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« The Searcher’s Guide to Workplace Search Building Custom Search Experiences »
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Searching Workplace Search from your web browser’s address bar

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Searching Workplace Search from your web browser’s address bar

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Each Workplace Search deployment includes a web-based search application. You can search these Workplace Search applications the same way you search the web: directly from your browser’s address bar.

Review the instructions for your browser to add and search your Workplace Search applications:

Searching Workplace Search from the Chrome address bar

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To search a Workplace Search application from the Chrome address bar, first add the application as a Chrome search engine and assign it a keyword. You must complete this setup only once, after which you can search directly from the address bar using the assigned keyword.

  1. Add a Workplace Search application as a Chrome search engine
  2. Search a Workplace Search application from the Chrome address bar

These specific procedures vary by Chrome platform and version. The following examples are accurate for Google Chrome version 85.0.4183.102 (Official Build) (64-bit) on MacOS Catalina version 10.15.6 (19G2021).

Add a Workplace Search application as a Chrome search engine

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Use Chrome’s search engine settings to add your Workplace Search application as a Chrome search engine and assign it a keyword.

  1. Within Chrome, open chrome://settings/searchEngines.

    opensearch chrome search engines

  2. Within Other search engines, choose Add,

    opensearch chrome search engines new

    which opens the Add search engine form.

    opensearch chrome search engine new

  3. Within Search engine, enter a name for the search engine.

    Choose any name, but we recommend Workplace Search.

    opensearch chrome search engine new search engine

  4. Within Keyword, enter a keyword to assign to this search engine.

    Choose any word, but we recommend ws, an abbreviation for "Workplace Search". You’ll use this keyword to trigger the search engine from the address bar.

    opensearch chrome search engine new keyword

  5. Within URL with %s in place of query, enter the following URL.

    <WS_BASE_URL>/ws/search/search?q=%s

    Substitute <WS_BASE_URL> with the base URL at which Workplace Search is hosted (scheme + host, no path). For example:

    # Deployment using a custom domain name
https://www.example.com/ws/search/search?q=%s

# Deployment using a default Elastic Cloud domain name
https://64c508d875bc457986d431dca55b997b.ent-search.us-east-1.aws.cloud.es.io:443/ws/search/search?q=%s

# Unsecured local development environment
http://localhost:3002/ws/search/search?q=%s
    opensearch chrome search engine new url

  6. Choose Add,

    opensearch chrome search engine create

    which submits the form and displays your saved search engine.

    opensearch chrome search engine

After completing this one-time setup, you can search directly from the Chrome address bar.

Search a Workplace Search application from the Chrome address bar

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After adding a Workplace Search application as a Chrome search engine and assigning it a keyword, search the application directly from Chrome’s address bar using the assigned keyword.

  1. Within the Chrome address bar, enter the keyword you assigned to the search engine.

    opensearch chrome search enter keyword

  2. Enter a whitespace character (e.g. press Tab or the space bar).

    This triggers the custom search engine.

    opensearch chrome search trigger keyword

  3. Enter your search terms.

    opensearch chrome search enter search terms

  4. Submit the request (e.g. press Enter or Return).

    Chrome opens the search application to display the results.

    opensearch chrome search results

If your login session has expired, the search application will prompt you to log in rather than display the search results. Log in, then search again.

Searching Workplace Search from the Safari address bar

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To search a Workplace Search application from the Safari address bar, first add the application as a Safari search engine. You must complete this setup only once.

Subsequently, search Workplace Search directly from the Safari address bar.

  1. Add a Workplace Search application as a Safari search engine
  2. Search a Workplace Search application from the Safari address bar

These specific procedures vary by Safari platform and version. The following examples are accurate for Apple Safari version 13.1.2 (15609.3.5.1.3) on MacOS Catalina version 10.15.6 (19G2021).

Add a Workplace Search application as a Safari search engine

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Unlike other browsers, Safari doesn’t have an explicit process to add a search engine. Instead, the browser remembers which search applications you use and allows you to subsequently search them directly from its address bar.

Therefore, to add a Workplace Search application as a search engine, open the application and complete a search.

  1. Within Safari, open the search application.

    opensearch safari search app

  2. Complete a search.

    Use any search terms. The terms won’t affect the result.

    opensearch safari search app search

Safari automatically adds the application as a search engine, after which, you can search directly from the Safari address bar.

Search a Workplace Search application from the Safari address bar

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After adding a Workplace Search application as a Safari search engine, search the application directly from Safari’s address bar.

  1. Within the Safari address bar, begin typing the web address of the Workplace Search application.

    After you’ve typed enough of the address, Safari suggests the remainder.

    opensearch safari search enter url

  2. Accept Safari’s suggestion (e.g. press Tab).

    This triggers the custom search engine.

    opensearch safari search accept suggestion

  3. Enter your search terms.

    opensearch safari search enter search terms

  4. Submit the request (e.g. press Enter or Return).

    Safari opens the search application to display the results.

    opensearch safari search results

If your login session has expired, the search application will prompt you to log in rather than display the search results. Log in, then search again.

Searching Workplace Search from the Firefox address bar

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To search a Workplace Search application from the Firefox address bar, first add the application as a Firefox search engine, and optionally assign a keyword to the search engine. You must complete this setup only once.

Subsequently, search Workplace Search directly from the Firefox address bar using the search engine’s custom search button or its assigned keyword.

  1. Add a Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine
  2. Add a keyword to a Workplace Search Firefox search engine
  3. Search a Workplace Search application from the Firefox address bar using its custom button
  4. Search a Workplace Search application from the Firefox address bar using its keyword

These specific procedures vary by Firefox platform and version. The following examples are accurate for Mozilla Firefox version 80.0.1 (64-bit) on MacOS Catalina version 10.15.6 (19G2021).

Add a Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine

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Use Firefox’s address bar menu to add your Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine.

  1. Within Firefox, open the Workplace Search application.

    opensearch firefox search app

  2. Open the address bar menu (e.g. click …​).

    opensearch firefox address bar menu

  3. Choose Add Search Engine.

    opensearch firefox search engine create

After completing this one-time setup, you can search directly from the Firefox address bar using a custom button.

Optionally, assign a keyword to the search engine so you can also search by keyword.

Add a keyword to a Workplace Search Firefox search engine

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After adding a Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine, you may want to trigger the search engine by keyword. Use Firefox’s search preferences to add a keyword to the search engine.

  1. Within Firefox, open about:preferences#search.

    opensearch firefox preferences search

  2. Scroll to One-Click Search Engines.

    opensearch firefox search engines edit

  3. Within Elastic Workplace Search, focus (e.g. double-click) Keyword.

    opensearch firefox edit search engine

  4. Enter a keyword to assign to this search engine.

    Choose any word, but we recommend ws, an abbreviation for "Workplace Search".

    opensearch firefox search engine update

  5. Blur Keyword (e.g. press Tab, Enter, or Return) to save your changes.

    opensearch firefox search engine

After completing this one-time setup, you can search directly from the Firefox address bar using the keyword.

Search a Workplace Search application from the Firefox address bar using its custom button

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After adding a Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine, search the application directly from Firefox’s address bar using the search engine’s custom search button.

  1. Within the Firefox address bar, enter your search terms.

    opensearch firefox search enter search terms

  2. Within This time, search with:, choose the button for the Workplace Search application.

    opensearch firefox search with workplace search

    Firefox opens the search application to display the results.

    opensearch firefox search results

If your login session has expired, the search application will prompt you to log in rather than display the search results. Log in, then search again.

Alternatively, search the same application using its keyword.

Search a Workplace Search application from the Firefox address bar using its keyword

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After adding a Workplace Search application as a Firefox search engine and assigning a keyword to the search engine, search the application directly from Firefox’s address bar using the search engine’s keyword.

  1. Within the Firefox address bar, enter the keyword you assigned to the search engine.

    This triggers the custom search engine.

    opensearch firefox search with keyword enter keyword

  2. Enter a space character, then your search terms.

    opensearch firefox search with keyword enter search terms

  3. Submit the request (e.g. press Enter or Return).

    Firefox opens the search application to display the results.

    opensearch firefox search results

If your login session has expired, the search application will prompt you to log in rather than display the search results. Log in, then search again.

Alternatively, search the same application using its custom search button.

Searching Workplace Search from the Edge address bar

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To search a Workplace Search application from the Edge address bar, first add the application as an Edge search engine and assign it a keyword. You must complete this setup only once, after which you can search directly from the address bar using the assigned keyword.

  1. Add a Workplace Search application as an Edge search engine
  2. Search a Workplace Search application from the Edge address bar

These specific procedures vary by Edge platform and version. The following examples are accurate for Microsoft Edge version 85.0.564.51 (Official build) (64-bit) on MacOS Catalina version 10.15.6 (19G2021).

Add a Workplace Search application as an Edge search engine

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Use Edge’s search engine settings to add your Workplace Search application as an Edge search engine and assign it a keyword.

  1. Within Edge, open edge://settings/searchEngines.

    opensearch edge search engines

  2. Within Address bar search engines, choose Add,

    opensearch edge search engines new

    which opens the Add search engine form.

    opensearch edge search engine new

  3. Within Search engine, enter a name for the search engine.

    Choose any name, but we recommend Workplace Search.

    opensearch edge search engine new search engine

  4. Within Keyword, enter a keyword to assign to this search engine.

    Choose any word, but we recommend ws, an abbreviation for "Workplace Search". You’ll use this keyword to trigger the search engine from the address bar.

    opensearch edge search engine new keyword

  5. Within URL with %s in place of query, enter the following URL.

    <WS_BASE_URL>/ws/search/search?q=%s

    Substitute <WS_BASE_URL> with the base URL at which Workplace Search is hosted (scheme + host, no path). For example:

    # Deployment using a custom domain name
https://www.example.com/ws/search/search?q=%s

# Deployment using a default Elastic Cloud domain name
https://64c508d875bc457986d431dca55b997b.ent-search.us-east-1.aws.cloud.es.io:443/ws/search/search?q=%s

# Unsecured local development environment
http://localhost:3002/ws/search/search?q=%s
    opensearch edge search engine new url

  6. Choose Save,

    opensearch edge search engine create

    which submits the form and displays your saved search engine.

    opensearch edge search engine

After completing this one-time setup, you can search directly from the Edge address bar.

Search a Workplace Search application from the Edge address bar

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After adding a Workplace Search application as an Edge search engine and assigning it a keyword, search the application directly from Edge’s address bar using the assigned keyword.

  1. Within the Edge address bar, enter the keyword you assigned to the search engine.

    opensearch edge search enter keyword

  2. Enter a whitespace character (e.g. press Tab or the space bar).

    This triggers the custom search engine.

    opensearch edge search trigger keyword

  3. Enter your search terms.

    opensearch edge search enter search terms

  4. Submit the request (e.g. press Enter or Return).

    Edge opens the search application to display the results.

    opensearch edge search results

If your login session has expired, the search application will prompt you to log in rather than display the search results. Log in, then search again.

« The Searcher’s Guide to Workplace Search Building Custom Search Experiences »