In 2013, Firefox changed from using the keyword.URL preference for address bar searches to using the default search engine. It's definitely not practical to roll back to Firefox 2322.

I'm familiar with one extension to use a different search plugin for the address bar (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/keyword-search/) But I don't recall whether it allows you to modify the search engine plugin logic with additional parameters. Perhaps you can find a different add-on that simply uses the old keyword.URL preference so you can use about:config.

If you find it cumbersome to modify the query, you could consider hiding some of the results. I have a userscript for that: http://www.jeffersonscher.com/gm/google-hit-hider/.

Oh it is practical to roll back to an earlier version of FireFox as they did everything I wanted them to do when I wanted them to do it. However the builders of this product are just like any other conglomerate, they build the product for what they wish it to do ,not for what an individual wants, but that is another discussion. Thank you for your suggestions however neither one address's my desire to do what I want to on all search engines and all results as I used to.

Mozilla is not a "conglomerate" like other major browser makers, it's a not-for-profit organization with limited resources.

The main reason keyword.URL was removed was that it was constantly hijacked by malware and bad add-ons. But it was never a way to direct changes to multiple search engines, it provided the URL for address bar searches. If you were changing a preferences that affected multiple search sites, perhaps were using a different add-on for that.

Do you have access to any old Firefox settings files, maybe in a backup? The preferences you customize in about:config are stored in a file named prefs.js. Since Firefox profile folders are under a path that Windows hides by default, in order to search for old prefs.js files, I suggest setting Windows to show hidden files and folders (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/show-hidden-files). If you can find the old preference name, that plus a web search may lead us to the name of the add-on.

Thank you for your suggestions however neither one address's my desire to do what I want to on all search engines and all results as I used to.

What search engine do you want to use that my script does not address? It currently supports Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Startpage.

I checked your earlier posts and see that you are referring to Firefox 22 or earlier:

May 31, 2014 (Firefox 29): This string in the keyword:URL used to block unwanted results from the address bar search - suggested workaround was an extension named Keyword.URL Hack; you did not reply.

Sept. 24, 2013 (Firefox 23): This string in about:config used to block sites"keyword.URL;http://www.bing.com/search?q -wikipedia -MSN -MSNBC -huffingtonpost -huffington -ehow -eHow" - suggested workaround was an extension named Keyword.URL Hack; you did not reply.

Sept. 2, 2014 (Firefox 23): Why "about:config keyword:URL" no longer blocks sites not wanted? - suggested workaround was an extension named Keyword.URL Hack, but you reported that it didn't work for you and that you would use Internet Explorer instead.

If you already know the complete list of search terms you want to exclude you can create a custom Bing search plugin. You would create this using a text editor. (I looked for a thread with the steps but haven't found it yet. I might have seen it on another site.)

Thank you again for your response, this may help me but at the moment do not have the time to try it out. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/Creating_OpenSearch_plugins_for_Firefox

You can modify the default code as follows:

(1) Paste this internal address into Firefox's address bar and press Enter to load it:

resource:///chrome/en-US/locale/browser/searchplugins/

If your language is not U.S. English, you'll need to substitute that part.

(2) Right-click bing.xml and Save Link As, and change the name of the saved file do something like bingcustom.xml

(3) Using your favorite text editor, open bingcustom.xml

(A) Near the top, edit the ShortName from Bing to Bing Custom or your preferred name (up to 16 characters)

(B) Scroll to the end. There you will see this line:

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>

I think that is where you will add your exclusions, for example, if you never want to see any results mentioning the zika virus:

<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}+-zika"/>

Use a + to replace each space. But I haven't tested it myself.

Then you'll need to install it. But I haven't tested that either. I prefer to use my script which excludes on a site-by-site basis, not based on the appearance of terms in the content.