How to Change the URL of the Netscape Tool Bar Search Button

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A Note about Communicator 4.5+

If you are using Communicator 4.5 or higher, when you set the "prefs.js" file to read only, Netscape will generate errors [including Dr. Watson errors on WindowsNT] when you exit the application.
I have not determined the exact cause of these errors and it does not occur with lower versions of the 4.x browser, including Navigator 4.08.
You can work around this problem by using a batch file to copy a "clean" version of the "prefs.js" file to the Users directory. See how to Automatically Copy Preferences for a method to do that.

Netscape Navigator/Communicator Version 4.x includes a Search Button on the Tool Bar. This Search Button, when clicked, takes a user to a Search page at Netscape's web site. While this is OK, users may find this page confusing and sometimes response time is slow. To remedy this, you can change the URL that this Search Button uses to a URL of your choice. For example, you can point it to a listing of search engines on your library's web site.

Note: This change makes use of Navigator's prefs.js file. Once this file is set to read-only, it will not register any future changes made to the Navigator preferences. If you need to make changes, make sure to turn off the read-only property before you do so.

STEP 1
Open up Notepad:
Find the file prefs.js in the Netscape Users Directory -- typically, you'll find it in c:/Program Files/Netscape/Users/Default/prefs.js -- and open it up.

STEP 2
Add the following line before the first user_pref entry:
config("internal_url.net_search.url", "your URL here");
example: config("internal_url.net_search.url", "http://waterford.lib.mi.us/search.html");

STEP 3
Once your done with your adjustments, save the file.

STEP 4
Now, open up Windows Explorer and find the prefs.js file again.

STEP 5
Open up the Properties and select the read-only box.

You're done!

Now, whenever a user clicks on the Search Button, they will be taken to the URL of your choosing!

Reference Links
• Netscape Communicator Preferences

Written by Andrew Mutch.
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Last Updated May 18, 2001.
This page was created on May 19, 1999.