PopSearch 1.7.8: a new setting and a bug fix
First, about the bug fix. A kind donator pointed out to me that if you use Safari’s “Reset Safari” command, or the command “Remove All Website Data” in the preferences, PopSearch stops working. This is because those commands blow away PopSearch’s local database, and when that happens, PopSearch does not recreate it. Somehow, it never occurred to me that the database could ever be deleted. That’s because I never use those commands myself. Talk about sloppy programming!
So, starting with version 1.7.8, PopSearch will recreate its own database if it’s missing. But please note two things: One, you will lose your custom search engines. Two, PopSearch won’t notice the database is missing until you restart Safari, so please do that if you reset Safari or remove all website data.
Now, about that new setting. It’s a bit esoteric. Have you ever noticed that if you select some text on the current web page before invoking PopSearch, that text will be automatically inserted into the query input box? Pretty cool feature, if you ask me. it makes it really easy to do a search on a word or phrase you come across while browsing.
Today, I thought of something that would make the feature even cooler. It occurred to me that most times you do a search on selected text, you probably want to open the results in a new tab, not load them in the current tab. Now, you’ve always been able to open search results in a new tab by pressing ⌘Enter in PopSearch. But since I’m a lazy bastard, I want to open the results in a new tab by just pressing Enter if I’m searching on a text selection.
So now, there’s a new setting with a rather long name: “Open results in a new tab when searching on selected text”. If it’s enabled—and it’s enabled by default—you don’t need to press ⌘Enter to use a new tab if you’re searching on selected text; a plain Enter keypress will do. If you want to open the results in the current tab, you can press ⌘Enter.
Download PopSearch 1.7.8 or let Safari update your copy.
