Free Tool Adds "Search Your Site" Functionality To Any Site...

Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Jan-22 20:12

You guys tired of my tools yet? smile

http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/search/

Takes the programming complexity out of adding a "search this site" function to any website. It uses Google on the backend (via the Google API, so you don't break their TOS), which means you don't need a database or anything on your server.

The only requirement is that you need a PHP enabled web server.

- Shawn


Posted By: Webmaster-Toolkit.com ()
Posted On: 2004-Jan-22 20:17

Does it send a query like this to Google?

site:www.yoursite.com keywords

Cuz I had exactly the same idea earlier on today. If so, bah, you beat me to it wink


Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Jan-22 20:20

Yep... I made it easy to use though... where the "complex" stuff is handled off the server. Since most people don't know how or have the ability to compile PHP for SOAP functionality. So basically, it's one PHP file... you put your Google API key and the site you want it to search, and you are golden. smile

I only had the idea last night... so I didn't beat you by much. wink

- Shawn


Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-06 19:51

Made a few minor additions to it... the main one being that now instead of only searching an entire site (www.cnn.com for example), you can specify the site to search as: www.cnn.com/tech/ and the system will only search within that part of the site.

- Shawn


Posted By: jbgilbert ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-06 20:42

Shawn,
Google has a free Google "search your site" script at

http://www.google.com/searchcode.html.

How does the tool you built differ from that?




Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-06 20:48

That HTML code basically hands you off to Google (they leave your site)... Doing it that way, a search within digitalpoint.com for the word "billing" for example takes the user to this page:

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.digitalpoint.com+billing

Using my system, you get:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/results.php?q=billing

Same results, but you keep the users on your site (and you control the formatting to work with your site's look/feel).

- Shawn


Posted By: jbgilbert ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-06 21:47

Okay... how about this.

What if I used your tool and put my adsense on it?




Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-06 22:33

Fine with me... although technically you aren't supposed to put AdSense on dynamic content. The thing about it also would be you would get public service ads on it every time, until Google spiders it, then someone searched on the same keywords again later. So truthfully it probably wouldn't work all that well. But you are free to do whatever you want...

- Shawn


Posted By: jbgilbert ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-07 23:41

shawn,
great answer. i had looked into this before with another site search tool and found the exact same thing -- PSA ads.

Google has an on site search tool that does exactly what I want, but I'm too small for them to even consider allowing its' use.




Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Feb-07 23:43

Yep... AdSense Premium... 20 million or more page views per month. smile

- Shawn


Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Aug-02 20:15

Made a minor (but cool) little update to the search system. You can optionally have it make spelling suggestions. And it's quite good at it... for example:

http://www.digitalpoint.com/search.php?q=optigld+billing+sftware


Posted By: Webmaster-Toolkit.com ()
Posted On: 2004-Aug-03 10:30

Does the API give spelling suggestions now then?


Posted By: digitalpoint ()
Posted On: 2004-Aug-03 16:07

It's always been able to...