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In reply to: [[wikilinks]] and #hashtags as a portal to cross site search by Chris Aldrich

 

[[wikilinks]] and  could act as snippets for custom searches on various platforms. I’d like to be able to either click on a link or possibly right click and be presented with the ability to search that term (or nearby terms) on a variety of different platforms or trusted websites.

 

I like this idea a lot and I am still sorting the implications which could be revolutionary if this can be done.  This could be huge.

 

Random thoughts from the top of my head:

 

  1. This could be a big boost for non- Big Tech search engines, niche search engines like Marginalia Search, Indieweb Search, and various web directories. Plus, as mentioned, wikis like Indieweb.org.  I always have the notion that we are underutilizing both web search and site search on the web.
  2. It strikes me that having this as a browser extension is on the right track although it might be easier to make this platform specific like plugins for WordPress.
  3. “downsides and social ills”  Right now I can’t think of any but they will exist because this is the Internet and anything that can be exploited will be exploited.
  4. Searching one specified off-site source with a wikilink may not be too hard but trying to do a meta search of several sources could be very difficult unless each source searched opens in a new tab.
  5. The UI will be tricky. If you want wide spread adoption then it needs to be simple.  Even DDG’s !bangs are a bit too complicated for mass use.

 

Anyway it sounds like something to be discussed, thought about and experimented with.

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