of the window, with all instances of the word on the page, each with its context so you don't have to skip to it to see if it's relevant. A single click on the line takes you to that spot on the page and highlights the word."
This new pane makes finding the right instance you are looking for very easy. Each word is in context and when you click on the line in the new pane it takes you to the word on the page.
JACQUEJul 15th 2010 3:56AM
This may have been closer to what the author was looking for
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2585/
KualaBeeJul 15th 2010 6:55AM
Thanks a bunch, this is what this college student needed. This will save me tons of manual "highlight all" clicks whenever I am doing research papers.
SilverWaveJul 15th 2010 1:24PM
hmm looks promising :-)
Cheers.