The search capabilities of the standard WordPress widget is woefully lacking. It’s slow and misses a lot, and despite a host of plugins that enhance its capability, it still can’t hold a candle to Google Search.
This article shows you how to set up Google Custom Search for your site, how to get the various bits of code that Google offers, and how to install the search bar and search page on your site.
Setting up Google Custom SearchIn your browser, go to Google Custom Search.
This article shows you how to set up Google Custom Search for your site, how to get the various bits of code that Google offers, and how to install the search bar and search page on your site.
Setting up Google Custom SearchIn your browser, go to Google Custom Search.
Screen 1 will invite you to create a Custom Search Engine. Click the button.
Installing the Google Custom Search code on your site
Installing the code into a widget is the same whether you are using the more traditional Google Custom Search code, or the new Google Custom Search Element code.
1. From the Admin panel, click on Appearance, then Widgets.
2. Grab the text widget and drag it to the sidebar where you want it to appear.
3. Open the new text widget, give it a title, then put your Google Custom Search or Google Custom Search Element widget code into it.
4. Save and test.
If you are using the new Google Custom Search Element, you are done, since the search results will appear inline under your search widget in the sidebar.
If you are using the search method that requires a search page:
1. From the Admin panel, go to Pages, then edit the search page you created before getting the page code.
2. Click the HTML tab in the upper right hand corner of the editing box.
3. Paste the code for the search page here.
4. Save and test.
1. From the Admin panel, click on Appearance, then Widgets.
2. Grab the text widget and drag it to the sidebar where you want it to appear.
3. Open the new text widget, give it a title, then put your Google Custom Search or Google Custom Search Element widget code into it.
4. Save and test.
If you are using the new Google Custom Search Element, you are done, since the search results will appear inline under your search widget in the sidebar.
If you are using the search method that requires a search page:
1. From the Admin panel, go to Pages, then edit the search page you created before getting the page code.
2. Click the HTML tab in the upper right hand corner of the editing box.
3. Paste the code for the search page here.
4. Save and test.
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