Suggestions for v6

[oraya]

I would love to be able to set my own template file name into the configuration so I didn't have to keep editing the settings file. Unless I'm missing something, there doesn't seem to be an option in zoom's site configuration for this. It is a real pain in the rear for me, it also means I can't just upload the files using the built in upload.

[David]

Following on from request 2). There is now an additional FAQ question that gives some better CSS examples and professional looking images that people can used to create a sexy looking search box for their site.

[sizbut]

Being able to name an external CSS style sheet would get a big thumbs up from me.

[David]

Thanks for the suggestions. I don't have time to comment in full but here is some brief feedback,

1) We have thought about this a few times. There are a few issues. One of which is that it is problematic because we can't overwrite the template file (because the user edits it) But we need to overwrite the file in order up update the CSS in the file. Moving the CSS into a separate file partially fixes this, but we would still overwrite user changes from time to time.

2) It is partially covered in this FAQ
Q. How do I add a simple search box to each page of my site?
Expanding this FAQ with some CSS styling instructions is already on our 'to do' list.

3) If you have thumbnails images prepared, this feature is already available. See this FAQ
Q. How do I associate images with my search results?
Thumbnail size is controlled by CSS.

[vcor]

Great product and we look forward to v6 (this year?).

A few suggestions:

1) Offer to create a CSS/Templates with a number of styles. For example, you might have 5 layout styles (default, google-like, yahoo-like, etc.), then have 5 visual styles (fonts, colors, etc.). You could pick a layout and visual style. I know we can do all this manually now, but it would be great to have an easier starting point than lots of base CSS to modify and tweak. Even with these kinds of options, further modification may be necessary, but at least it would be an easier starting point.

2) I couldn't find any information in help or product pages on if it supports having a simple 1-line search link (like you do on your site). There was a forum post that simply suggested to copy the code you use on your site. Not ideal, but I got this to work with a simple box, but couldn't get the cool style you have to work (although I wanted to create something different).

How about having it create the code snippet and CSS for 5 styles of search lines, to be inserted into a site's pages? I realize getting tricky styles to work with IE/Firefox is a pain, but it would be fantastic if this was done for us. Even if only a single standard box search code snippet would be better than having to find and suck out the code/CSS from an example site - something I'm reluctant to do on a copyrighted site.

3) Ok - for a really tough one - when you search a page, how about an option to make a tiny thumbnail of the page (perhaps with a setting for the size) and include it in the search results. It might take too long for a huge site, but would be a cool feature for small sites.

Keep up the great work!