How to make duckduckgo default to HTML with NoScript addon involved?

[james mason]

Have you an idea of what to change to work around this bug?

Because NoScript is running, DuckDuckGo won't work until/unless
you manually click a different link, which is a pain.
https://i.imgur.com/yAzbIZs.jpg

I wonder if we can "fix" this coding problem by messing with the
duckduckgo XML file located at
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/

In that directory are the following user-editable files
ddg.xml duckduckgo.xml startpage.xml wikipedia.xml youtube.xml
disconnect.xml google.xml twitter.xml yahoo.xml

If we take the example of duckduckgo
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/duckduckgo.xml

That file contains the following related lines:

<Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">
<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>
<SearchForm>https://duckduckgo.com/html/</SearchForm>
</SearchPlugin>
~
I'm not sure exactly how to add that change, but I'd like to tell duckduckgo
to always use the HTML version because I have NoScript which blocks the
native version of duckduckgo.

https://i.imgur.com/yAzbIZs.jpg

Does anyone know what to change in duckduckgo.xml to make it go to
the HTML version every time?

That is, we want to change the default search for "foo bar" from:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=foo+bar
To:
https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=foo%20bar

Because otherwise it takes an extra page of nothing, which says:
This page requires JavaScript. Get the non-JS version here.

Have you an idea of what to change to work around this bug?

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.458.1452306346...@lists.mozilla.org>,

james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:

> Have you an idea of what to change to work around this bug?
>
> Because NoScript is running, DuckDuckGo won't work until/unless
> you manually click a different link, which is a pain.
> https://i.imgur.com/yAzbIZs.jpg

I haven't installed NoScript to find out for certain, but using
<https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/> should get
you what you want.

[james mason]

On Fri, 08 Jan 2016 23:50:29 -0600, »Q« wrote:

> I haven't installed NoScript to find out for certain, but using
> <https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/> should get
> you what you want.

That seems perfect. Thanks for that new idea.
But I have a problems (maybe it's just me?)

https://i.imgur.com/WnIHEMf.jpg

Maybe it's just my browser, and I tried with Chrome but it won't download.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/252586/addon-252586-latest.xml?src=dp-btn-primary

Am I supposed to just copy the XML file that is underneath the
blue "download now" button?

Every time I click on that button, left or right click, this
is exactly what I see: https://i.imgur.com/WnIHEMf.jpg

<OpenSearchDescription>
<ShortName>DuckDuckGo HTML</ShortName>
<Description>Search DuckDuckGo (HTML)</Description>
<InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
<LongName>DuckDuckGo Search (HTML, non-JS)</LongName>
<Image height="16" width="16">data:image/x-icon;base64,i1OjA...gibberish...wX0yGI==
</Image>
<Url type="text/html" method="post" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

<Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" template="https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q={searchTerms}&type=list"/>
</OpenSearchDescription>

How am I supposed to install this thing?
Do I just copy *that* to
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/???

[listas...@msjs.co]

El 09/01/16 a las 00:50, »Q« escribió:

> In
> <news:mailman.458.1452306346...@lists.mozilla.org>,
> james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:
>

>> Have you an idea of what to change to work around this bug?
>>
>> Because NoScript is running, DuckDuckGo won't work until/unless
>> you manually click a different link, which is a pain.
>> https://i.imgur.com/yAzbIZs.jpg
>

> I haven't installed NoScript to find out for certain, but using
> <https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/> should get
> you what you want.
>

> _______________________________________________
> support-firefox mailing list
> support...@lists.mozilla.org
> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/support-firefox
> To unsubscribe, send an email to support-fir...@lists.mozilla.org?subject=unsubscribe
>

https://duckduckgo.com/html

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.478.1452346706...@lists.mozilla.org>,

james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 08 Jan 2016 23:50:29 -0600, »Q« wrote:
>
> > I haven't installed NoScript to find out for certain, but using
> > <https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/> should
> > get you what you want.
>
> That seems perfect. Thanks for that new idea.
> But I have a problems (maybe it's just me?)
>
> https://i.imgur.com/WnIHEMf.jpg
>
> Maybe it's just my browser, and I tried with Chrome but it won't
> download.
> https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/252586/addon-252586-latest.xml?src=dp-btn-primary
>
> Am I supposed to just copy the XML file that is underneath the
> blue "download now" button?

Using the profile I had been using for testing, I got exactly the same
thing you're seeing. I clobbered that profile and used a fresh one,
and now I get the green "+ Add to Firefox" button, and it works to
install. Unfortunately, having done away with the old testing profile,
I can't reproduce the problem. I don't know what to suggest other than
entering safe mode and going back to AMO -- maybe that will get you the
green button and let you install.

> Every time I click on that button, left or right click, this
> is exactly what I see: https://i.imgur.com/WnIHEMf.jpg
>
> <OpenSearchDescription>
> <ShortName>DuckDuckGo HTML</ShortName>
> <Description>Search DuckDuckGo (HTML)</Description>
> <InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
> <LongName>DuckDuckGo Search (HTML, non-JS)</LongName>
> <Image height="16"
> width="16">data:image/x-icon;base64,i1OjA...gibberish...wX0yGI==
> </Image> <Url type="text/html" method="post"
> template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/"> <Param name="q"
> value="{searchTerms}"/> </Url>
> <Url type="application/x-suggestions+json"
> template="https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q={searchTerms}&type=list"/>
> </OpenSearchDescription>
>
> How am I supposed to install this thing?
> Do I just copy *that* to
> /usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/???

That should work, I think -- or just drop it into the searchplugins/
subdirectory in your profile folder.

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 11:27:06 -0600, »Q« wrote:

> I don't know what to suggest other than
> entering safe mode and going back to AMO -- maybe that will get you the
> green button and let you install.

You are amazing.

Safe mode worked to change https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/
from a *blue* button to a *green* button!

http://i.imgur.com/MQKkYg2.jpg

>> How am I supposed to install this thing?

> or just drop it into the searchplugins/
> subdirectory in your profile folder.

Hmmm... where is this "searchplugins" directory in a "profile folder"?

In my $HOME/.mozilla directory are two directories: extensions & firefox.
There is a "profiles.ini" file in the "firefox" sub directory, but, in
neither "extensions" nor in "firefox" is there a "profile" folder.

Do you mean the ab12cdef.default folder?
There is no "profile" folder inside of that folder though...
Nor is there a "searchplugins" folder.

?<confusion>?

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 07:54:20 -0500, listas...@msjs.co wrote:

> https://duckduckgo.com/html

The problem is making that URL happen *automatically* when you
type "foo bar" or "?foo" into the URL bar (I never use the search
bar because it's a redundant waste of space).

[WaltS48]

Just set DDG as the default search engine.

--
Linux Mint 17.3 "Rosa" | KDE 4.14.2 | Thunderbird 43.0b1 (Beta)
Go Bucs! (next season) Go Pens! Go Sabres! Go Pitt!
[Visit Pittsburgh]<http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/>
[Coexist · Understanding Across Divides]<https://www.coexist.org/>

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 11:27:06 -0600, »Q« wrote:

> That should work, I think -- or just drop it into the searchplugins/
> subdirectory in your profile folder.

I am confused how the searchplugins lookup sequence works?

Because NoScript is running, DuckDuckGo won't work until/unless

you manually click a different (html) link, which is a pain.
https://i.imgur.com/yAzbIZs.jpg

I never use the "search" bar because the "URL bar" works just
as well, when I type either "?foo" or "foo<space>bar" in the
URL bar.

Typing "foo bar" into the URL bar results in a URL of:
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=foo+bar
Which won't work when NoScript is active.

But Duckduckgo will give you a link which, when clicked, goes to:
https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=foo%20bar

Which works just fine as an HTML search.

To collapse those two steps back into a single step, you can
install a *different* HTML-only duckduckgo extension:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

This works - but - where does that extension actually go?

A Linux "updatedb;locate" only locates 1 duckduckgo XML file:
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/duckduckgo.xml

And a look at that file before and after the HTML duckduckgo
shows it to be *unchanged*.

So, *where* did the HTML-only version of duckduckgo actually go?
I don't see it in my default profile directory either.
But I admit I don't understand these default profile directories.

[WaltS48]

I thought DuckDuckGo was added as a search option in Firefox 33.1?

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 14:21:48 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:

> I thought DuckDuckGo was added as a search option in Firefox 33.1

> <https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/33.1/releasenotes/>?

The problem has nothing to do with Duckduckgo being a search
option for the URL bar (remember, I never use the search bar
because I don't see that it does *anything* that the URL bar
doesn't already do).

When you set the default Firefox search engine to duckduckgo,
both the URL bar and the search bar default to duckduckgo.

That isn't the problem.

The problem has only to do with the fact that the default duckduckgo
search option won't work if you also run NoScript in default mode.

That is, unless I "allow all this page" in NoScript, every time I
search in the URL bar, I get the following time-consuming error:

This page requires JavaScript. Get the non-JS version here.

Where "here" is a link to:
https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=the%search

Duckduckgo gracefully tells you this, and when you click on that
link, you end up going to the HTML version of duckduckgo.

That html version works just fine - but needing to click on that
html version link is *two steps* for every search, which is a pain.

There is a reason I want to have NoScript in the default mode, so,
I was looking for a solution that *changes* the default URL that
duckduckgo generates

FROM: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=foo+bar
To: https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=foo%20bar

One way to do that is to install the HTML-version of duckduckgo,
which is what <<Q>> pointed me toward:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

The funny thing is that I did install that HTML-only version of
duckduckgo, and it worked, but, I did a before-and-after snapshot
of my system and I don't see *how* it worked!

I looked at the distribution duckduckgo.xml file, but it was unchanged:
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/duckduckgo.xml

What I had *expected* to see was that file to be changed
FROM:
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/">

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

TO:

<Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">
<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

So, maybe it changes a file in a different default location?
~/.mozilla/firefox/<your profile name>/searchplugins

But I don't have that directory.

I only have the files "search.json" and "search-metadata.json", so I'm unsure
of *how* this HTML-only version of duckduckgo actually inserts itself into
Firefox. < I am confused >

[WaltS48]

It is probably the same search engine and it just overwrote the
distribution duckduckgo.xml file.

--
Linux Mint 17.3 "Rosa" | KDE 4.14.2 | Thunderbird 38.4.0
One users useless feature, is a useful feature to another

[listas...@msjs.co]

El 09/01/16 a las 14:41, james mason escribió:

> On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 14:21:48 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:
>
>> I thought DuckDuckGo was added as a search option in Firefox 33.1
>> <https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/33.1/releasenotes/>?
>
> The problem has nothing to do with Duckduckgo being a search
> option for the URL bar (remember, I never use the search bar
> because I don't see that it does *anything* that the URL bar
> doesn't already do).
>
> When you set the default Firefox search engine to duckduckgo,
> both the URL bar and the search bar default to duckduckgo.
>
> That isn't the problem.
>
> The problem has only to do with the fact that the default duckduckgo
> search option won't work if you also run NoScript in default mode.
>
> That is, unless I "allow all this page" in NoScript, every time I
> search in the URL bar, I get the following time-consuming error:

> This page requires JavaScript. Get the non-JS version here.

> Where "here" is a link to:
> https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=the%search
>
> Duckduckgo gracefully tells you this, and when you click on that
> link, you end up going to the HTML version of duckduckgo.
>
> That html version works just fine - but needing to click on that
> html version link is *two steps* for every search, which is a pain.
>
> There is a reason I want to have NoScript in the default mode, so,
> I was looking for a solution that *changes* the default URL that
> duckduckgo generates
>

> FROM: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=foo+bar
> To: https://duckduckgo.com/html/?q=foo%20bar
>

> One way to do that is to install the HTML-version of duckduckgo,
> which is what <<Q>> pointed me toward:
> https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/
>
> The funny thing is that I did install that HTML-only version of
> duckduckgo, and it worked, but, I did a before-and-after snapshot
> of my system and I don't see *how* it worked!
>
> I looked at the distribution duckduckgo.xml file, but it was unchanged:
> /usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/duckduckgo.xml
>
> What I had *expected* to see was that file to be changed
> FROM:
> <Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/">

> <Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
> </Url>

> TO:

> <Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">
> <Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
> </Url>
>

> So, maybe it changes a file in a different default location?
> ~/.mozilla/firefox/<your profile name>/searchplugins
>
> But I don't have that directory.

crea el directorio:
$ mkdir ~/.mozilla/firefox/<your profile name>/searchplugins

tengo instalado Noscript y DDG por defecto y no me sale ese msj:

" This page requires JavaScript. Get the non-JS version here."

En el boton NoScript -> Admitir toda esta página.

http://mycroftproject.com/search-engines.html?name=duckduckgo

>
> I only have the files "search.json" and "search-metadata.json", so I'm unsure
> of *how* this HTML-only version of duckduckgo actually inserts itself into
> Firefox. < I am confused >

[Dave Pyles]

To add an additional search engine, type anything into the search box
and then click on the "Change search settings" link at the bottom of the
window that opens up. Then click on the "Add more search engines" at
the bottom of the window, or use Options > Search > Add more search
engines. You can also change the default search engine from the Options
> Search page.

Dave Pyles

Dave Pyles

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.497.1452365222...@lists.mozilla.org>,

james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:

> On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 11:27:06 -0600, »Q« wrote:
>
> > I don't know what to suggest other than
> > entering safe mode and going back to AMO -- maybe that will get you
> > the green button and let you install.
>
> You are amazing.
>
> Safe mode worked to change
> https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/ from a
> *blue* button to a *green* button!
>
> http://i.imgur.com/MQKkYg2.jpg

I'm glad it worked! I wish I knew what caused the problem in the first
place -- I only had a couple of extensions installed in the test
profile that had the issue, but I don't remember what they were.

> >> How am I supposed to install this thing?
> > or just drop it into the searchplugins/
> > subdirectory in your profile folder.
>
> Hmmm... where is this "searchplugins" directory in a "profile folder"?
>
> In my $HOME/.mozilla directory are two directories: extensions &
> firefox. There is a "profiles.ini" file in the "firefox" sub
> directory, but, in neither "extensions" nor in "firefox" is there a
> "profile" folder.
>
> Do you mean the ab12cdef.default folder?

That one's your profile folder. There's a path to it through the GUI,
Help » Troubleshooting Information » Application Basics » Profile
Directory » [Open Directory]. (But IIRC, there's a bug that causes
that button not to work on some Linux systems.)

> There is no "profile" folder inside of that folder though...
> Nor is there a "searchplugins" folder.
>
> ?<confusion>?

Sorry, I'd forgotten that the searchplugins directory only gets created
after you install at least one search add-on. I'm pretty sure
creating that directory and dropping a search xml file into it would
work to manually install, but I haven't tried it.

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.493.1452360493...@lists.mozilla.org>,

»Q« <box...@gmx.net> wrote:

> In
> <news:mailman.478.1452346706...@lists.mozilla.org>,
> james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, 08 Jan 2016 23:50:29 -0600, »Q« wrote:
> >
> > > I haven't installed NoScript to find out for certain, but using
> > > <https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/> should
> > > get you what you want.
> >
> > That seems perfect. Thanks for that new idea.
> > But I have a problems (maybe it's just me?)
> >
> > https://i.imgur.com/WnIHEMf.jpg
> >
> > Maybe it's just my browser, and I tried with Chrome but it won't
> > download.
> > https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/252586/addon-252586-latest.xml?src=dp-btn-primary
> >
> > Am I supposed to just copy the XML file that is underneath the
> > blue "download now" button?
>
> Using the profile I had been using for testing, I got exactly the same
> thing you're seeing. I clobbered that profile and used a fresh one,
> and now I get the green "+ Add to Firefox" button, and it works to
> install.

Playing around with this, I found that blocking scripts from
addons.cdn.mozilla.net causes me to get the blue download button
instead of the green add button for search xml files at AMO. (For me,
it was the uMatrix add-on in my test profile which was doing the
blocking; for james, it was probably NoScript.)

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 15:22:24 -0600, »Q« wrote:

> I'm glad it worked!

You were right on the mark when you said a plugin might have been
changing the green button to blue. It didn't occur to me on my own!
Thanks.

> Help » Troubleshooting Information » Application Basics » Profile
> Directory » [Open Directory]. (But IIRC, there's a bug that causes
> that button not to work on some Linux systems.)

That button works fine for me, and, it's a good way for me to test
that I'm actually in the profile folder that I think I'm in.

The only problem is that there is no "searchplugins" folder in that
firefox profile directory, even though I (thought I) "installed"
the HTML-version of the duckduckgo search plugin.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

> Sorry, I'd forgotten that the searchplugins directory only gets created
> after you install at least one search add-on.

But, didn't I do that?
Isn't the html-only version of duckduckgo considered a search addon?
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

> I'm pretty sure creating that directory and dropping a search xml
> file into it would work to manually install, but I haven't tried it.

OK. I will try that, and report back.
Thanks for that advice because it's a mystery to me what happened once
I installed the HTML-only version of duckduckgo.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

I had *expected* whatever duckduckgo.xml file it used, to change

FROM:
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/">

TO:

<Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">

But that didn't seem to happen.
Or, if it did, I can't seem to find (yet) *where* it happened.

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 16:44:54 -0600, »Q« wrote:

> Playing around with this, I found that blocking scripts from
> addons.cdn.mozilla.net causes me to get the blue download button
> instead of the green add button for search xml files at AMO. (For me,
> it was the uMatrix add-on in my test profile which was doing the
> blocking; for james, it was probably NoScript.)

I don't use "uMatrix" but I do use NoScript, so it was probably
that. Right now, I'm concentrating on figuring out what the
HTML-only version of Duckduckgo seems to modify.

I do not like when I don't know exactly where things go because
I try to control all changes to my firefox profile!

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 14:59:44 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:

> It is probably the same search engine and it just overwrote the
> distribution duckduckgo.xml file.

That's *exactly* what I would have expected to happen when I
"installed" the HTML-only version of Duckduckgo.
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/duckduckgo-html/

I would have expected the duckduckgo.xml file to simply change

FROM:
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/">

TO:
<Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">

That I don't see that happening confuses me.

So I'm still looking for *what* changes when I install the HTML-only
version of Duckduckgo.

It bothers me when I don't know *where* something changes, and it
bothers me when I'm thoroughly confused (as I am in this case).

[james mason]

On Sat, 09 Jan 2016 15:16:43 -0500, listas...@msjs.co wrote:

> En el boton NoScript -> Admitir toda esta página.
> http://mycroftproject.com/search-engines.html?name=duckduckgo

I'm not sure what the purpose of that page is, but I did
read the message there that installing searchplugins doesn't
work if noscript is running.

I'm not sure how that helps though ...

[WaltS48]

There are two icons for the search engine in the search bar, and the
content of the results display differently, so there should be another
duckduckgo.xml file somewhere.

Maybe stored in the applications /browser/omni.ja file. ???

--

Linux Mint 17.3 "Rosa" | KDE 4.14.2 | Thunderbird 43.0b1 (Beta)

Go Bucs! (next season) Go Pens! Go Sabres! Go Pitt!

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 08:09:27 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:

> There are two icons for the search engine in the search bar, and the
> content of the results display differently, so there should be another
> duckduckgo.xml file somewhere.
>
> Maybe stored in the applications /browser/omni.ja file. ???

I'll keep looking (but I do admit I'm confused *where* the html-only
duckduckgo settings are stored).

Here's a picture of my FF43 browser set to the URL:
about:preferences#search

https://i.imgur.com/7AznSK1.gif

Do you see two icons for the search engine in the search bar?

[WaltS48]

I wouldn't in your browser because you only have one search engine
installed.

In my browser I see one icon for DDG, and one for DDG HTML, because I
have them both installed just to see if I could determine where DDG HTML
was installed. Yet, like you I only see one duckduckgo.xml file in my
profile.

Sorry, I can't be more helpful.

Maybe I'll play around with a test profile later.

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 09:01:10 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:

> I wouldn't in your browser because you only have one search engine
> installed.
>
> In my browser I see one icon for DDG, and one for DDG HTML, because I
> have them both installed just to see if I could determine where DDG HTML
> was installed. Yet, like you I only see one duckduckgo.xml file in my
> profile.

Thanks for explaining that there are as many icons as search engines
installed.

It's non-intuitive *where* DDG HTML installs itself!

[Mark Lloyd]

Some people consider it redundant. Some don't.

I don't want search strings polluting the address bar. For example, in
trying to get to "grc.com", a simple typing error gives "grc.cok". There
is no site called "grc.cok". It's easy to go up and edit the entry, but
not it it's been replaced by some long string (example from Chromium):

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&client=ubuntu#q=grc.cok

which is much harder to correct.

Also, I have local DNS, and my own (local) web server can be much harder
to get to from a browser that combines address and search.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"Isn't it funny how, as we learn more about the universe around us, the
less there is for their god to do?"

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.526.1452433437...@lists.mozilla.org>,

james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:

> On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 08:09:27 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:
>
> > There are two icons for the search engine in the search bar, and
> > the content of the results display differently, so there should be
> > another duckduckgo.xml file somewhere.
> >
> > Maybe stored in the applications /browser/omni.ja file. ???
>
> I'll keep looking (but I do admit I'm confused *where* the html-only
> duckduckgo settings are stored).
>
> Here's a picture of my FF43 browser set to the URL:
> about:preferences#search
>
> https://i.imgur.com/7AznSK1.gif

It seems you still don't have the html-only one installed. After
installing and setting it as default, that should look like
<http://remarqs.org/misc/search.png>.

[WaltS48]

Good Catch!

I did not notice that in his screen shot, but did in my Search tab.

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 11:16:16 -0600, Mark Lloyd wrote:

> Also, I have local DNS, and my own (local) web server can be much harder
> to get to from a browser that combines address and search.

Thank you for explaining that which has always confused me.

That's interesting. I always wondered by people bother with the search
bar, and, well, I *never* see what you're describing because I turn off
*everything* that could possibly affect my privacy.

https://i.imgur.com/RcdRIzM.jpg

The only thing I have "on" is the setting for:
"Request sites not track you."

But, even that, I wonder, if merely requesting privacy, actually ensures
you lose your privacy! (I'm not sure on that - but everything else is off.)

So, for me, the search bar and the URL bar (aka the "Address Bar") are,
functionally, exactly the same (for searches).

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 13:23:51 -0500, WaltS48 wrote:

>>> https://i.imgur.com/7AznSK1.gif
>> It seems you still don't have the html-only one installed. After
>> installing and setting it as default, that should look like
>> <http://remarqs.org/misc/search.png>.
>>

> I did not notice that in his screen shot, but did in my Search tab.

After looking at the screenshot you pointed to and comparing with mine,
I absolutely can't disagree with you, which, I guess, is why I couldn't
find anywhere where the DDG-HTML addition was installed.

However, my searches are no longer taking two steps, so, I must have
done *something* that I hadn't overtly realized, somehow.

Looking at my current search, when I type 'foo bar' in the URL bar,
I get a URL of https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=foo+bar as shown below:
https://i.imgur.com/WretDsD.jpg

Digging around, I see what I think happened. I don't invoke Firefox the
way everyone else does (I have a script which copies a pure unadulterated
profile to ram temporary memory to create the firefox profile that is
actually used), and, somehow, while I was experimenting, I must have
accidentally or on purpose created in my unadulterated profile a
"searchplugins" directory which is populated with a modified duckduckgo.xml
file located at:
$HOME/DONOTMODIFY/pure_firefox_profile/searchplugins/duckduckg.xml
Which had the URL section of:
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html">

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

So "this" is why the HTML search is working. I don't remember *how* that
file got there, but, either I messed with it, or, when I tried to install
the HTML version of Duckduckgo, it put it there (since I did try to install
it into Firefox using the specific command pointing to the safe profile):
firefox -new-instance -profile $HOME/DONOTMODIFY/pure_firefox_profile

The good news is that, with or without the DDG HTML addition, all you
*really* need to do in order to solve this problem is put the "/html"
on the URL line of the duckduckgo.xml file.

The one thing I don't understand is what's the difference if it's a GET
or a POST directive?
<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

Versus:

<Url type="text/html" method="POST" template="https://duckduckgo.com/html/">

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
</Url>

My current DDG xml file has the "GET" but all the documentation on the web
says to use the "POST". So, I changed it to a "POST" and I don't see any
difference in the results.

Do you think the difference between GET & POST matters somewhere?

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 23:25:23 -0600, james mason wrote:

> Do you think the difference between GET & POST matters somewhere?

Looking up the difference between GET & POST inundates me with data
so it's hard to figure out which is the better solution for telling
the basic DDG search to go to the "/html/" URL.

GET sends message in the url.
GET requests can be cached
GET requests remain in the browser history
GET requests can be bookmarked
GET requests should never be used when dealing with sensitive data
GET requests have length restrictions
GET requests should be used only to retrieve data
GET requests can contain only ASCII data

POST sends message in the body.
POST requests are never cached
POST requests do not remain in the browser history
POST requests cannot be bookmarked
POST requests have no restrictions on data length
POST requests have no restrictions on data type

Given that, I still am unsure, but, I changed the searchplugins DDG
XML URL from GET to POST because the GET URL is more likely to be
saved in server logs, while POST data is less likely to be saved
(if I actually interpreted the references correctly).


REFERENCES:
https://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/methods.html
http://www.diffen.com/difference/GET_%28HTTP%29_vs_POST_%28HTTP%29
http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/the-definitive-guide-to-get-vs-post
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_httpmethods.asp

[»Q«]

In
<news:mailman.557.1452489957...@lists.mozilla.org>,

james mason <james...@wlco.nospam.com> wrote:

> My current DDG xml file has the "GET" but all the documentation on
> the web says to use the "POST". So, I changed it to a "POST" and I
> don't see any difference in the results.
>
> Do you think the difference between GET & POST matters somewhere?

It's up to you, as long as both work to return results. There's a
pretty good rundown of the practical differences between them at
<http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_httpmethods.asp>.

[james mason]

On Sun, 10 Jan 2016 23:50:21 -0600, »Q« wrote:

>
> It's up to you, as long as both work to return results. There's a
> pretty good rundown of the practical differences between them at
> <http://www.w3schools.com/tags/ref_httpmethods.asp>.

Thanks for that reference, which summarizes:
GET - Requests data from a specified resource
POST - Submits data to be processed to a specified resource

I'm gonna stick with the POST over the GET method, partly because
the POST seems more general use while the GET has limitations of
2048 ASCII characters (not that I'd ever run a search that large).

But mainly because the POST seems slightly more secure than the
GET (POST is a little safer than GET because the parameters are
not stored in browser history or in web server logs).

In fact, based on my read of the references, I would recommend that
everyone *change* their duckduckgo.xml files from "GET" to "POST"
even if they're using the original javascript version of Duckduckgo.

I ran the following command to see if I could find the difference:
$ firefox (defaults to a blank page)
$ sudo tcpdump -A port 80 -i wlan0 -P out -w tcpdump_http_out.pcap
$ (then I typed "foo bar" into the URL bar, & hit return)
$ (when the data arrived, I hit "Control+C" in the tcpdump window)
$ wireshark tcpdump_http_out.pcap

That showed nothing captured, so I generalized the command:
$ sudo tcpdump -i wlan0 -w /tmp/tcpdump_wlan0.pcap
$ wireshark !$
Which showed too much captured! :)

While I saw many events (HELLO being one of them), I wasn't
sure what to look for to see the difference between a GET and
a POST to duckduckgo for the query of "foo bar".