Modifying Search Results Page

[Jaguar57]

I guess I am not really sure how to modify the search results page to fit in with my existing web site.

Here is what I am trying to do:

I found where I could just add a simple search box to my navigation menu at the top of each page (the top navigation menu is common to every page).

What I want to happen is have the search results get displayed with the navigation menu that includes the search box in it in case the user wants to do another search again (removing the default search results box).

I dont see how the "search_template.html" really works to display the information from a result.

I am not much of a web programmer as this project to add a search functionality has been dropped in my lap. I can get the search functions to work fine I just want to modify the results to fit in better with the rest of the pages.

Thanks.

[Richard]

I suggest taking a look at Chapter 6 of the Zoom User Manual - "How do I customize the look of my search page?" This answers many questions of customization. In addition to this you can look at http://wrensoft.com/zoom/support/index.html#howtos

I know that you mentioned that you are not a web programmer, but what you are trying to do will require some understanding of web technologies (html, css, etc. ).

In short, calling search.php (or search.xxx for the web technology you are using) will load "search_template.html". Inside "search_template.html" is a tag "<!--ZOOMSEARCH-->". This is where the search function will be displayed. You can modified search_template.html to fit your layout, but place <!--ZOOMSEARCH--> to where you want the search/results displayed.

If you need to go back to the default search template, you can delete or rename your search template file, and re-index your site. A new "default template" will be created in the output directory at the end of indexing, when it finds that the search template is missing.

Richard

[Jaguar57]

Thanks for your reply Richard.

Yeah I have been in and out of the manual on Chapter 6 for some time now.

I have made a little headway however I have some php include statements that bring in our top and bottom navigation bars. I have tried modifying the "search_template.html" file with the required lines of code:

<?php include ('nav.php');?>
<?php include("footer.php"); ?>

However it doesnt load them.

I presume that the page with the search results is dynamically generated? Is there a way to send those results to a static page that pulls in the search results?

[David]

It might help if we could see you site.

This FAQ should help you out with the PHP header and footer.
Q. How can I add server-side scripting (eg. PHP, ASP) to the search template?