After You Index Your Website, What's Next?

[cTory]

Hello, this is Ernest. The Zoom Search Engine looks exellent, but I don't really know how to use it.

First thing I did, I index Zoom Search Engine on my website, I choose the PHP option. I downloaded the User Guide. I get some of it, but I most of it confuses me. I have my website up, but it just shows a search box, I don't know how to add websites in my search.

1. After you Index your website, what do you do next?

2. Do you have to have a website builder to customize your website, then index your website?

3. Can you change the design of the search box?

[Ray]

1. After you Index your website, what do you do next?

A window would have appeared at the end of indexing, suggesting you to upload the index files to your web site (and prompting whether you want Zoom to upload the files, or yourself).

This is explained in Chapter 5 of the Users Guide, entitled: "What to do after indexing".

I presume you have the FTP details to upload files to your web site?

Do you understand folder paths and which folder on your web server, and do you know which folder on your server you would want to upload the files to?

2. Do you have to have a website builder to customize your website, then index your website?

No, you can use Zoom with any website, whether you have built it by hand in NotePad or any text editor, or if you used Dreamweaver, or Front Page, or Microsoft Expression, or a CMS like Wordpress.

If, on the other hand, you are asking whether you need to have a web site before you can index your web site.... then I think you're a bit confused. Perhaps you should explain what you are trying to do. Are you trying to make a search engine for your own website or someone elses web site? Do you have a web site?

3. Can you change the design of the search box?

Absolutely, yes. See these FAQs:
Q. How do I modify the appearance of the search form?
Q. How do I customize the appearance of my search results with CSS?
Q. How do I add search boxes to my web pages?

This page gives some examples:
http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/searchbox.html

[cTory]

A window would have appeared at the end of indexing, suggesting you to upload the index files to your web site (and prompting whether you want Zoom to upload the files, or yourself).

This is explained in Chapter 5 of the Users Guide, entitled: "What to do after indexing".

I presume you have the FTP details to upload files to your web site?

Do you understand folder paths and which folder on your web server, and do you know which folder on your server you would want to upload the files to?

Yes, I understand the folder path, uploading folders to the FTP usually goes in the plubic_html (something like that)

No, you can use Zoom with any website, whether you have built it by hand in NotePad or any text editor, or if you used Dreamweaver, or Front Page, or Microsoft Expression, or a CMS like Wordpress.

If, on the other hand, you are asking whether you need to have a web site before you can index your web site.... then I think you're a bit confused. Perhaps you should explain what you are trying to do. Are you trying to make a search engine for your own website or someone elses web site? Do you have a web site?

Okay, thank you. I am making a search engine on my website. Yes, I have a website.

Absolutely, yes. See these FAQs:
Q. How do I modify the appearance of the search form?
Q. How do I customize the appearance of my search results with CSS?
Q. How do I add search boxes to my web pages?

This page gives some examples:
http://www.wrensoft.com/zoom/support/searchbox.html

Thanks a lot again.

It seem like the anwsers have been all solve now. But now, I need do know... What do you do after you upload files in the FTP???

[Ray]

From chapter 5.5 of the Users Guide:

Where is my search page?

Once you have uploaded or copied the required files across to your server, you can open the following
file in your browser to access the search page:

· search.php (for PHP)

· search.asp (for ASP)

· search.html (for Javascript)
· search.cgi (for CGI)
You should create links elsewhere on your website to the appropriate search page. Alternatively, you can create a search form on your website which passes the query to one of the above mentioned scripts. See "How do I add a search form" for more information.

So if you have selected the PHP platform, indexed your site, uploaded the files to "public_html" (presumably the root folder of your web site), then you can enter the following URL in your browser:

http://www.mysite.com/search.php

(where "mysite.com" would be your domain) and you will find your search page there.

It's just like if you created any other new web page on your web site.

Then you can either link to this search page, or create a search box to submit to this search page (as explained in the FAQ above).

Then there's chapter 6 for "How do I customize the look of my search page?".