I've been using firefox for years, and i'm very upset with the 34.0.5 update's changes to the search engine feature.

Question

hi,
this new search engine is incredibly convoluted, and i put some real thought into why it's bad
the dropdown menu contains more things than it used to. previously only a list with icons and titles and a link to options...now only icons (with no options to include text), a reiteration of your terms and current engine, separators between each icon, and loads of potential results from auto-complete (which i disabled immediately). though taking up less space by forcing icons only, more things were added, giving the user more clutter in less space.
having a permanent default search engine is counterproductive to the feature's previous nature. this was supposed to be there so i can quickly change between websites i'm searching, now it's been equated to the search feature in the address bar (which i am now also unable to change the function of on the fly, as changing the search engine used would also change the address bar's search function - perhaps influenced this change?). it's now faster for me to type the website i want followed by my terms into the address bar, just like when i use chrome. this feature was one of the largest reasons why i preferred firefox over chrome
i would commonly leave my search engine on merriam-webster when writing papers, wikipedia when doing research, etc. and now i have to click which one i want. every time. with every search that isnt default, unless i change my default through the options constantly. this is incredibly tedious. most irritating of all is the inability to use hotkeys to select my search engine, the lack of ctrl+up/down. previously i wouldnt have to use my mouse often at all, which is imperative for laptop users
so yeah, ive put some real thought into this, and i'm very unhappy. this greatly hinders my browsing experience. heard the saying "if its not broken, dont fix it"? ive been using chrome in conjunction with firefox for a few years now, and it's been painful to see mozilla attempt to imitate it. i will be using chrome more often in the absence of this feature (i am right now, even). i'm also upset that i was unable to find a public message boards hosted by mozilla to voice my opinion, and i apologize to whoever customer support employee that (probably didnt) read this - please pass it on to the devs and tell them internet people are angry and said they fucked up. thanks.
and i beg you, please give us the option to revert back to the old interface in future updates, or at least an official extension overriding this awful update. i realize i cant request this really, and yes im upset, yes im sending an angry email - thats because this is something i use often and i am passionate about it
sincerely,
pissed

Answer 1

You can use the Tab key to select a search engine on the bottom bar and press Enter to use the search engine to do the search.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Search+bar
In the current Firefox 34 release there is a new "one-off" search bar.
This search bar doesn't show the name of the search engine and a logo.
You can type one letter to make a drop-down list appear where you can see suggestions and see the used search engine and that also has bar at the bottom where you can select other search engines that are enabled via the Search tab in Options/Preferences.
You can use the Tab key to select one of the other available search engines and press the Enter key to search with the selected search engine.
Click the search engine icon and click "Change Search Settings" to open the Search tab in Options/Preferences (positioned between Tabs and Content) to select the default search engine and select which search engines to show in the search bar drop-down list that opens when you start typing search terms.