[tor-bugs] #4902 [Tor Browser]: Change the default search engine in TBB

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#4902: Change the default search engine in TBB
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------
 Reporter:  phobos       |          Owner:  mikeperry                    
     Type:  enhancement  |         Status:  needs_review                 
 Priority:  normal       |      Milestone:  TorBrowserBundle 2.3.x-stable
Component:  Tor Browser  |        Version:                               
 Keywords:               |         Parent:                               
   Points:               |   Actualpoints:                               
-------------------------+--------------------------------------------------

Comment(by joebt):

 There may be a couple reasons to also add Ixquick https search in addition
 to DuckDuckGo & StartPage.

 DDG is sometimes referred to as a "hybrid" search engine, while Ixquick is
 called a metacrawler (what's in a name?).  So, they're going to produce
 different results because of different sources.  They did in my brief
 comparisons.

 Another nice feature (to me) is, both Ixquick & Startpage allow making
 numerous search settings changes, then saving those __in a cookie__, OR...
 saving the changes as a __readable or obfuscated URL__, containing the
 changes.  To make it even easier for users to use their custom search
 settings, they can '__Install Custom Plugin'__ after creating the custom
 settings URL, that installs as any other search plugin.  Or save the
 custom URL as a bookmark.

 Several custom search settings bookmarks can be created.  Haven't tested
 creating multiple Ixquick / !StartPage custom search plugins.

 AFAIK, DDG doesn't have the ability to __automatically__ generate the
 custom URL or create a plugin (at all) containing the custom settings.
 DDG users (apparently) have to choose their own custom URL parameters
 (__typing or coping__) from this list, which is time consuming:
 !http://duckduckgo.com/params.html

 I don't find where DDG allows setting # of results per page.  Some also
 don't want to keep up with or save cookies in TBB, so having the
 customized search plugin is a good feature, IMO.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/4902#comment:25>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online