somehow part of my last message disappeared.  i meant to ask for
corrections, since i haven't written a search in quite a while... especially
since some of the new formatting and multiple arguments were added.  so as
you have a chance, please send suggestions for corrections.

it also appears that i sent the last message to the old Yahoo group.  so i
will include it below for the benefit of the SF list.

===============
I'm finally getting a chance to work on the FAQs again.  I'm currently
working on filling in the holes in the current FAQ page before I add any
more.  The first question that needs more details is "How do I add my own
searches?"

I've borrowed what is below from an old message from Dave (from when all the
searches were still in one file).  I have modified it some already...


You need to be comfortable hacking on HTML forms and a bit of JavaScript to
add a search site to the search bar.

If you are, here's what you do:

(1) Take a look at the original HTML form for the search, and create your
own HTML form to do the same thing, but where you make all the
input fields hidden instead of visible. Be sure to be explicit about the
"action" of the form (it has to be an absolute URL) and make
the "target" of the form "_blank" (so that submitting it launches a new
window).

(2) Write a JavaScript function that takes one text parameter and fills in
the hidden fields of your form, and then submits it. By
convention, if the text parameter is blank, you should open a window into a
useful page that helps you launch the search. If there are a
lot of fields in the form, then your JavaScript should use a regular
expression of some kind to pull apart the single text field to fill
in the multiple form fields.

(3) Paste your new HTML form and your new JavaScript function into its own
XML file <searchname>.xml  in the searches sub-directory - copy the bits of
xml from an existing search xml file - and include the attribute indicating
your JavaScript function name, a short name for the search, a long
description, a link to a
description of the search engine, your name, and so on. Be sure to follow
XML rules - all your attributes need to be quoted, remember
the trailing slash in <input/>, etc...

(4) You can test your xml syntax by opening the xml file directly in IE. It
will tell you if you've got a simple syntax error.

(5) Once your xml file is in good shape, you can "activate" your changes by
typing "!" alone in the search bar. This causes it to reload itself.

(6) Test things out. It usually takes some twiddling to make sure your
shortcut works, and that you can also see your new search described in the
"?" about box.

(7) Then post your new search onto the Source Forge mailing list to share it
with the world! :-)

Here are some information about the XML:

- Your search will be callable using the function="..." name. E.g., if
function="foo" then you can do the search saying "foo bar". So
pick a good short name for your JavaScript function.
- Every search's <name> will be displayed if the search is put on the menu,
so keep it short and descriptive, like a menu item.
- If you include a <link>, then the link will appear in the ? help box for
the search.
- <description> is also included in the ? help box
- <category> is the name of the category in which the search appears in the
? help box.
- <contributor> is your name, <email> is your email address.

==========


thanks,
JB


> I'm finally getting a chance to work on the FAQs again.  I'm currently
> working on filling in the holes in the current FAQ page before I add any
> more.  The first question that needs more details is "How do I add my own
> searches?"



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