Search

Contents

1. Introduction
    1.1 Features

2. Search overview
    2.1 Search current area
    2.2 Search all available areas
    2.3 Search public areas only

3. Adding the module

4. Configuration options
    4.1 Content options
    4.2 Advanced options
    4.3 Overview of available CSS selectors

5. The module in practice: tips

1. Introduction

The search module allows visitors to perform a simple search of the website. Search results provide direct links to pages that contain the keywords that were specified.

1.1 Features

The features of this module in no particular order:

• Unlimited number of search pages possible.
• Search results show search phrase in context where possible.
• Search phrase is highlighted in search results.
• Search can be limited to a single area, all public areas or all areas.
• Search looks are configurable via Bazaar Style Stylesheets (BSSS).
• Expired pages and pages under embargo are never searched.

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2. Search overview

search_start.png

Initially the search page shows:

• a configurable header ('Here you can search our site'),
• a configurable introduction text ('Placeholder for the search module'),
• a single input field labeled 'Search', and
• a button labeled [OK].

Searching the site for keywords is a matter of entering one or more keywords into the 'Search' field and clicking [OK] or pressing [Enter].

Example

After entering the phrase rumpelstiltkin and clicking [OK], the following is displayed.

search_no_results.png

This indicates that the search phrase rumpelstiltkin was not found in any page.

2.1 Search current area

The search module can be configured to limit the search to the current area, all public areas or all areas. In this section the configuration for searching the current area is discussed. See section 4.1 Content options below for configuration details.

NOTICE:
In this section and the next it is assumed that the visitor (wblade in our example) is currently logged in and that this visitor has access to the protected area ('Exemplum Intranet').

After entering the phrase exemplum and clicking [OK], the following is displayed.

search_public_1.png

The search page now shows:

• the initial dialogue we had before (header, introduction, input field and [OK]),
• a navigation bar containing:
  • the label 'Previous' (which in this case is not a link because we are at the first page with results),
  • a list of clickable page numbers ('1' and '2'); the current page number is displayed in a box,
  • the label Next; clicking this link yields the next results page,
• a total of 5 results, showing
• a clickable title (e.g. '3 Welcome to our website'),
• a snippet of context (e.g. 'welcome at the exemplum primary school website, please use the menu to...' with the search phrase 'exemplum' highlighted,
• a clickable URL (e.g. '/index.php/1'.
• another copy of the navigation bar.

At this point the visitor can either follow one of the links in the list of search results or proceed to the second results page by clicking 2 or Next. In the latter case the following is displayed.

search_public_2.png

The search page now shows:

• the initial dialogue we had before (header, introduction, input field and [OK]),
• a navigation bar like we had before (Previous, clickable pagenumbers, 'Next'),
• search results 6,...,9,
• a label indicating the end of the list ('No more results.').

2.2 Search all available areas

In this section the configuration for searching all areas is discussed, i.e. all public areas and all private areas to which the currently logged in user (e.g. wblade) has access. Searching for the same keyword as before (exemplum) now yields the following results.

search_all_1.png

Note that the second hit in these results (''2. Exemplum Intranet' was not there in the first screenshot in section 2.1 Search current area above.

Clicking Next yields the following results.

search_all_2.png

NOTICE:
The list of numbers in the navigation bar now contains three pages. The search module keeps looking for new hits, but does so in an adaptive way rather than searching all results upfront. This is an optimisation feature.

Clicking Next again yields the last page of the results.

search_all_3.png

Note that the total number of hits was 12, whereas there were 9 hits in the example in section 2.1 Search current area above. The difference is that the 12 results include 3 results from the Exemplum Intranet: hits 2, 6 and 7, as was to be expected.

2.3 Search public areas only

If the search is configured to search public areas only and the visitor is not logged in, the results will be exactly the same as those discussed in section 2.2 Search all available areas above.

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3. Adding the module

NOTICE:
Adding a module requires that you have sufficient access privileges to add a page. This is specially important for non-webmasters like pupils and teachers who often have limited permissions. See section 3.2.5.1 Table: Roles and permissions in chapter Account Manager.

In the Page Manager, select the Area or section and click on the Add a page link to enter the Add a page dialogue:

search_add_search.png

Fill out the fields as described in section 3.1 Add a page in chapter Page Manager.

In the Module dropdown menu, select the module. Do not forget to select Visible, Hidden or Embargo. Click [Save] to save your work and return to the Edit basic properties of page nn dialogue. Now click on Content to enter the module configuration dialogue. Alternatively, you can click [Done] to save your work and return to the Page Manager.

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4. Configuration options

The module can be configured in two places. The most important one is the Content, discussed in section 4.1 Content options below. In section 4.2 Advanced options below we will briefly mention the available advanced options. Finally, section 4.3 Overview of available CSS selectors presents an overview of available styling selectors.

4.1 Content options

If you are not in the Search Configuration dialogue already, you can navigate to the Page Manager, and click on the name of the page you added in section 3. Adding the module. The following is displayed on the screen.

search_configuration.png

Explanation:

• Header: this header text is always displayed at the top of the search page. Default: empty.
• Introduction: this introductory text is always displayed immediately below the header at the top of the search page. Default: empty.
• Scope of the search: this selection limits the scope of the search:
  • Current area: limit the search to the area where the search page itself is located,
  • Public areas: limit the search to public areas, even when the visitor is currently logged in and possibly has access to protected areas,
  • All areas: search all areas available to the visitor, including protected areas if the visitor is currently logged in and has been granted access to those protected areas.
  Default: current area.
• Results per page: this is the maximum number of hits per page. If there are more hits, the results are paginated. Default: 20.
• [Save], [Done], [Cancel]: Please refer to section 2.3.3 [Save], [Done] and [Cancel] in the chapter Basic procedures for beginners for more information.

4.2 Advanced options

The advanced options also apply to this module. In particular it means that you can use Bazaar Style Stylesheets (BSSS) to get rid of colours that do not match the style of the school site. See section 4.3 Overview of available CSS selectors below for details of styling the search module.

More on the backgrounds of BSSS can be found in section 4. On form and content in chapter Viewpoints.

More on the practical side of BSSS can be found in section 3.4 Configure theme 'Theme Name' for area n in chapter Configuration Manager.

The other advanced options are discussed in section 3.3 Advanced: edit advanced properties of page nn in chapter Page Manager.

4.3 Overview of available CSS selectors

This is the contents of the stylesheet (/program/modules/search/search.css) that is included automatically on every search page.

These settings can be overruled via Bazaar Style Stylesheets (BSSS). Below is a table that documents all tags in the search module that can be styled.

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5. The module in practice: tips

Tip: add a page linked to the search module in every area, allowing visitors to search the site from any area on your site.

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