Search fields & buttons

Intro

Since Opera 7.10, you can add new buttons to Opera with drag'n'drop from a webpage. Since Opera 7.50, you can also drag links from a web page to create search fields or search buttons. The search fields can be placed on normal toolbars, without having to edit search.ini. Search buttons can be placed next to a search field or to the address field, enable the Search panel in 7.5+ for the prime example of this use. Clicking the custom links on this page will open the 'Customize toolbars' dialog and place the field or button on the 'My buttons' tab.

On this page you'll find technical info and some examples. Also on offer is a dedicated page for search buttons and search fields that are especially suited for use in ODict, the standalone Opera dictionary tool. The dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, reference works and translation services from that page might also be useful for others , so click here for more searches.

Code

This special type of hyperlink is recognized by Opera:

<a href="opera:/edit/Search,"<search URL>""
  title="<default field text>">
    Clickable and draggable link</a>

<a href="opera:/button/Search,"<search URL>""
  title="<default button text>">
    Clickable and draggable link</a>

The double quotes around the search URL have to be escaped, so they come out as %22. In the search URL, the placeholder %s is used in the position of the search term, just like search strings in search.ini. Copy one of the links to have a look at how they're put together.

Notes

1. Search fields and buttons can be dropped on the Main bar (hidden by default in 7.5), the Status bar (hidden by default), the Address bar and the Navigation bar (by default only shown when LINK elements are present), and also on the Search panel. The Personal bar only accepts URLs (bookmarks) and search fields, so it doesn't make sense to drop buttons there. The Page bar can only contain page tabs. Dropping a link on it will open the link in a new page, which causes an error message.
2. Search buttons can be dropped right next to a search field or the address field. If there is no field on the left of the button, it will use the first field on the right as its input field.
3. Sometimes it can be hard to drag a link, and you end up selecting text on the page instead. Here's what you should do:
   • position the mouse pointer over the link
   • press the left mouse button
   • move the mouse either straight up or straight down
   • see a change in the cursor icon
   • drag the mouse cursor to a toolbar
   • a marker will appear at the insertion point
   • release the left mouse button