Using Alfred just for web search?

[Boones]

A big part of my job is research, and I'm interested in using Alfred as a fast way to execute searches from my Mac. Ideally I'd like to be able to press a hotkey, enter a search term and have an I'm Feeling Lucky search for that result pop up in Safari, or if I use a prefix like "wsj" it would search the Wall Street Journal etc.

I've tried a lot of configuration options but I either end up finding some file, or contact, or I get so many hits my I'm Feeling Lucky fallback doesn't show up. Is what I'm trying to do possible in Alfred? Thanks in advance!

Edited October 11, 2013 by Boones

[Vero]

A big part of my job is research, and I'm interested in using Alfred as a fast way to execute searches from my Mac. Ideally I'd like to be able to press a hotkey, enter a search term and have an I'm Feeling Lucky search for that result pop up in Safari, or if I use a prefix like "wsj" it would search the Wall Street Journal etc.

I've tried a lot of configuration options but I either end up finding some file, or contact, or I get so many hits my I'm Feeling Lucky fallback doesn't show up. Is what I'm trying to do possible in Alfred? Thanks in advance!

 

With the Powerpack, you can set your Fallback search to be the "I'm feeling lucky" Google search.  You could then disable local search by removing all file types and/or search scopes, so that Alfred doesn't find local results.

 

Alternatively, if you want to continue also using Alfred normally, you could also create a workflow that allows you to bring Alfred up with a hotkey with the "lucky" keyword pre-filled in. This is the option I'd recommend as it doesn't hinder you from also using Alfred for local file searches

[Boones]

Thanks, I'll give that a try!