Cool Tool of the Week: Google search by date

I assure you this isn't a cop out. I've got a lot of good contenders for Cool Tool of the Week these days, but this is the one that I've found myself using over and over.

BEHOLD!

javascript:q=(document.getSelection)?%20document.getSelection():%20document.selection.createRange();if(!q)q=prompt('Search:','');%20if(q)location=%20'http://www.google.com/search?q='+escape(q)+'&as_qdr=w';

Isn't it great? OK, so it's just a messy blob of code, but I'm about to make it your buddy.

What it is: A customized bookmark that organizes your Google search so that the most recent results come first.

Why you'll use it: When you're looking up information about a Web site, business, etc., you probably don't want results from 2004. But that's often what you get, since Google focuses on bringing you the most popular results instead of the newest. This bookmark will give you the option of putting newer stuff up top.

Getting started:

1. Just use your cursor to highlight the code above.

2. Drag the whole block of code into your browser's bookmark toolbar. (That's the list of Web sites usually located under your address bar.)

If you're using Firefox or a similar browser, it should look like this when you're done:

3. Weird but important: Go back to that code you highlighted and un-highlight it. If you don't do this, the bookmark will freak out. Just trust me.

4. Test out the bookmark by clicking on it. It should pop up a little window asking for your search term. Just type it in and hit "OK."

What you'll get back is a normal looking set of Google results, except that the top results will be the most recent instead of the most popular.

5. If it works, you can clean it up a bit by clicking on your browser's "Bookmarks" drop-down menu and then "Organize bookmarks." There, you'll be able to change the name to something a bit more memorable, like "Google Search By Date." (Again, these are the options in Firefox, but any browser should have something similar.)

I'm sure there's an easier way for me to help people bookmark this code, but I'm no developer, so this is the best I could do.

Know a better way? Or an easier tool to do the same thing? Let us know in the comments.

And big thanks to my good friend and IT maven Bren Smith for tipping me off about this.

Comments

[Alan Wolk]

Very cool David.
What it's doing (on my browser, anyway) is showing me the results from the past week, rather than a strict chronological listing.

It also gives me the option to expand that range via a pull-down menu.

Very useful for breaking news stories as well.

[David Griner]

Yeah, I'm glad you pointed that out. The results are rarely in pure chronological order and seem to jump around a bit, but as you said, they seem to be pretty well organized with "eecent" pages first.

[iTRVL]

brilliant tip, thanks