I have finally replaced WordPress’ default search engine with Google Custom Search Engine (CSE).
I previously used to use Google Custom Search engine in the past on my old Freewebs site. But today while exploring my adsense account, I decided to add a “Adsense for search” block to masnun.com. I created the search engine and put the code on masnun.com straightway while using the option to open search result in a new page. But soon I gathered some interest to add the search page right on masnun.com.
To display the search results on my site, I had to put two blocks of code. One for the search box, another for the result page. I am using wordpress. So, to copy my template I had to edit one of my themes page. I chose the search result page of my current theme. I removed the code for WordPress’ built in search functionality and put my Google CSE Search Result Page code.
But to display the search result template, I have to visit: http://masnun.com/?s=something
So, I added a hidden field with the name “s” and value “search” to the search box form. I set the form’s target to: http://masnun.com/. I then put the code for the search box on my right sidebar replacing my old search box. Now It was working.
But I was having problem with the right sidebar being over ridden by the search results. So I removed the following code:
<?php get_sidebar(); ?> . Removing it removed the sidebars. Only the header and the footer was visible to form the site template.
Now the only problem with the layout was that I had no margin on the left side. The results were looking odd. Not being an CSS wizard, I had to manage some margin with table. Here’s the code:
<table>
<tr><td> &npsp;</td>
<td>
The results page code here.
</td>
</tr>
</table>
Now that was fine.
The search engine is running. I expect ads to pop up in the results page soon. I wish Google would index my new entries time to time. That would make the search mechanism a great one for masnun.com.
UPDATE: I am really amazed to see that this post got indexed by Google within twenty minutes!! That’s why Google rocks! Love you Google?!