Suggestion: A customizeable list of "top hits" pages for suggestion in Orion URL bar.
The Problem: Users would use this feature to customize their browsing experience. As far as I can tell, the only way to have your search bar make customized suggestions is either via enabling Bookmarks or History in the search tab of Orion Settings. Unfortunately, I don't think either of these options deliver seemless access to a basic user need: quick autocompletes of frequently used websites.
The problems with "History" are: 1) Sometimes specific pages you visited recently on a website can be suggested over the website homepage (e.g., a specific Youtube video vs. Youtube.com). 2) Suggestions derived from browsing history make your browsing history quite public to anyone who sees your computer screen.
The problems with "Bookmarks" are: 1) In the case that you bookmark both a specific page on a website (e.g., a specific Youtube video) and the website homepage (youtube.com), it's unclear how to force Orion to suggest the homepage as the suggestion first. 2) By default bookmark suggestions appear at the bottom of search bar, requiring an extra key stroke for autocomplete. Top hits seem to take precedent, appearing at the top and autocompleting first. In the absence of a top hit, bookmarks do seem to autcomplete and appear at the top eventually.
The current Top Hits option also has some issues that affect UX. For example, there are pages I visit every day (e.g., nytimes.com and wsj.com) that I would like to have autocompleted by the URL bar. I thought Top Hits might fill this need, but frustratingly, if I write nytimes.com, the top hit that autocompletes is Wordle (http://nytimes.com/games/wordle) not the front page of the NY Times. The same is true for wsj.com, which returns the top hit: http://wsj.com/food.
Top Hits Ships With Unpersonalized Suggestions: Reading a related thread (https://orionfeedback.org/d/4294-a-workable-and-thus-personalized-address-bar-top-hits-dont-reflect-my-browsing-behavior) it seems that Orion ships with a stock list of Top Hits that do not reflect individual browsing patterns. My proposal is simply to give users edit access to the Top Hit list in Orion Settings (e.g., they can delete top hits, add top hits, or change existing top hits). This would allow a more personalized experience and save the frustration of being autocompleted to the wrong link every day!
Only Small UI Changes Are Needed: Implementation seems relatively straightforward. I imagine a "Top Hits" menu that can be accessed via the Search tab in Orion Settings (see picture for my very high effort mock up) that exists between Bookmarks and History in the pop out window for the Bookmarks manager. It is autopopulated with a list containing the same "Website" and "Address" fields as "Bookmarks" for all of defaults Top Hits.
Just like the current Bookmarks manager, you can right click on an entry to change the address it directs to or delete it. Unlike the Bookmarks manager, you can right click in empty space to access the "New Top Hit" options. This allows you to add custom Top Hits. From a UI perspective, this could be as simple as the Mac Finder UI which presents a "New Folder" option if you right click in empty space.
EDIT: It appears that a similar, albeit less comprehensive, featue request as made here: https://orionfeedback.org/d/5812-a-way-to-delete-wrong-suggestions