Integration with vBulletin - vB Google Adsense for Search plus Integration

This is no longer supported - however I will be working on a 4.0 compatible version of this.

This is the same version as 3.7 as I've had a few reports that it works just fine in 3.8. Plus, I have it running on 3.8 with no issues.

Step 1:
You may have to resetup your adsense. If you do, you will get a new pub ID - this one includes your previous pub and tacks on your GALT (which is set up when you resetup your adsense account). I used www.christianboards.org and www.google.com (so it would search my site and the web - you can choose only your site, or any location that is web-accessible for results)

Example: partner-pub-0123456789012345:lnucfbm5dtp

If your partner-pub ID does not look like the example, you will see an error.

Also, keep in mind, all sites you put into the box for the adsense (one per line) will be integrated into the search and the search results.

Step 2:
Edit your searchresults.php file.
Find:

chdir('/path/to/your/forums/');

Put your correct value.

Example: chdir('/var/www/vhosts/yoursite.com/forums/');

Step 3:
Upload this file your forum's root. An example of your forum's root is below.

Example: http://www.yoursite.com/forums/searchresults.php

Step 4:
Install the product
Go to Admincp => Plugins & Products => Manage Products => [Add/Import Product] => Browse for product-davidw_vb_google_search.xml => Import

Step 5:
Configure your Admincp options
Go to Admincp => vBullitin Options => vBulletin Options => Find vB Google Search (Adsense) then click [Edit Settings]
Edit your new Partner-pub ID (the one you just had reset up - see example in red above), Google box width, iframe widthfor your results (I use 800 in the screenshot, but you can change this based on your needs), and the full URL to your searchresults.php.

NOTE! If you do not enter these in, you will see errors.

Step 6: Optional
Edit 1 template:
Admincp => Styles & Templates => Style Manager => Edit Templates (on your style) => Search Templates => search_forums => under $navbar, add $google_siteadsearch

Step 7: Optional (for vBAdvanced 3.x only)
vBa CMPS => Default Settings => Main Options => Portal Output Global Variables

Add these variables:
template_hook
google_navadsearch
homeurl

=> Save

vBa CMPS => Edit Modules => Search Forums => Select Action => Copy Module

Main Options
Module Title Google Search site / Forums
Template To Include search_google

Module Wrapper Template Options
Form Code Replace default code with

<form action="http://www.yoursite.com/forums/searchresults.php" type="hidden" name="search" target="_blank">

Click Save
Edit locations where you want to set this active to.

[davidw]

no problem

[0 Seo 0]

this is very interest mod you made A+ We need mod like this keep up good works guys.

[davidw]

Don't forget to click install

[Bravo]

Has anyone gotten a email from google about using this?

because the vbadvanced and search page search box dont have the google branding on them? as the 1st screenshot and 4th screenshot show?

[dchoi]

I just upgraded to this one from the previous version and I can't log into the forums anymore. When I try to log in, it leads me to:

http://www.mysite.com/forums/searchresults.php?cx=partner-pub-####################&cof=FORID:9&q=&sa=Go&vb_login_username=name&vb_login_password=password&s=&securitytoken=guest&do=login&vb_login_md5password=&vb_login_md5password_utf=

and it says "Page Not Found".

I've deleted the plugin and it still does that. Can anyone please help me out?

[davidw]

Those tricky search bars can be tricky I replied back

[dchoi]

Thanks David!

Yes, my problem was that my search bar was interfering w/ the log in process. Once I took that out, I was able to log in again.

[TPTP]

Ok, so I installed this earlier today, and I've been tinkering with it for a bit, but I'm still getting some rather unfortunate results.

First, it's not returning much for usable results. When searching for terms that should return pages of results, I can often get very few or even none. Not sure what's up with that.

Second, the results page comes up without session info, containing a login box, where it should be saying, "Welcome, so-and-so". One can either navigate from there and end up with a nasty cookie error, or one can go back, but that takes two clicks to even get off the page.

Third, neither the new search module nor the Google box in the Advanced Search contain a watermark, while the pop-up search panel does contain the watermark. Not a huge deal, but probably an indication that something is amiss.

In looking at the code that Google supplies, I noted that

<input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" />

was omitted from the mod. Was this intentional?

Also, there is no mention of which search option to use in the Google Search configuration (can be set during initial setup or adjusted later). Since the mod is expecting to display the results on the originating site, I went ahead and set it that way, and then specified http://mysite.com/forum/searchresults.php. After trying the other two settings, I get the same results.

I'm running vB 3.8.2 and vBa 3.2.0. Any ideas?

[davidw]

1) I've seen different results on different sites. Some sites produce 0 results while some sites produce thousands if not in the hundreds of thousands of results. I can't tell you how this is figured, but I suspect it is due to an indexed search rather than a direct search.

2) If you are missing navigation information, then there is something conflicting with this modification as I have yet to see this happen.

3) The watermark is due to a javascript issue with Google. During my testing I noted that when I had removed one or more of the boxes, the watermark showed up where it previously did not show.

4) This is not intentional that it is left out. This code in this modification is based on everything supplied to me at the time the modification was created. During the time it was created and now, I am more than positive that at least one or two, if not more changes have been made to the code.

5) I am not sure what you mean by search option? If you are referring to the old code (your site or Google - to choose where you want to search), that code has been changed by Google. You might be able to manipulate your PUB ID (remove partner- and the :###### parts) and use an older version of this mod (3.6 I think) to get that result.

[mattonline]

Hello, im having difficulty with this also

are we supposed to change the URL's to output the search results to searchresult.php ?

and is this interfering with googles TOS - there isn't any branding on the search bar