225715 - search toolbar should auto-search when user selects a new search engine from the drop-down list

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 335827

(Firefox :: Search, enhancement)

Description

[Chris Peterson [:cpeterson]]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031113 Firebird/0.7+
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031113 Firebird/0.7+

Firebird's CTRL+K search box should auto-search for the existing search terms
when you select a new search engine from the drop-down list. IE's Google Toolbar
does this and it is a nice convenience.

This feature enhancement would reduce keystrokes and allow users to reuse the
same search terms in different search engines without typing. I reported this
bug against Mycroft on the mozdev.org Bugzilla:
http://mozdev.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=5039. They told me to report it here.


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. CTRL+K and type some words to search for, but do NOT press ENTER
2. Click the search engine drop-down list and select a non-default search engine

Actual Results:  
Nothing happens. You have to press ENTER to start the search.

Expected Results:  
Auto-search like IE's Google Toolbar.

Comment 1

[Jesse Ruderman]

The proposed behavior makes sense if you select a search engine by clicking, but
not if you select a search engine using Ctrl+Down.

Comment 2

[Robert Whittaker]

See also: http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=253015 - Changing the
engine should at least put the focus in the search box.

Personally, I think it's more natural to choose the engine first, then write the
query, then execute. This is the order for a search using google or other
engines via the web, and the search engine icon is at the left of the search box
- hinting that the ordering should be that way round.

Comment 3

[Chris Bloom]

I agree with comment #2 - If there is already text in the box from a previous search it might be confusing if selecting a new search engine auto-submitted the old query.

Also, the search box *is* auto-selected after selecting a new search engine, at least in my install (Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.6) Gecko/20060728 Firefox/1.5.0.6)

Comment 4

[Phil Ringnalda (:philor)]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 335827 ***