Using ezSearch is easy. Everything is accomplished while on the internet using the ezSearch main admin menu.
To get to your admin menu, enter
Getting Started
Be sure to replace 'yoursitename' with the URL of your web site, and replace 'cgi-bin' with the actual name of your cgi folder.
When you enter this address while on the internet, you will see the admin password box as follows:
To start ezSearch enter your password and user name. When first running ezSearch, the default user name is test and the password is test. (Be sure to change these the first time you run the program to keep others from having access to your search page settings.)
Be sure not to forget your password. If you do, the only way to recover is to contact us so we can reload the default password file.
You can do everything in ezSearch from the main menu, which looks like:
Performing any task is as simple as clicking on it's button.
The ezSearch system settings provide you the ability to quickly and easily change the way your search engine works, including the folder to be searched, and the pages not to be included in the search.
To change the settings, select the 'Change Settings' button from the main menu, and you will see the following screen:
Here are the different settings options and what you can do with them:
- Base Directory - this is the physical server path for your site. The only time you would want to change this is if you change hosting services.
- Base URL - this is your site address (ie http://www.ezSearch.com)
- CGI Library - this is the address on your hosting service where your cgi programs are run from. The only time you will want to change this is if you change hosting services.
- Search Folder - if
you want the search to search all folders on your site, you can leave
this field blank. If you want the search to search just one folder, enter the folder name here.
- Exclude Files - If you want certain files or
folders within your web site excluded from the search, enter them
here. Enter folder names as '/folder' , and file names as
'error.html' (do not include quotes). To enter wildcards in file
names use the '(.*)' as the wild card character.
- Search Page Name - The default search page is named
'search.html', but you are free to modify and rename this search page as
you like. If you do rename it, be sure to enter the new name
here.
- Return Link Phrase - When the search completes your
visitor will be given the option to return to any page on your
site. Enter a descriptive phrase for that page here.
- Return Link URL - Enter the actual address of the page link phrase you entered above. The address should be entered as http://www.mysite.com
To apply these changes, click the 'Change ezSearch Settings' button.
Since these changes affect the way your search operates, it is always a good idea to test the changes by viewing and trying the search page to see the results.
Test Search Page
Any time you wish to try out your search page, you can click the Test Search Page' button, and you will see your search page.
In most cases, you will want to press the 'refresh' or 'reload' button on your browser to force it to show the search page with the latest changes.
Keep in mind that you can change the format of this page in any way you want. The only html line on the page that should not be changed is the one that looks like:
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="/cgi-bin/ezsearch.pl">
To test the search page, enter any word to search for, and press the 'start search' button.
When the search completes, you will see the results page which looks like:
When setting up ezSearch be sure
that only the programs and page types you want to be searched are
being found. If other pages are showing up, go back to the change
settings menu option, and fine tune your 'folders' and 'exclude files'
settings.
To add a link to the search page to any web page, add the following link:
Adding the Search Page Link to pages on your web site
In the above example, replace 'www.sitename.com'
with the address of your web site, and change 'Search' with the
phrase of your choice.
Changing Admin Password
Changing the ezSearch password is a simple process. To change the password, select the 'Change Password' button from the main menu, and you will see the following screen:
Enter the information as requested, and press the 'Change Password' button.
Notes on Passwords:
- Never name the user name and password the same.
- Don't forget your password - if you do, the only recourse is to reload the password file from the original install.
- Don't share your password - doing so will allow others to make changes to your search page settings - and you may not like the results.