The ? has a special meaning if found at the beginning or end of your query, which is to use the default search engine.

If you regularly need to send queries to the bookmarked site that have a question mark at the end, you may need to modify your bookmark or set up a second one. Here's the idea:

Regular keyword bookmark:

Location: https://translate.google.com.br/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&tl=pt&text=%s

Use: type keyword, space, query, Return (or Alt+Return for new tab)

JavaScript keyword bookmark (bookmarklet):

Location: javascript:var kw=prompt('Enter text or 0 to cancel');if(kw){if(kw!='0' && kw.length>0) u='https://translate.google.com.br/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&tl=pt&text='+encodeURIComponent(kw); window.open(u,'_blank');} void 0;

Use: type keyword, Return; in popup type query, Return (opens in new tab)

Do you want to give it a try?

That's a very good workaround, @jscher2000. In the previous version, Firefox automatically converted the content to urlencode.. Do you know if the word used as "keyword" is available inside the Location field in some variable?

Hi Ricardo, I'm not sure if you're asking about how Firefox does it or how my script does it?

In my script, there's no reference to the keyword assigned to the bookmarklet. Or the name, or tags, or anything outside of the script. I'm not aware of a way to access that.

I meant Firefox in general, so I wouldn't need to open the prompt before... In my example, there would be no use to open a prompt.. I usually use this particular snippet to translate any text. This could be a word or a paragraph. In the past (prior to Firefox 81), I just paste the content in the address bar.

Now, if it contains any special char, doesn't work. If I need to type anything else and ENTER, wouldn't make sense... I could start typing "tep" > opens google translate with the translation field on focus where I can paste my content and get instant translation.

I'm wondering if this new "bug" is just a new feature that I can disable in about:config or something like that.

I'm not aware of way to have Firefox ignore the ? character at the end of the query. You can type a period after it to make it not the last character, although perhaps that could affect the translation.

What other characters are causing the problem?

Try this:

Location https://translate.google.com.br/#view=home&op=translate&sl=en&tl=pt&text=%s Keyword tep

And then try this on the browser:

tep dogs

and

tep how many dogs do you have?

If you're using Firefox 81, after typing ? it will lose the bookmark.

Yes, I'm aware that a ? at the end triggers using the default search engine instead of using the keyword bookmark.

I do not know of any way to change that behavior, which I think is new in Firefox 81.

If this doesn't come up very often, the quickest workaround that comes to mind is to type something (other than a space, a space doesn't work) after the ? in your query.

Hi @jscher2000. Thanks for the insight. Adding anything (but space) after the ? solved the problem. :)

Thanks a lot.