How do I search my own site

[bhogaj31]

Hi all,

Can somebody please advise me how I add a search button to my website, which only searches my website for information.

I don't want any advertising from other providers of search facilities.

All help much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Bhogaj31

 

[feherke]

Hi

You can use Google. Of course, if your site is already indexed by Google.

<form action="[URL unfurl="true"]http://google.com/search"[/URL] method="get">
<input type="hidden" name="as_sitesearch" value="[red]example.com[/red]">
<input type="text" name="q">
<input type="submit" value="Search my site">

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[BabyJeffy]

Is your website stored in a database and delivered dynamically when it is requested by the user? If so... then adding a search facility is as simple as searching some fields in the database (some minor modification to the table definition and a page to handle the results... you are away).

If your site isn't backended with a database, then you might want to look at some other means to build up a list of keywords (maybe manually parsing the whole site through some code that stores unique words etc). You would still need to develop a results page... of course.

Some important questions that need answering first: what server-side environment are you using (PHP or just plain HTML)? What database back-end are you using (mySQL, SQL, Access, none)? What budget do you have (or ar you attempting to do this for nothin')?

There is no "off the shelf" solution that would work generically in every scenario.

Cheers,
Jeff

[tt]Jeff's Page @ Code Couch

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/

http://www.codecouch.com/jeff/blog/

[/tt]

What is Javascript? FAQ216-6094

 

[feherke]

Hi

Regarding Jeff's second paragraph, this is a nice starting point to write your own "search engine", if you want :

http://www.webmonkey.com/webmonkey/97/16/index2a.html

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[ChrisHunt]

I think you've basically got three options:
[ul]
[li]Use a free third party search solution like the Google code Feherke's already posted, or

http://www.freefind.com/

. Search results are displayed on a third party site, which may make it difficult to fully integrate them into your pages. The results posted will also usually have adverts with them - that's how the search providers pay their bills without charging you. At least if you go the Google route you can use Adsense for Search to snaffle a slice of the ad revenue.
[/li]
[li]Pay for a third party solution - many of the free services have a "professional" option which mean you don't get ads, and may be able to customisse your result pages a bit more too.
[/li]
[li]Run a search script on your server to keep it all in-house. This is more work, but obviously you can tweak it to fit your exact requirements. Just pick a language and a budget that suits you, a good place to start looking for ready-made scripts is

http://cgi.resourceindex.com/Programs_and_Scripts/Perl/Searching/Searching_Your_Web_Site/

[/li][/ul]
As Jeff says, a bit more information might yield you more specific advice.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[mrn]

Never tried it & it costs.

http://www.searchmakerpro.com/

also had a look on freshmeat and found loads of tools



Mike

"A foolproof method for sculpting an elephant: first, get a huge block of marble, then you chip away everything that doesn't look like an elephant."

http://www.airport-parking-site.co.uk/

 

[GUJUm0deL]

I wrote a FAQ about this a while back, faq216-1332. See if that helps any.

____________________________________
Just Imagine.

http://www.imajinarts.com

 

[Wullie]

If you are looking for a search engines to run inhouse, FDSE is a great little engine and will spider your pages for you:

http://www.xav.com/

Hope this helps

Wullie

Fresh Look - Quality Coldfusion 7/Windows Hosting

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell

 

[trollacious]

And here's another free one that uses Google's database:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/search/

Lee