Adding search plugins to firefox is now broken

I ve just discovered an incredibly annoying bug downgrade feature in the new firefox 3 the new add search plugins site is broken I noticed it in later versions of firefox 2x as well I was kind of hoping it was something temporary but it looks like its here to stay

Quick solution ignore the site the Add engines link takes you to and go to instead its all there

I m a big fan of the firefox search bar I have it setup for google google images urban dictionary wikipedia wikiquote youtube imdb and ebay I ve even written two search plugins in use at the computer science dept at my university which is used to search the staff directory and general website I use them all the time and they will be included in the firefox 3x deployed to the workstations our 17 computer labs this semester

So I m a fan I consider search plugins a highly desirable if not essential time saving feature in my browser and as soon as I install a new copy of firefox I take time out to customise my search menu pretty much straightaway I quietly evangelise the feature to others show them how easy their common searches can be Click here click there bam done easier isnt firefox great

Problem is what used to be a simple and smooth process is no longer By default anyway and only if you ve upgraded your browser relatively recently

Now I haven t actually gone back and installed an older version to check or anything but I m pretty sure that getting more search plugins used to be a case of dropping the search menu selecting Manage Search engines then Get more search engines or the equivalent text in the settings dialog

This would take me to a site I never bothered to remember the U R L of since the link was always right there in settings

Used to be I could go xwherever the aforementioned link wentx type in the name of xmajor searchable sitex I wanted to add ebay youtube wikipedia etc and would be presented with a list of links click on them approve the security popup and wham the plugin is added It was quick and easy and I found that if I was searching somewhere ebay for example rather than go straight to the site and use their search it was worth the 60 or so extra seconds to go via the search plugins site and add them to my search bar

Now this simplicity is broken due to a simple change the Get more engines link now takes me to addonsmozillaorg Different site ok cool as long as it gives me the functionality right I have faith Its landed me automatically in the Search plugins category Cool I seach for ebay It turns up zilch Searching for google gives me A O L search wtf

Oh no

A couple of minutes later navigating around and trying different searches with no fruit I realise that regardless of whether this site actually does conspire to harbour the search bar plugins I pursue perhaps concealed behind some menu or search option I have overlooked however n00b like I may be in overlooking said option this new way of adding plugins has failed catastrophically It has failed the end user test Namely its chief advertised function adding searchbar plugins is nowhere in sight Not to the casual user and not to me It is it seems akin to getting in a taxi asking to be taken to a restaurant and being dumped at the local gymnasium I wanted a hamburger and I didn t even get something edible The place I ve been taken is not even related