You should still be able to re-enable it, according to 'Bleeping Computer':

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/firefox-57-will-hide-search-bar-and-use-a-uni-bar-approach-like-chrome/

Thank you, Enigma. Yes, the old search box can still be enabled in the preferences. It's also available when customizing the toolbars. I was hoping for an alternative way to add the currently displayed search page, because other than that, everything the search box offers is also included in the location bar.

Hopefully a visual indicator will appear in the future, if not directly on the bar, then at least on the Page Actions menu (the ... menu).

In the meantime, you could try a bookmarklet. This checks whether the page is advertising a search plugin. If it is, it will pop up the install and if not, it will tell you none available.

To set up:

(1) Select and copy one of these long lines of code:

Less user confirmation:

javascript:var x=document.querySelector('link[rel="search"][type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"]'); if(x){window.external.AddSearchProvider(x.href);} else {alert('None available');} void 0;

More user confirmation:

javascript:var x=document.querySelector('link[rel="search"][type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"]'); if(x){if(confirm('Add search plugin entitled "'+x.getAttribute('title')+'"?')) window.external.AddSearchProvider(x.href);} else {alert('None available');} void 0;

(2) Create a new bookmark in your preferred location (e.g., Bookmarks Toolbar or Bookmarks Menu) by right-clicking and choosing New Bookmark

(3) Paste the script into the Location field

(4) In the Name field, you can put something like AddSearch or whatever you like

(5) Click the Add button

To use:

Then you can click the button on pages you suspect to have be advertising OpenSearch plugins.

That sounds silly, doesn't it? But it's all I've got at the moment.

If you would use this often:

I think a user script could float a button in the page when it has an OpenSearch plugin tag, but it wouldn't know what you have installed, so the script would need a way for you to tell it you got it already or don't care about that site. Could be more annoying than helpful?

jscher2000 said

Hopefully a visual indicator will appear in the future, if not directly on the bar, then at least on the Page Actions menu (the ... menu).

Thank you for taking the time to write such a comprehensive answer! I personally could live with the functionality being added to the "..."-menu, even if it wouldn't be as discoverable for new users without some sort of indicator. Knowing Mozilla, I'm a bit afraid that it might get dropped permanently due to low usage instead of making it more discoverable/accessible. Maybe that's what is already happening.

In the meantime, you could try a bookmarklet. This checks whether the page is advertising a search plugin. If it is, it will pop up the install and if not, it will tell you none available.

Using a bookmarklet for this is an interesting idea as a workaround. Thank you. I think I'll use this for the time being and hope that the feature gets some more love from the developers in FF 58.

If you would use this often: I think a user script could float a button in the page when it has an OpenSearch plugin tag, but it wouldn't know what you have installed, so the script would need a way for you to tell it you got it already or don't care about that site. Could be more annoying than helpful?

I actually use it quite often, since I install search plugins to assign keywords to all kinds of things (searching, price comparsion, translation, dictionary, calculating, navigation, converting currencies...). Often, the visual indicator is what leads me to the idea that something can be done through search plugins. Maybe a user script could remember installed/dismissed search plugins through local storage.

Thank you again. Have a nice day.

EricMc said

I actually use it quite often, since I install search plugins to assign keywords to all kinds of things (searching, price comparsion, translation, dictionary, calculating, navigation, converting currencies...). Often, the visual indicator is what leads me to the idea that something can be done through search plugins.

To convert a website's search box into a keyword search engine, you can still use right-click on its search box > Add a Keyword for this Search. But that doesn't integrate into the icons in the search bar drop-down and now the bottom row of the address bar, and the keyword search bookmarks. Maybe some day it will all be unified...