Thread: How to Expand the search field in the toolbar dynamically(Firefox 2.x, 3.x )

You quickly fall short of the space available when entering terms in the integrated search field of the browser. You can no longer identify all the words then.

You increase the size of the search fields by customizing the toolbar - however, this is done to the disadvantage of the address field. It is clever to increase the field size dynamically only when required. You can do this with the free add-on 'Searchbar Autosizer'. This plug-in supports almost all Firefox Themes and many search bar add-ons.

For configuring, open 'Tools/Add-ons', then search and select the 'Search bar Autosizer' entry in the list and click on 'Options'. A wizard will help you from this point onwards. For instance, select the 'Customize step-by-step for every letter' option and click 'Next'. You specify the minimum width in the next step. For that, you drag the search field marked with brackets to the desired size and check the value in the wizard. Then click 'Next' and repeat the process for the maximum width. The next step offers a couple of additional options, which you can activate if desired, e.g. to reset the search machine to the old familiar standard automatically. Once done click the 'Finish' button.