Desktop Search Shortcuts

Summary: Get your work done faster with toolbar shortcuts

Creating Shortcuts

For help on creating shortcuts, see the online help,CONCAboutDeskbarShortcuts.htm&v=02.00.00 or just type "@" into the desktop search bar. The shortcuts you create are stored in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\MsnDeskbarShortcuts.ini in a slightly different format from that shown here - the first comma is replaced by an equals sign. If you want to quickly recover a shortcut after you've typed it in, check out the MSN Deskbar Clip tool.

There are two types of parameter specifiers that you can use in your shortcuts: $w and $s.
$w puts a plus symbol between each word (term) in the parameter string, so that if you have a shortcut
http://foo.com?q=$w&blah
and you type
A B C
the end result is
http://foo.com/?q=ABC&blah
$s fills slots, with each word in the parameter string going into a different $s slot, so that if you have a shortcut
http://foo.com?t1=$s&t2=$s&t3=$s
and you type
A B C
the end result is
http://foo.com/?t1=A&t2=B&t3=C
If you specify neither $s nor $w, then all the words in the parameter string will be added to the end of the result - this can be useful for creating aliases that use the advanced query syntax.

Question: What happens if I feed "B&W Televisions" to http://foo.com?q=$w&blah -- Maurits
Question: What if I want my parameter URL encoded? That is if I send "The Incredibles" I want "http://foo.com?search=$u" to become "http://foo.com?search=The%20Incredibles" -- rkeithhill

Web Shortcuts

To search this...	Paste this into your deskbar...
411	@phone,http://411.com/search/Reverse_Phone?phone=$w
Ask Jeeves	@askj,http://web.ask.com/web?q=$w&qsrc=0&o=0
Dictionary	@dict,http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=$w
Feedster	@feed,http://www.feedster.com/search.php?q=$w
Froogle	@froog,http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=$w
Google	@goog,http://www.google.com/search?q=$w
Google Groups	@groups,http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=$w
Google Maps	@map,http://maps.google.com/maps?q=$w
Internet Movie Database	@imdb,http://www.imdb.com/find?q=$w
Microsoft Knowledgebase	@kb,http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;$w
Moby Games	@moby,http://www.mobygames.com/search/quick?q=$w
MSDN	@msdn,http://search.microsoft.com/search/results.aspx?qu=$w&View=msdn&st=b&c=0&s=1&swc=0
MSDN2	@msdn2,http://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/$w
MSN Define	@define,http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=define+$w
MSN Encarta	@encarta,http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/search.aspx?q=$w
MSN Images	@images,http://search.msn.com/images/results.aspx?q=$w
MSN Maps	@map,http://maps.msn.com/home.aspx?plce1=$w&regn1=0
MSN Movies	@movies,http://entertainment.msn.com/search/movie/?ss=$w
MSN News	@news,http://search.msn.com/news/results.aspx?q=$w
MSN Quote	@quote,http://moneycentral.msn.com/scripts/webquote.dll?ipage=qd&Symbol=$w
MSN Search	@msn,http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=$w
MSN Shopping	@shop,http://shopping.msn.com/fts/searchrdr.aspx?searchText=$w
MSNBC Newsbot	@newsbot,http://newsbot.msnbc.com/search/?nq=$w
Sharepoint (basic search)	@sps,http://my-portal/search.aspx?k=$w
Sharepoint (for a person)	@spsp,http://my-portal/search.aspx?k=$w&w="DAV:contentclass"='urn:content-class:SPSPeople'
Yahoo	@yahoo,http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=sfp&p=$w
Yahoo Maps	@traffic,http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?csz=$w&trf=1

(Add more web shortcuts above this line!)

Command Shortcuts

To do this...	Paste this into your deskbar...
Run any command as admin	@ra,=runas /user:administrator $w
Unix synonym for the above	@su,=runas /user:administrator $w
Run Word	@word,=winword
Open Computer Manager MMC	@compmgr,=compmgmt.msc
Open Disk Defragmenter	@defrag,=dfrg.msc
Open Local Security Settings MMC	@secpol,=secpol.msc

(Add more command shortcuts above this line!)

Script Shortcuts

You can write scripts using Javascript or VBScript and call them using the shortcut mechanism. Scripting allows greater control of the OS and the data sent and received from websites. In short, scripting creates some cool hacks!

Two examples are downloadable at http://www.accenture.com/boone . The first allows you to type "pr xxxx" to hear any word pronounced. The script goes to a dictionary site, extracts the audio file, and plays it. The second example allows you to type "map work to xxxx" or "map xxxx to home" to plot routes to and from your work or home address using Google maps. The script translates your 'work' and 'home' addresses for you before sending the address to the map server.

The example files show how to write and call these scripts. Please add your own cool hacks here.

(Add more script shortcuts above this line!)