Integration with vBulletin - Replace search with Google Custom Search

This mod assumes you have an adsense account and are using Google Custom Search.

You want to make sure your results page is named something other than the vb default search.php, this leaves the vb option open to those who click "advanced search"

Open your template navbar


find

PHP Code:

<form action="search.php?do=process" method="post" id="navbar_search"> 


replace with the form line of the google supplied code
example:

PHP Code:

<form action="http://www.ahfb2000.com/google.php" id="cse-search-box"> 


find

PHP Code:

<input type="hidden" name="s" value="{vb:raw session.sessionurl}" />
<input type="hidden" name="securitytoken" value="{vb:raw bbuserinfo.securitytoken}" />
<input type="hidden" name="do" value="process" /> 


replace with the first 3 hidden input types in your google code
example:

PHP Code:

    <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="partner-pub-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" />
    <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:10" />
    <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> 


find

PHP Code:

<input type="text" value="" name="query" class="textbox" /> 


replace with

PHP Code:

<input type="text" value="" name="q" class="textbox" /> 


find

PHP Code:

<input type="image" class="searchbutton" src="{vb:stylevar imgdir_button}/search.png" name="submit" onclick="document.getElementById('navbar_search').submit;" /> 


replace with

PHP Code:

<input type="image" class="searchbutton" src="{vb:stylevar imgdir_button}/search.png" name="sa" onclick="document.getElementById('navbar_search').submit;" /> 


find

PHP Code:

</form> 


add this after

PHP Code:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/cse/brand?form=cse-search-box&amp;lang=en"></script> 


[hiker]

Is there a way to exclude certain forums from coming up in the search results?

I'd like to exclude my forum id 61 for example.

I assume it'd have to be something like &exclude=61 somewhere in the code but I can't seem to get it.

[SemperFideles]

Originally Posted by bogley

Is there a way to exclude certain forums from coming up in the search results?

I'd like to exclude my forum id 61 for example.

I assume it'd have to be something like &exclude=61 somewhere in the code but I can't seem to get it.

The only way to exclude a forum is to make it a member's only or hidden forum. If Google is crawling it then it will show up in results.

[deverill2010]

Is there anyway to customise this so that you have two radio buttons one for "site" one for "www".

When site is selected the keywords are searched through the normal VB search system and results returned within a page.

When www is selected the keywords are searched through google and the results displayed in your VB page that this mod currently does.

What I'm having trouble with is settting up the two radio buttons so when either is selected it goes though the right search.

Anyone care to help?

I like this mod but am finding that the search results within my own site are poor, but I still want th opportunity to earn some money!

[hiker]

Originally Posted by SemperFideles

The only way to exclude a forum is to make it a member's only or hidden forum. If Google is crawling it then it will show up in results.

Dang, I thought there was some way I could include an "exclude=59" or maybe some kind of "include only these forums" code.

Is there a way to make a forum non searchable, while still keeping it open to the public? Just a general option somehow?

EDIT:

Nevermind, I realized in Forum Manager, "Index New Posts in Search Engine " I just set that to No.

[sross]

My search results are not from my domain, but from the web. I have done everything in the instructions. Does it take a while for the search to kickin? Google shows most of my pages are indexed. Have I missed something? On the search setup I have specified my forums etc. Thanks

[galerio]

Very useful mod.
You can use conditional to make present the google search to unregistered/not logged users and the native vb search to logged users.

[StonePilot]

Originally Posted by SemperFideles

There's nothing to update for the most recent vBulletin version. It works fine.

Anyone have a guide for a custom template mod? I am not able to get the header information and style to look right. The custom search page works, it's just broken the style.

[Aerialporter]

How do I rename the search.php without messing up any other code that references search.php?

[alaska_av8r]

I have this working on vB 4.1.8 and wonder if anyone has found out how to prevent it from showing adds above the search results. I would like to show them on the right side only because with the way it is currently set, it is extremely hard to differentiate between what is an add and what isn't.

Google has been crawling my site for over a year now so it has had time to index it pretty well, however when I search for common terms used on my site www.boatinghowto.com , it only shows one maybe two results, any ideas?

thanks

[sspeed]

Thanks, works beautifully, especially with the additions on page 3.