Problem with DDG search engine or Vivaldi
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Several days ago after an update from Vivaldi (not DDC) when selecting a DDC search .... I have DDC sent as default as well as private) I get a search page that opens up to what I am searching for ...... after not finding what I want after clicking on a website I hit my return button on my mouse but instead of going back to see more searches it gives me a DDG web page ..... see enclosed photo ..... if I click the back button it goes back to my start page in Vivaldi and I loose all my search results and have to search again by typing my info into the DDG search bar ...... this is a big pain ......
I have been using DDG for a long time even before I was using Opera and migrated here to Vivaldi almost a year ago ...... the only changes I made is to switch to the dark mode about the same time as this problem but I doubt that is the problem .......... here is a screen shot of the page .......
I hope someone can shed some light on this problem ........ thanks for any help .....
Mike
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The URL isn't in the screenshot, that would be helpful to include as there are two parallel search applications on DDG. One is used when DDG detects that it is unable to use JS and it redirects to a different URL.
Another thing to check is your settings. Are using POST or GET for submitting your searches? I'm guessing you gave GET set in Vivaldi, but there's also the setting in DDG itself. It's possible this got changed by mistake or by collision. If you're saving your DDG settings with a passphrase it's possible for someone else to also use that passphrase and modify the settings which would then affect your session the next time you use it. That's why a more complex and less likely to be used passphrase is better at isolating your DDG settings, I have actually collided with someone else before and have since changed my passphrase. Actually, I have several passphrases I use to save DDG settings to the cloud so I can have a few different configurations available to load on different devices or to easily switch between them without having to go through the individual options.
After doing a search, there is a menu icon in the upper right of the page, clicking on that and then "Other Settings" will load the settings pages. It's on the third page, "Privacy", where you can switch between GET & POST. Using GET puts your search terms into the URL (which also then gets saved to your history and all that implies). POST doesn't include the search terms in the URL, the address looks just like the homepage.
So if you used POST, and clicking a result opens the page in the same tab, then the back operation would just load the homepage URL. GET would load the URL with three search terms and restore the behavior you're used to seeing, but it carries with it some privacy implications. If you want to increase your privacy but not lose the search results page, enable POST and also the DDG setting to launch a new tab when you click on a result link.
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@bonetone ..... I'll try and get a full screen capture and post it here .....
Thanks
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@Gwen-Dragon ....... yes that is the setting page I have been using but when I select the items I want and click save when I go back to do a search it has all reverted back to the original settings ...... I have tried this numerous times with the same results ...... the settings I choose are not applied any more ......
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@Gwen-Dragon ...... thanks for that I have cookies turned off ..... that part was swiftly solved ...... LOL
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@Gwen-Dragon ....... yes that solved the problem with my DDG settings but not the fact that I loose my search choices when using my back button to return to the DDG search choices ..... and if I hit return again I get the Vivaldi home screen ...... am trying to upload some pic's for bonetone above but running in to all kids of problems ....... first the size ..... resized them now it is in the wrong format .... I use .bmp .... so may have to wait until tomorrow to sort it out .....
Thanks again .....
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@hdmule You might consider switching to PNG. It is lossless, like BMP, but compressed (removal of unneeded vacant data space) so more efficient to upload, download, transfer, etc. In other words, zero quality loss but greater efficiency.
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@Ayespy ...... thanks for the info I converted the files to both jpg and as you suggested png ..... will try the png first ......
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If you don't want to use cookies, you can put the settings into the URL as parameters. Just save that long URL as a bookmark wherever is useful for you -- possibly speed dial, bookmarks bar, give it a nickname to launch from quick commands, etc. Depending on your workflow several of those locations may be useful, you're not limited to using just one.
Have you looked at the DDG specific settings yet to see if you're using POST or GET?
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@bonetone ...... ok here goes after converting my files to png ...... hope you are still here ...... first 2 files Z1 & Z2 are the way my search is set up on Vivaldi ...... the next 4 files X1-X4 are what appears on my screen using these search settings .......
X1 ...... shows DDG search
X2 .... shows website selected
X3 .....shows back botton on mouse activated and back to DDG page
X4 .... shows back button activated again and back to Vivaldi home pageThis just show the DDG completely skips showing the search results page upon returning from the website chosen to DDG searches ...... instead it goes back to DDG home page ...... which means multi search on the same subject is completely useless ...... and you must type in the search parameters again ........
Sure hope someone cane help with this problem as I hate to have to give up DDG for another search engine ......
Thanks
Mike
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@bonetone ..... not really sure what Post and Get are but I didn't see any setting for either of them ....
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@hdmule ....... sorry folks gotta go I'll be back on line later ...... thanks
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@hdmule said in Problem with DDG search engine or Vivaldi:
@hdmule ....... sorry folks gotta go I'll be back on line later ...... thanks
Just to let you guys know I earned a little bit about post and get but I don't think that DDG supports that ....... I checked out Startpage and it has that feature ...... also looks like a pretty good search engine I like the layout ....... maybe a good alternative to DDG if I can't get it working right ...... but I do like mt DDG ....... tried asking for help over there I guess you have to use Reddit or something like that and so far no answers ...... OK check with you guys tomorrow ......
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@hdmule So it looks like you are using POST, not GET, and that's why... see how the URL when you search and are looking at the results page only shows duckduckgo.com? There is nothing after that displaying your search terms. So when you click back it loads that URL, which is the homepage. You need to go into DDG's settings to change that. I explained how to access those settings in my first reply:
After doing a search, there is a menu icon in the upper right of the page, clicking on that and then "Other Settings" will load the settings pages. It's on the third page, "Privacy", where you can switch between GET & POST. Using GET puts your search terms into the URL (which also then gets saved to your history and all that implies). POST doesn't include the search terms in the URL, the address looks just like the homepage.
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@hdmule said in Problem with DDG search engine or Vivaldi:
@hdmule said in Problem with DDG search engine or Vivaldi:
@hdmule ....... sorry folks gotta go I'll be back on line later ...... thanks
Just to let you guys know I earned a little bit about post and get but I don't think that DDG supports that ....... I checked out Startpage and it has that feature ...... also looks like a pretty good search engine I like the layout ....... maybe a good alternative to DDG if I can't get it working right ...... but I do like mt DDG ....... tried asking for help over there I guess you have to use Reddit or something like that and so far no answers ...... OK check with you guys tomorrow ......
Yeah, DDG has a settings, as explained in my first reply, to choose between using GET or POST.
What it looks like when searching with POST:
What it looks like when searching with GET:
Look at your address bar when you search on DDG... it just shows the domain, no ?q=... is in the URL. So if you load that URL, of course it's just going to load the homepage. You need to change to using GET, but also understand that brings with it certain privacy risks. A different approach would be to just enable the DDG setting to have results open in a new tab rather than switching to GET. Then to go back to the search results you just switch tabs.
Edit: You also have it set to use POST for DDG in your Vivaldi settings. So you probably want to disable that in both places (in Vivaldi and on DDG). Or, like I mentioned, just enable opening search results in a new tab. That way you get the privacy benefits of POST along with the persistence of search results. It's actually faster that way, to just switch a tab instead of having it load a different page.
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@hdmule said in Problem with DDG search engine or Vivaldi:
@bonetone ..... not really sure what Post and Get are but I didn't see any setting for either of them ....
Two places you should look...
- on the DDG settings in Vivaldi, you have it enabled right there in your screenshot.
- on the DDG site itself, I explained how to do this in my first reply, and pasted it again 2 replies back.
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@bonetone ...... thank you sir for all your help ....... I have done the following from your advice ....... changed my phrase on DDG to something really weird and I can remember ....... set both Vivaldi and DDG to get ....... made a copy of DDG search engine and added it to my Vivaldi Start Page which is also my speed dial page and everything seems to work fine now ....... I can jump back and forth using my mouse again ........ by the way I only store History for one day on Vivaldi ........ and I am the only one using this laptop ....... anything else I should try ........ if not many thanks for helping and ol' man (74) who is not so computer literate .... LOL
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@hdmule right on, glad you got everything sorted out and configured the way you want it. Just FYI, the POST vs GET privacy issue isn't just about the local machine. With your search being in the URL, it is exposed on the wire as well and gets stored in server logs that can expose it to more people. While POST doesn't magically secure that info, it does obscure it, and it would take more effort and more of a targeted attack to reveal what you're searching. All things together, it's a modest but real decrease in privacy vulnerabilities.
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