The new search box in Internet Explorer 7 is a very useful new feature. However, it is easy to make it even more useful by adding the ability to search almost any website in it that supports searching. For example, you can add Tweaks.com to the search box so you can search Tweaks.com directly for various tweaks. This is possible with the help of a simple registry tweak:
- Open up Registry Editor (Start button -> regedit -> Hit Enter)
- Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Internet Explorer, and Search Scopes.
- Create a new key and call it Tweaks
- Inside the new Tweaks key, create a new string value and call it DisplayName. Set that new string value to "Tweaks.com"
- Create another string value and name it URL. Set the value of that key to "https://tweaks.com/search/?q={SearchTerms}". The {SearchTerms} portion of the text will insert what was typed into the IE search box.
- Exit and restart IE.
Now that you know the basics of how to add Tweaks.com to the Internet Explorer 7 search box, you can easily apply other websites and create more search providers. The key is discovering the search URL and then applying the {SearchTerms} wild card to the right part of the URL.
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