A queue for searching the web!

Purpose
Compatibility
Setup
Functionality
Use Cases
Future Goals
Acknowledgements

Search Queue is a queue for searching the web! This extension can queue up multiple searches and quickly make them. It was designed with market analysis in mind, however, it has many uses. In general, it's a great tool for anyone who has to make many successive searches and would like to speed up the process.

Search Queue is only available for Chrome. There are no plans to create versions for other web browsers.

There are two main ways you can run this extension:

This extension is available in the Chrome Web Store:

1. Clone this repository.
2. Open Google Chrome and navigate to chrome://extensions.
3. Check the 'Developer mode' checkbox on the top right.
4. Click the 'Load unpacked extension' button.
5. Select the root folder of the source code and click 'OK'.
6. You're done! You should now be able to use Search Queue.

Search Queue has a few different features, all of which are explained in detail here.

The extension popup page can be accessed by clicking the Search Queue icon on the right of the toolbar. On this page, there are a few tasks that can be completed:

The 'Start' button searches for the term in the search queue that the queue index points to.

The 'Next' button searches for the next term in the search queue. The 'Next' button can also be quickly activated with the keyboard shortcut 'Alt-Up Arrow'.

The 'Previous' button searches for the previous term in the search queue. The 'Previous' button can also be quickly activated with the keyboard shortcut 'Alt+Down Arrow'.

The 'Search All' button searches for every term in the queue in new tabs.

The 'View Queue' button presents a clickable list of all the search terms in the queue. Upon clicking a term, it is immediately searched.

The 'Edit Queue' button navigates to the queue editor page.

The 'Help' button navigates to the Search Queue repository.

The queue editor automatically opens after Queue Search has been installed. It can also be accessed by first clicking on the Queue Search icon in the toolbar and then on 'Edit Queue'. The queue editor's primary purpose is to allow for the addition or removal of searches from the queue. The following is a functional description of each of the input fields and buttons on the editor page:

The import button is used to display a popup which allows for searches to be quickly imported. The searches should be entered into the text box separated by new lines.

The clear button is used to clear all entered searches and the appended and prepended phrases.

The settings button opens up the settings portion of the Queue Editor. On this page, constant phrases can be added and a search engine can be selected.

Once a search has been added, it can be deleted by hovering over the search number and clicking on the delete button.

The '+ Add Search' button adds a new search to the queue.

In general, Search Queue is great for anyone who needs to make many web searches. A few specific examples of how it might be used are as follows:

If an analyst has a large number of searches that need to be made about a particular topic (e.g. business, product, software), Search Queue is helpful in making these searches in a quick, organized way.

If a researcher has a topic of interest with many different facets and would like to learn about each of these facets, Search Queue is helpful in efficiently generating searches for each facet relating to the topic of interest.

If a user is doing work which involves making searches from a spreadsheet, instead of switching between the spreadsheet and Chrome for each search, the user can simply copy and paste the list of searches into Search Queue.

See Projects.

A special thanks to the following people for their help in testing, designing, and generating ideas for Search Queue.

In addition to bug testing and making design recommendations, Anisa generated one of Search Queue's most useful features: the ability to search queued terms with different search engines.

Ben was instrumental in bug testing the second iteration of the user interface of Search Queue. He also recommended that an empty search term be displayed when the extension is installed, a feature that makes this extension easier to use and understand.

Scott helped perfect the flow and terminology of the introduction that the user is given upon the installation of Search Queue.

Eric recommended the removal of unnecessary buttons from the introduction and helped point out other design flaws in the extension.

William generated the idea to add the start button to the queue editor page, a feature that greatly enhanced the usability of the extension.