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steel835
Familiar face
Status: New idea

Regex checkbox in "Find In Page" tool.

It would be cool for power users to be able to search text patterns instead of exact matches.

It can be limited to EcmaScript implementation and have a warning tooltip about performance, but I think power users will be glad to see that they can search specific patterns on some pages (some codes with variable characters, multiple variations of phrases, different wordings, etc).

16 Comments
shanen
Making moves

So far this is the only suggested feature that sounded interesting to me. I might be willing to chip in 10 bucks to help it happen. Would you?

However, part of the reason I found it interesting is that I doubt a lot of people would be willing to put money on it, which is the key to the funding-related suggestion I submitted. And that suggestion seems to have vanished into the vacuum. Perhaps it's pending on moderation? (So I tried to get back to my first submission and can't find a trace of it... The login process is also tedious and I might pay to improve that. The badges are annoying to the point of being demotivating, so I might donate towards an option to make them less visible for me. (So many problems, so little time, but it smells of desperation in Mozilla-ville.))

shanen
Making moves

There should be some kind of feedback then a comment was successfully posted. Especially when the system seems to be so hyper-paranoid about putting everything in suspense. (So I tried again and discovered that the system does have a sanity check against double-posting, though the wording was tilted on the rude side. I was NOT attempting to flood anything--and I still don't know if I succeeded in submitting my comment... It is still hidden in limbo somewhere.)

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi all! I hope to help you guys.

My idea ... based in this idea:

idea2.png

sepsh
New member

I just made an account here to request this feature, but i found this post from months ago.

I would really appreciate the idea of Regex search being available out of the box. Especially in the Firefox Developer Edition where would make more sense to have Regex enabled (or option to choose) since almost any developer would be familiar with and benefit from Regex.

Thanks.

polly
New member

Allow an option for users to use regular expression syntax to better find certain parts of a page while using the control-f feature. There are a couple extensions that claim to offer this, but are in my experience a little janky and don't seem to work correctly.

afacanc38
New member

Regular Expression support in the search box on the Ctrl + F shortcut can make searching very easy.

Jon
Community Manager
Community Manager

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)

KingMob
New member

Any news on this?

pparsa
New member

is there a plan to add this?

Graphiceq
New member

Any progress yet?

rcewing
New member

It's painful that a feature which feels like low-hanging fruit remains out of reach.

Right now, the best available option is a plugin which explicitly notes that it hasn't been security reviewed. Heck, even basic wildcard support would be better than nothing.

Jon
Community Manager
Community Manager

Thanks all for following up on this - let me share with the team and see if there are any updates 

shanen
Making moves

No direct reply option? I actually have two questions for @rcewing related to the "revival" post and my ancient comment:

(1) What led you to revive this ancient topic?

(2) Would you chip in $10 towards implementing the feature?

P.S. I actually stopped by because the latest update was having problems, but it finally appears to have succeeded. With regards to (2), I do not believe that I can point to any specific new feature of the last few years that I would have donated to support. However, I think I would have donated to support security updates and stability. Oh, wait. No such options. (And no off to restart Firefox...)

rcewing
New member

@shanenOn that recommendation, I just pitched in $75. You're totally right -- need to put my money where my mouth is here.

shanen
Making moves

I'd like to reply directly to rcewing about his donation decision. Largely congratulations, but... As I just posted again, that doesn't seem to be how Mozilla works near as I can tell. And I ain't so rich.

(My thought-experiment solution approach would involve a CSB (Charity Share Brokerage) where I could pick the projects that might get my already donated money--as long as enough other donors agreed with me that it's something that needs funding. If not, then the CSB would should me other projects to pick. (Details of my fantasies available upon polite expression of interest, but...))