Indexing and Searching

WebFeats uses utility programs called WebIndex and WebFind that allow you to automatically index the contents of your web pages so that visitors can search your site to easily locate the information they're looking for.

There is no charge for implementing indexing and searching capabilities on your site. If you'd like to have WebFeats index your site, just let us know (via Email), and we'll configure our system so that an index to your entire site is automatically generated every night.

Search Forms

Once WebFeats has set up your automatic indexing, you can create "search forms" to incorporate search capabilities into your website. (It is important that you understand at least the basics of creating forms in HTML.) Each search form must include the following tags:

<FORM METHOD="GET" ACTION="/cgi-bin/webfind.exe">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="INDEXNAME" VALUE="USERDIR">

where USERDIR is the name of your WebFeats user directory.

For example, if the name of your WebFeats user directory is Alexis, include these tags in your search forms:

<FORM METHOD="GET" ACTION="/cgi-bin/webfind.exe">

<INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN" NAME="INDEXNAME" VALUE="Alexis">

Search Expression

When you create a search form, it must include an input field named "keywords" to allow the entry of a search expression. For example:

<input name="keywords" size=50>

The search expression can process the following parameters:

• Logical operators and, or, and not. If the search expression contains more than one word and no logical operator, and is assumed.

• Parentheses, so that you can group search terms and logical operators.

• Universal wildcard (*), to help you search for various forms of a search expression. Note that you can use a wildcard (*) only at the end of a word.

Optional Search Fields

In addition to the "keywords" field (which is not optional), a search form may contain either or both of the following optional fields:

• Search In: If you want to allow searches that are limited to certain parts of your files, include the following input field:

  <select name="searchin">
  <option>Complete File
  <option>Head Section
  <option>Body Section
  <option>Title
  <option>File Headers
  <option>Emphasized Tags
  <option>File Comments
  </select>
  

• Maximum Hits Returned: If you want to allow searches that return a limited number of "hits," include the following input field:

  <select name="maxhits">
  <option>40
  <option>80
  <option>200
  <option>500
  <option>All
  </select>
  

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