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Putting search facility on my website

by Peter Thompson
7 replies
Hi all,

I use dreamweaver to create my websites and I am wanting to put a search facility on one of these sites. I want to give my visitors the ability to search for pages on my site by entering details in a search.

ie.

I have a directory on my site set up with pages for each town. Rather have them search through a list to find that town I want them to be able to enter the town they area after in a search and get sent directly to that town.

How can I achieve this...


Peter

Thanks in Advance
#facility #putting #search #website
  • Profile picture of the author PeachCoding
    For that you will need either a plugin for the site software running your website (if available) or some custom coding.

    As you can have it done by making the search keyword text field be a text field and with autocomplete. So while they're typing they get a list of pre-determined options of the towns and if they pick one the search results shows them that town's directory. But if they don't pick one from the autocomplete dropdown have the coding running the search do a normal search thru your website using the keywords they entered on the box.

    That second paragraph is my recommendation for if you are to go custom as I'm not sure there is a plugin out there that would be that specific. It all depends as to what CMS you're using (if any).

    Hope that helps and I'm here is anything else is needed.
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    • Profile picture of the author Terry Crim
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      • Profile picture of the author Peter Thompson
        Thanks for the replies. I am flying blind on this project as I have only generaly worked with basic websites.

        I have a client who wants me to design a business directory for a country ( Australia ).

        I then need the abilty for people to find business listings based on searching by state or by town or by category

        ie

        They may search for business in Byron Bay

        They may search for Byron Bay Restaurants.

        They may just search for restauarants

        They may search for restaurants in nsw


        The problem I have is that I would then need to create a results page for every different search option.

        or should I be using some other technology ( ie a database ) to create the ability for all these searches to take place and if so any tips on how to go about this?

        Sorry if question is confusing but I am very much flying in the dark....

        Thanks in advance
        Peter
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        Peter Thompson
        supa2007
        http://www.pjtwebconcepts.com/
        Your home for building on the web

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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Crim
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnletton
      Originally Posted by Terry Crim View Post

      There are several 3rd party plugins for DW that allow to create various functionality like search pages. Many are paid though, not free.

      I no longer user dreamweaver as I outgrew it, what version are you using? Have you checked the adobe forums? Have you checked for plugins?

      What you want to do is fairly simple to do with PHP and MySQL if you are building dynamic websites. If you are just creating static HTML pages then there is a little more involved and requires adding dynamic pages, usually PHP based.

      There is a free script I discovered that allows to add search to websites but it uses MySQL and php to operate. Sphider - a php spider and search engine

      This maybe overkill for what you want.

      There are also many tutorials available online on how to implement search into your site, have you checked youtube?

      I pretty much create most things I need by hand or use scripts like the one above, if you are trying to do it all yourself I would recommend getting a book on PHP, going through online tutorials and if you need it sooner than later hiring someone to implement it for you.

      I also dont use now dreamweaver as you mentioned about it and agree with you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Terry Crim
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    • Profile picture of the author Peter Thompson
      Greatly appreciate replies. I will look into all the above in the next few weeks and if I require some more help I will more than likely give you a PM.

      Thanks Again

      Peter
      Signature

      Peter Thompson
      supa2007
      http://www.pjtwebconcepts.com/
      Your home for building on the web

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  • Profile picture of the author ionisis
    Eh not to sound biased, but if you used the ionisis framework for your website, you would HAVE a website search engine, built in .
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  • Profile picture of the author victorjames
    thanks for sharing this thread...it is some nice information.
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