Due to the nature of fediverse, you can't just do a "site:lemmy" search as you'd do with reddit (site:reddit.com). I was searching for ways to do it on my firefox browsers and I came to a solution that searches 21 different instances simultaneously, which I consider to be a big part of lemmy (I also include kbin instances). I am using firefox with DDGO (which has a 500-character limit per search query).
There's gonna be a text you will have to copy, I'll just write it once here hidden inside the spoiler:
"URL string"
https://duckduckgo.com/%s (site:lemmy.world |site:kbin.social |site:lemm.ee |site:programming.dev |site:lemmy.ml |site:sh.itjust.works |site:feddit.de |site:lemmy.ca |site:beehaw.org |site:lemmy.dbzer0.com |site:lemmy.blahaj.zone |site:discuss.tchncs.de |site:sopuli.xyz |site:lemmy.one |site:feddit.uk |site:midwest.social |site:infosec.pub |site:slrpnk.net |site:mander.xyz |site:ttrpg.network |site:lemdro.id)
Replace it when I ask you to write the "URL string".
There are different processes, depending on the type of device/OS (computer, mobile/android etc.). I will list some of them and you can pick the one you want:
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Firefox Android: Go to search settings->manage alternative search engines->add search engine. Pick a name you want (eg.
Lemmy) and on the search string URL paste the "URL string" I've written above. Now next time you want to search Lemmy, just select "Lemmy" as your search engine. -
Firefox Computer V1: Create a bookmark with a name you want (eg. Lemmy search). In the URL field paste the "URL string" I've written above. In the keyword field add a keyword to use as a prefix to your searches (eg.
@l). Now to search Lemmy, you can type@l "random search"in the address bar. -
Firefox Computer V2: Open a new tab and type
about:configin the address bar. In the search box type:browser.urlbar.update2.engineAliasRefreshClick on the little+symbol on the right. Go to firefox Settings->Search or enter this in the address bar:about:preferences#searchIn the "Search Shortcuts" section you should notice a new "Add" button. Just like on android, press "Add", insert a name (eg.Lemmy), add the "URL string" from above and once you're done you can add a keyword (eg.@lemmy). If you want, you can now go back and disablebrowser.urlbar.update2.engineAliasRefresh(press the trash can icon) (I don't know if this will crash anything).
I really wanted to search lemmy, but not being able to do a simple site:lemmy detered me from doing so.
So there you have it! The added text is 412 characters which leaves 88 characters for your searches. You can change the url to add/remove instances you want. If anyone can improve it please (like shrinking the url or if you manage to search all instances) it will be appreciated.
Credits:
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The idea came from this site (which I found on lemmy): https://fedi-search.com/ I asked it to search lemmy on ddgo and gave me a similar string to the one I have above, only limited to fewer instances.
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I found the biggest instances I wanted to include in the search using the csv from this github page: https://github.com/maltfield/awesome-lemmy-instances/blob/main/awesome-lemmy-instances.csv
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Lastly, I found the computer process from 2 answers on this stackoverflow question: https://superuser.com/questions/7327/how-to-add-a-custom-search-engine-to-firefox
One reason might be: Each instance only has a partial knowledge of content in Lemmy. It can be unaware of certain communities on other instances, if your instance has not discovered them yet. Hence the need for all these meta-search tools.