How to display a selected result in a separate table on same page

[tkparker]

We currently have over 27,000 images used on our fashion website that we want internal users to be able to search for by "style number". Search results work like a champ and display image(s) as requested. In an effort to have a nice, clean look on the web page with the search results still visible, I want the selected image to appear in another table on the same web page beside the table the results display in.

Ex. Results appear in table 1, which is where ZOOMSEARCH is located. I want the selected image to display in table 2, which is on the same web page while still showing the search result thumbnails in table 1 in case the user wants to pull up a new image.

"Results linking" has been unsuccessful when choosing "frame or window" option. Image opens in new window. Do I have to use frames on my page to use "results linking" functionality?

Using Dreamweaver CS4

Thanks in advance

[Schluej]

Hello,
i have the same problem...
The .zcfg for the flyingant shows "#LINKTARGET:main" but the source in the browser tells target="_blank".
Is the target on you search page even "_blank".

Regards
Schluej

[David]

The search results aren't actually in a table (in the HTML sense of a <table>). CSS is used to layout the results.

There is no option in the software to display the same image twice in different locations on the results page.

I assume you are using the PHP script option?

Option 1:
Customise the search.php script to get the exact behaviour you want.

Option 2:
Switch to using the search.cgi option, then get the results back as XML, then post process the XML results in your own script to render the HTML search results page.

Option 3:
Write some JavaScript that scans the search results and re-writes the links to points to a new bit of JS that pops up the image as required. No, we don't have code like this already written.

Option 4:
Look into doing this with frames. Maybe you can split the page into two frames, with the search results in the left frame pointing to the right hand frame. I normally hate using frames, but it might work. I haven't actually tested it however.

Option 5:
Paid us (or someone) some consulting time to collect all the requirements and server constraints and come up with the best solution. The problem is totally solvable, it just needs someone to invest a day's work into it.

[sizbut]

My thoughts would be towards a variant of option 4, basically using iframes. Create a page with two iframes, loading the URL for your search into one and in your search settings having the name of the other iframe as the destination.

[tkparker]

Hey Mark,
iFrames worked like a champ. I appended an iFrame into one of the DIV sections on the page per your suggestion and was successful.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[sizbut]

Glad we could all help.

There was an option 6 which I have done once but didn't mention as it takes a lot more fiddling. However, now you have a working solution I'll float it and you can see how brave you feel.

Option 6: Using Ajax built into the search page template, cause a floating window of the result to appear whenever the user hovers their cursor over a result. For our search the results were sometimes complex web pages so while the effect was cool it was not perfect. However, for a site where the results are images it might be very nice.