Quicksilver + YubNub: Rapid web searches and more

What do you get when you marry Quicksilver’s powerful WebSearch plug-in with YubNub’s equally potent command-line web service?

A super duper web search tool that lets you:

• Search 10,500+ sites and tools including Google, Wikipedia, IMDB, eBay, and Craigslist through one common interface

• Instantly call up this interface from anywhere in the system with a single keyboard shortcut—without even being in a browser.

Here’s what it looks like in action:

What the hell is YubNub?

Like Quicksilver, YubNub is hard to explain. I’ll try anyway.

Yubnub lets you use shortcuts to access thousands of websites and web-based tools. You can use the 10,500+ existing shortcuts, or create your own.

Some examples will make this more clear. Here are some YubNub commands and a description of what each does:

• imdb The Godfather
  Find movies on IMDB titled “The Godfather”

• g How to start a blog
  Search Google for “How to Start a Blog”

• wp Life hack
  Go to the “Life hack” page on Wikipedia

• d typography
  Get the definition of “typography” on dictionary.com

• deli productivity
  Find bookmarks tagged “productivity” on del.icio.us

The beauty of YubNub is that it gives you a single common interface to query your favorite sites and tools.

So how do I use it with Quicksilver?

The disadvantage of YubNub is that it’s a website. To use it, you must first open a browser, go to http://www.yubnub.org, then type in a command. For Quicksilver enthusiasts, this is way too many steps and clicks.

With Quicksilver’s WebSearch plug-in and Triggers, you can instantly bring up a YubNub search window no matter where you are in the system. Here’s how:

1. Install the WebSearch module

If you don’t have it yet, install Quicksilver. Then, in Quicksilver’s settings window:

• Press the Plugins button at the top of the window

• Select All Plug-ins in the left column. In the right column, scroll down to find Web Search Module. Check the box to install.

• Restart Quicksilver to activate the plug-in.

2. Create a Trigger for YubNub

In Quicksilver’s settings window:

• Press the Triggers button at the top of the window.

• Click the Plus icon at the bottom of the window, and select HotKey.

In the pop-up that appears:

• Paste this exact URL in Select an Item field:
  qss-http://www.yubnub.org/parser/parse?command=***

• After pasting the URL, the Action field will automatically change to “Search For…”

The next step must be followed exactly:

• Press the Tab key until the Target field is selected.
• Press Command+X to clear the field. Note: You must use Command+X and not the Delete key.

The result must look like this (or it won’t work):

After pressing Save, we can now assign a Hot Key:

• Select the command you just created in the Triggers list and press the Info Icon on the bottom-right of the window. A drawer will appear.

• Next to the Hot Key field, click Edit and assign a keyboard shortcut. I like to use Command+Shift+Y

3. Now use it

To enjoy the rapid search power of YubNub and Quicksilver from anywhere:

• Check out the most-used YubNub commands. Or for the complete list, go here.

• Call up the YubNub search window by pressing the Hot Key you just created (Command+Shift+Y in our example).

• Type in any YubNub shortcut and it will automatically launch your browser with the results.

Bonus Tip

Jonathan Aquino just pointed out another awesome trick. To run multiple YubNub commands at once, use the mash command. For example:

• mash sanjaya-malakar wp gim imdb gn

The result looks like this in your browser:

All done. Now, go show your friends and amaze them with your nimble search prowess.