As a follow up to my post on OpenDNS I decided to delve deeper into the feature of shortcuts. Shortcuts are as they are name quicker ways to get to your result. In this case it’s similar to a bookmark or favorite that has a keyword in your browser. However instead of the browser making the translation OpenDNS does it for you. Why would you care or want this? Because you can then use any browser on any computer on your network and it will just work.

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For my network I’ve setup a few such as Google Analytics, Google Adsense, the local weather. You simply type in the shortcut (adsense) and up comes http://www.google.com/adsense/ pretty slick, right?

To do this simply go into your OpenDNS control panel and goto shortcuts. If you don’t have an account just sign up they are FREE but you do need an email address. They have REALLY great instructions on how to get setup.
Enter the shortcut you want to use and the Website you want to target. Click create shortcut and you’re done! If you type in your shortcut name it will then goto the site. This initially only works for your computer but going into settings and Manage Network shortcuts will let you apply your shortcuts to your network. This little fact got me a bit confused at first.

Well lets get a bit more powerful. Lets add an IMDB search (IMDB is the Internet Movie Database). Rather than typing in imdb.com and then clicking on the search box and typing in your search OpenDNS has the ability to ‘pass in a parameter’ which means you can your address bar be EXTREMELY powerful.

• Create a shortcut with the name imdb (or anything you like)
• The Website is http://imdb.com/find?s=all&q=%s
• After Creating the shortcut type in your browser address bar imdb Goonies and then you’ll get the search results for the site.

But wait THERE’S MORE! (yes I sound like an infomercial but I REALLY like OpenDNS) you’re not limited to HTTP websites! (This example is from their site)

• Create a shortcut like IM
• Make the website aim:goim?screenname=%s&message=Hi.+Are+you+there?
• Type IM leighjam in the address bar of your browser

This will open up AIM (AOL Instant messenger) and send a message to me Hi. Are you there? Now this may NOT work for everyone because your browser must coordinate with the external application and this can be different on every computer.

You may already have keyword shortcuts in your bookmarks but with OpenDNS EVERYONE can have them!