Search Results | Output On Same Page | PHP

[mika]

Hi, I have tried working on this for hours and it's not working. It used to work when my pages were all shtml..

Anywayz, I've tried different combinations and did some research thru google and nothing has worked. I also checked out this page:

http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/faq_ssi.html

I've already installed zoom. The index page is this since the website is still under construction:

http://vibrantgardens.com/index3.php

The simple search form is working.

BUT when I type "seeds" this is the page I get:

http://vibrantgardens.com/search/search.php?zoom_query=seeds

See how the php include won't load? There's no navigational menu. I tried different combinations but I would either lose the navigational menus or the results would not show up on the right page.

I would like the search results to show up on this page in the middle column:

http://vibrantgardens.com/search/search_template.php

I also changed the link back url to search/search_template.php and changed the settings.php template to search_template.php

Since I'm not used to doing websites, I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong..

I hope one of you guys can help me, if not, I'll just have someone install it.. My head is aching ..

Oh by the way, at one point, I did have the search results come up in the middle column however it was at the very bottom after the footer.. hmm..

Thanks!

Mika

[Ray]

From what you tell me, and what I can see on your pages, I think it is safe to say that you are a fair bit confused. As you said that you are not familiar with making websites, I'll presume that someone else created the backend for the rest of your site, as it seems to be PHP based. That or it is a template you have dropped into place, but not implemented properly, because none of the other pages are working yet. It looks like there's a fair way to go before your website is actually finished from what it is at the moment. It would be a wise idea to get that person to implement or fix your site, along with the search pages.

But going with what we can see, I can try to give you some pointers. First of all, please tell us what you have already done in relation to installing Zoom. Have you, for example, modified the "search.php" script that is provided? Or any of the generated files, such as "settings.php"? Looking at your pages, it seems like you have. This is not a recommended approach for users who are not familiar with PHP scripting.

There is no "search_template.php" file in any of our documented usage. I presume you created this file, and you are attempting to follow the method described in the SSI FAQ question linked to above. But I think you failed to follow a few important steps (and may have done some other things instead). I think you might want to re-read the instructions carefully.

Here's some tips:

• The "search_template.html" page is used by the "search.php" script to determine the layout of the page. It should never be used directly (that is, no one should access the "search_template.html" page directly from the browser)
• You shouldn't need to have a file named "search_template.php". If you want to have PHP on your search page, you create a custom search page such as "mysearch.php" or "vgsearch.php" or whatever (yes, even "search_template.php" if you want, but that makes little sense in most cases). And follow the instructions in this FAQ carefully: http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/faq_ssi.html
• If you are not familiar with PHP scripting, you probably don't want to add PHP to the search page. In case you do not realize, you can actually just add HTML to the "search_template.html" page and get it to match the rest of your site, without any PHP scripting. Make sure you understand what you are really trying to do.
• You do not need to, and you should not ever, modify the "search.php" script, or the "settings.php" file, or any of the generated files besides "search_template.html". If you have already done this and likely broken scripting functionality, we recommend re-indexing your site to get a new generated set of files. If you have modified these via the source files (from the Indexer's Advanced menu, or directly in the Zoom program files folder), we recommend reinstalling Zoom. I believe you've modified the "search.php" script because it is outputting content which is not in the "search_template.html" file.

If you have not done so already, take a look at the Users Guide: http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/usersguide.html

[mika]

Hi, thanks for the very fast response. Unfortunately, there is no backend or template. I created the website myself. It's far from being finished.

I didn't modify the search.php script. The only script I modified was settings.php. I just changed the template name and the link url name. I then created settings_template.php.

I did look at those two links but it wasn't giving me the results I wanted and I need php because the navigational links are split in 5:

header
footer
main column
left column
right column

they're all in php files and php includes wont work in shtml or html. And the final website will have a lot of pages so I need php because I don't want to keep inputting information on each page everytime I update plus a lot of addons are php based. That's why I chose php.

I don't know how else to go about it. I've tried the faq's on ssi and looked over it so many times so I guess I'll have you guys try to install it.

Can you give me a quote and let me know what I need to do so you can install it?

Thanks!

[Ray]

I didn't modify the search.php script. The only script I modified was settings.php. I just changed the template name and the link url name. I then created settings_template.php.

So you modified the "settings.php" file that contains the following warning at the very top of the file?

// [B]WARNING: DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE.[/B]
// This file is automatically generated by the Zoom Indexer application
// and will be updated each time you re-index your site. You should make all
// setting changes directly from the Indexer, via the Configuration window.

There is good reason for the warning. And as it suggests, we do not recommend editing this file. The settings file gets changed after every re-index, and the changes are important. This means that your changes will be reset after every re-index. And if you try to reuse the modified settings file for future indexes, it will break and lead to unexpected behaviour.

I should also point out that there really is nothing to gain from changing the template filename. This file should never be accessed by the end user directly. It is only used by the "search.php" script. If you tried to change the template filename from "search_template.html" to "search_template.php", then you should also note that this is NOT supported. That is going against the described method in our FAQ linked above which specifically says you cannot insert PHP code in the template file.

I did look at those two links but it wasn't giving me the results I wanted and I need php because the navigational links are split in 5:

This is the exact described usage of the FAQ linked before, which I will link yet again here:
http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/faq_ssi.html

Refer to the "example using PHP" in which a "mysearch.php" is created. As your current implementation is already against the advised and guided usage, I would recommend starting again and following the instructions step by step this time - and only doing what is documented.

Can you give me a quote and let me know what I need to do so you can install it?

We can give you a quote, but should advise you that what you are asking for requires custom web development, and not just simply an installation service. An installation service only provides a working search page on your site, with no web design or HTML work, let alone PHP coding.

However, from your description, you would actually need us to write PHP code which has to be integrated with your existing PHP website (using the correct headers and footers etc.). This would be difficult to estimate the work required considering we do not know how your site is currently implemented, and as we have noted, the current site is actually far from working - it implies we may possibly need to fix many things on your existing site to get it to work for even just the search page. Needless to say, this could well be time consuming, and expensive.

Having said that, if you still wish to pursue custom development and installation services with us, please contact us via e-mail for further discussion.