Fagan Finder > Site > Blog

May 10, 2020

Usually I work on some changes, publish them, and announce it here on this blog. I have been working on updating a few pages on the site, however the work has been taking so long, and the pages being updated were so out-of-date, that I have been publishing the half-finished updates for months without any blog announcement until now.

First, I worked on the Image search page, bringing it into the modern template and updating all the tools and links. I have not “finished” the update, in that there are a lot more tools I want to add, but everything that is included is a good tool and is working.

Second, along with bringing more of the older pages into the newer format, I made some improvements to the design, i.e. the one used on updated pages that I launched in 2017. Most of the changes are to enable using the search box and changing search tools when you are scrolled down on the page to read more details about each section. The other changes are minor or subtle; for example you can now enter search terms in right-to-left languages (i.e. Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, and Hebrew).

Lastly and most significantly, I have been working to combine what used to be several pages into one new page, even more comprehensive than ever before. What used to be the Search engines, Blogs and RSS, Advanced reference, Science, News, and Government pages are now the Information search page, which is also now the home page.

Beyond the topics of those former pages, I have added quite a lot more, including social media, libraries and archives, data, and the dark web. I have also greatly expanded the international coverage, with resources in more languages and more countries. I also expanded to include resources which are not free, require library subscriptions, or are otherwise limiting access, if they are sufficiently useful and many people do have access to them. Even more so than other pages, if you scroll down past all the tools at the top, you will find a ton of information about each category and most of the tools, as well as quite a few additional resources.

While the new Information search page is not yet complete, I am mentally exhausted from the months I have been working on it and need a break :-). I still have a huge list of potential resources to go through, and will likely make other changes as well… eventually.

Of course, making this page so comprehensive has created a new problem. With 276 tools at the top (more than twice the next largest page, Video search), you can no longer view all the tools at once even on a desktop, and it has become hard to navigate. I have not decided on a solution to that yet.

As always, feedback is very welcome. Email (michael@faganfinder.com), Twitter, or Facebook.

December 2, 2019

New page today: Listen, for podcasts, audiobooks, and radio.

November 29, 2019

Small design improvements today. The search box is now sticky, meaning it remains on the screen when you scroll down the page over the lower search tools. As a result of this I was able to increase the font size of the buttons to make them more readable, and increase the spacing between buttons to reduce accidental clicks. As always, feedback welcome.

November 23, 2019

I have updated the Video search and Goups search pages, fixing or removing broken links, and adding a new video search tool (Yarn).

Google Adsense seems to have decided to put in bigger ads a few months ago, so I have forced them to return to the smaller size.

April 29, 2019

Over the last few weeks I have made updates to the Video search and Goups search pages.

June 21, 2018

I have updated the Video search and Goups search pages, removing old sites, updating others, and adding new ones. Most significant are the additions to the video search page, including Twitch, a video service for the hearing-impaired, Geo Search Tool, another movie/television scripts site, another free stock video site, Unlisted Videos on YouTube, TV Guide listings, C-SPAN, and a whole section for national archives.

Also, the two above pages are now using HTTPS.

May 4, 2017

Fixed a small bug on the new (Video search and Goups search) pages. Now when you click on a button, you can search using that tool by hitting the enter key. The selected tool is also highlighted so you can see where there search will be going.

March 4, 2017

I decided it was about time for a Fagan Finder update.

The Video search page has been fully updates and is now much more comprehensive, going from 26 search options to 115. It includes all sorts of videos from documentaries to animated GIFs, and even related information such as TV/movie reviews, scripts, and showtimes.

The Goups search page has been updated as well, and includes online groups (forums, IRC), meetups, and more.

Both pages have also been redesigned to be easier to use, load faster, and work better no matter what technology you use. Do you have feedback on these updates, want to see other pages updated, or want to see whole new pages? Let me know.

November 15, 2010

I have redone the Google Ultimate Interface, a long-time favourite of many. It now includes tons of options on all current Google services. Searching by date has been taken off that page and split into a separate Search by Date page which includes other tools as well as Google.

November 7, 2010

I have pushed forward the first major redesign since Fagan Finder launched in 2001. This brings improved aesthetics and overall smoothness, some additional features, and support of all the latest web standards. Please let me know what you think of the new design and if you have any problems. Note that not every single page on Fagan Finder sports the new design yet, but all the regular search pages do. Actually, I created a new design back in 2004 but never published it, but I think this new new design should work well.

October 28, 2010

Fagan Finder has been largely abandoned for most of the last seven years. At the end of July I announced an update to the image search page, and I'm now following that up with quite a bit more.

• Major update for the Video Search page, adding educational videos, how-tos, and documentaries, news video, etc. and including a good informational section.
• Major update for the Maps and Geography page with online map websites and sources of geographic data, and including a very extensive informational section.
• Major update for the News Search page.
• Major update for the Shopping Search page including not just price comparison engines but local stores, product reviews, info, and manuals, local shopping and classifieds, product code search, even rent, borrow, and free sites as well as a very extensive informational section.
• Major update for the Academic Search (formerly advanced reference) page which now includes academic search engines and directories, scholarly/journal papers, online courses and videos, flashcards and quizzes, books, and more.
• Major update for the Search Engines page including blog search engines, real-time search engines, and hard-to-categorize tools such as Wolfram|Alpha and other fact/answer tools.

The meta search engines, directories, and blog search engine pages have all been rolled into the search engines page. I have also begun some intentional duplication. Blog search engines can also be found on the news page for convenience; news video can be found on both the news and video search page. Education videos can be found on both the video and academic pages. The academic page also includes some general search tools as well. All to make it easier to do all your searching without having to travel to different parts of Fagan Finder. I have also updated the home page to take all these updates into account and add new tools like book search. I have also completely redone the about section which now includes a handy contact form to send me feedback.

Image Search updated again

I have once again cleaned up the Image Search Engines page, removing, fixing, and even some additions.

Image Search updated

I have significantly upgraded the Image Search Engines page; details here.

October 24: Switch Bookmarklets 2

Okay, I've finally gotten around to making a new interface for the switch bookmarklets and adding some features. Get 'em here: Switch Bookmarklets!

October 16: Switch Bookmarklets

This was going to be part of the new feature set when I unveiled the new design of Fagan Finder, several thousand years from now. But Steven convinced me otherwise, so I've incorporate this new tool into Fagan Finder today. It's ugly but it works. Switch bookmarklets allow you to switch from search results on one tool to search results on another. Grab the bookmarklet for any tool (e.g. Dictionary.com), search anywhere else (e.g. Yahoo!), then click the bookmarklet to switch to Dictionary.com. Get the bookmarklets by following the link at the footer of any search page (e.g. search engines, blogs). Feedback welcome.

August 22: URLinfo

Brand-new tool today! Actually, it’s a major redo of an old tool. Introducing URLinfo (beta), a tool used to find out information about a web page, track it, translate it, search through it, view old versions if it, find similar pages and backlinks, and more. It’s divided into various sections, and each also contains information and additional links. You can also create a customized bookmarklet for easy access to URLinfo. Feedback is welcome.

June 24: Meta Search Engines

My seriously out-of-date Meta Search Engines page is now up to date. Almost everything that was there is now gone, but over ten meta search engines have been added, everything fixed, more information written, and descriptions added for all the tools and links.

June 13: Invisible Web

When I went through to update the Invisible Web section, I found that almost all the resources included no longer existed. I also took out the file format search, since I now have a separate Search by File Format page. That left me with so little that I almost decided to remove it completely. Instead I have removed it only from the home page, but I have updated the information, and added a few new links. Suggestions welcome.

June 3: Search for Quotations

A brand new section today, Quotations and Proverbs search. At the moment, it includes mostly quotation and proverb websites, but also has sayings, aphorisms, slogans, etc. It isn’t really finished, but nothing on Fagan Finder ever really is. So far it includes 52 search tools and 33 external links (with reasonable information about each), making it very extensive already. Also, I have tried something new: the page includes a random quotation from Daily Quotation Server. It makes the page load a little slower, so I may remove it (and feedback is welcome).

March 3: File Formats

New tool: Search by File Format.

February 19: RSS

I updated my article on RSS to include information on Atom, OPML, and a few other things. The changes are described on the changes log.

January 26: Web Directories

I have updated the Directories and Human Guides section. I removed a number of search tools and links, however I have added five new search tools, descriptions for all links and search tools, and a information section.

January 7: 2004 already?

After receiving quite a few e-mails, I finally got around to adding 2004 to date options for a couple of pages.

January 1: Search Engines

I’ve given a much-needed update to the Search Engines page, which includes several new search engines.

December 31: Audio and Music Search Engines

For the same reason mentioned in the previous entry, I have added sixteen new resources to the Audio and Music Search Engines section.

December 24: Movie and Video Search Tools

I have been going through Fagan Finder’s search tool pages, upgrading them to the current format, and removing dead links. Doing so for the Movie and Video Search Tools reduced it to just three tools, so I have added fourteen new resources to that page. Most of these are for finding movie reviews.

December 14: Quotations?

Are you really into quotations? Or maybe proverbs? E-mail me.

December 7: Backend Changes

I have been making a number of changes to the back end of Fagan Finder. Most of these changes will not be obvious for some time, however. One thing to note is that all search tool pages in the new format are now available as search boxes.

November 6, 2003: Still Quite Alive

Just a notice to say I'm still alive. Unfortunately I have very limited time to work on Fagan Finder while I am attending university. I intend a major website overhaul, which may not happen for quite a while. The only changes happening at this time, I’ll admit, are more advertisements on Fagan Finder. I will not, however, let them take over the site.

August 6, 2003: Translation Wizard

Big new feature today, the Fagan Finder Translation Wizard goes live in beta status. I have been working on this tool for some weeks and it is by far the largest and most complex tool on Fagan Finder. See About the Translation Wizard. Features include translation of words, sentences, and web pages. Web pages can be SWF or PDF files. Many translators are available, including more than one for many language pairs. Quite a few languages are available, each with its own informational page. Virtual keyboards are available for Latin, Cryillic, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. Input may be written in right-to-left (i.e. Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu). One-click translation for language pairs where only dictionaries are available. And that’s just a start: many other features, languages, and translators will be added.

June 3, 2003: New Autosearch feature

Every so often I hear suggestions to make Fagan Finder more like a meta search engine. Some people want to search all the tools at once, or at least multiple tools simultaneously. I have planned on something like this as an option when Fagan Finder eventually becomes database-driven. Today (perhaps fuelled by comments by Luigi), I wondered if I could do something simple to accomplish this right now. A little work and a new beta feature, Autosearch, available from the Preferences page. Don’t expect it to work :-) and please send feedback. Essentially you can click a next button rather than having to select the next option and then press search. Currently only available on new-design pages (Blogs, Images, and the main page).