Strange Howto Question

[seedseller]

I am just ready to have a new version of a website go live with Zoom search available to members only. I was thinking that having a live search available without having any links in the results would be a good promotional tool. In other words--nonmembers can see the search results, but they cannot access the underlying files.

I just don't see any items in the config options that would allow that to happen. Am I missing something?

Thanks for any info.

[WizardFusion]

you will need to have two version of the search.asp/.php page. One with links working for members, the other without the links for non-members.

For the non members, just remove the <a href=""> </a> tags from the links, and make sure you don't have "Show Page URLs" enabled.

[seedseller]

Thanks, WizardFusion.

But without editing the search.php file, I don't know how to delete the href tags from the search results. I simple want to show search results without the user actually being able to go to the file containing the result.

Suggestions?

[Ray]

How are you identifying or authenticating your members? Usually, a site would have an authentication method with a login page, so that even when a non-member has the link to a secured page, he or she will not be able to access the page until they've logged in.

If your web pages are not actually secured or access restricted in any way, and you are simply relying on their URLs being not known - first of all, it should be pointed out that this is a very superficial method of access restriction. Anyone who has logged in once can then give the URLs out to non-members. Often, it may even be possible to guess the URLs. This might be okay for certain uses (eg. the user restriction is not actually important), but just be aware of what you are actually doing and what exactly your requirements are.

Having said that, there are some simple, and similarly superficial ways of hiding the links in the search results. For example, you could disable the links from appearing in the browser via CSS:

.result_title { display: none; }

This actually causes the entire main title row (including the title!) to not be rendered in the browser. This doesn't really omit it though! The URL can still be attained by looking at the HTML source code.

Another option might be to use the "Rewrite Links" option in Zoom (on the "Indexing Options" tab of the Configuration window) so that your search result links all point to a different folder, where you will direct the user to a "You need to be a member to see this page" message.

[seedseller]

Thanks Ray!

I am using a secure authentication/login for the site. Each of the several hundred pages checks for access level before a user can see the contents.

I played a bit with the CSS, but couldn't accomplish what I wanted. I really want the search to look like an active search, but to go to another page which says "you'll have to become a member to see more." It sounds like the rewrite links option may do just that. I will have to experiment.

[Ray]

I am using a secure authentication/login for the site. Each of the several hundred pages checks for access level before a user can see the contents.

In which case, shouldn't that mean it's not a problem if the search results point to the pages? The user will click on the link, and the page they land on will check their access level, which will redirect them to a login form or "you'll need to be a member" message, one presumes? I'm not sure why having a different set of results would be necessary if this is the case.