Hey everyone,

 

I want to install a search engine on my website (which would obviously search my website for keywords, etc.). I'm a novice however and don't know how I can do this.

 

I've looked around at several solutions but Google's search engine displays ads and for legal reasons I can't host those for the time being. I've come across other ones like Sphider but I don't know how to get them to work.

 

So can anyone here tell me where I can find one and potentially give me instructions on how to install it to my website?

 

I'm assuming your site doesn't use a CMS. Because of this your options are limited. You either add a ready made solution (like that from Google) or you install a script like this: https://www.sphider.eu/

 

Or you make your life much simpler in the long run and move the site to a content management system where search is built into the platform.

 

What's the site?

I'm assuming your site doesn't use a CMS. Because of this your options are limited. You either add a ready made solution (like that from Google) or you install a script like this: https://www.sphider.eu/

 

Or you make your life much simpler in the long run and move the site to a content management system where search is built into the platform.

 

What's the site?

 

I'm not 100% sure what counts as a CMS. Does this include something like MySQL?

 

I've tried Sphider, but I couldn't really get it to work.

 

This is the url of the site: http://analyticalmadness.com/index.htm

It's not worth adding a search engine to the site. There is nothing for it to index!

 

A CMS will mean the site uses a database not the clunky site builder you currently use. It will make everything you do so much easier.

 

Sphider is about the simplest script there is. The problem is (as I have suggested) the site builder and the lack of indexable content.

 

PS: the site doesn't work well on a tablet or a phone

Edited September 25, 20178 yr by fisicx

It's not worth adding a search engine to the site. There is nothing for it to index!

 

A CMS will mean the site uses a database not the clunky site builder you currently use. It will make everything you do so much easier.

 

Sphider is about the simplest script there is. The problem is (as I have suggested) the site builder and the lack of indexable content.

 

PS: the site doesn't work well on a tablet or a phone

 

Well, currently I use a program called OpenElement. Mostly because it was completely free and unlike for example Wordpress it didn't have involved handing over copyright to the material we produce. Do you know of any CMS which is free, does not have ads and does not have any copyright issues?

 

I'm not sure what you mean with "indexable content."

 

As for Sphider, step 4 on this list (https://www.sphider.eu/docs.php) didn't work for me and I don't know why so after contacting some people trying to get help and them not being able to help me, I gave up on it.

 

I know, it's a problem I've yet to address. But the site builder I'm using has some issues that make some things rather difficult.

Edited September 25, 20178 yr by Analytical Madness

Well, currently I use a program called OpenElement. Mostly because it was completely free and unlike for example Wordpress it didn't have involved handing over copyright to the material we produce. Do you know of any CMS which is free, does not have ads and does not have any copyright issues?

Wordpress is free, doesn't have ads or copyright issues. Don't know why you think it means handing over copyright, that's just not true.

 

Or there are plenty of other free CMS platforms you could use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems

Wordpress is free, doesn't have ads or copyright issues. Don't know why you think it means handing over copyright, that's just not true.

 

Or there are plenty of other free CMS platforms you could use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_content_management_systems

 

Well, the Wordpress Terms of Service includes this "By submitting Content to Automattic for inclusion on your website, you grant Automattic a world-wide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, modify, adapt and publish the Content solely for the purpose of displaying, distributing, and promoting your blog. This license allows Automattic to make publicly-posted content available to third parties selected by Automattic (through the Automattic Firehose, for example) so that these third parties can analyze and distribute (but not publicly display) your content through their services. You also give other WordPress.com users permission to share your Content on other WordPress.com websites and add their own Content to it (aka to reblog your Content), so long as they use only a portion of your post and they give you credit as the original author by linking back to your website (the reblogging function on WordPress.com does this automatically!)." along with some other things which a journalist friend of mine has told me is somewhat dangerous. He also tells me that Wordpress can do things like edit or content or kick us off if they deem it to violate their terms of service. Considering the whole Youtube debacle recently, stuff like that unsettles me.

 

I'll check out the list you provided.

 

Other than that is there anything you can tell me about why step 4 of the Sphider process might not have worked? Or have something similar to Sphider which might work?

Edited September 25, 20178 yr by Analytical Madness

That's for https://wordpress.com/ - which is where they host your wordpress site

 

What you need is https://wordpress.org/ - which is where you self host and the T&C you quoted above doesn't apply.

 

No idea why step 4 of sphider doesn't work, I haven't used it for years. It's possible that godaddy is blocking PHP with your hosting package

That's for https://wordpress.com/ - which is where they host your wordpress site

 

What you need is https://wordpress.org/ - which is where you self host and the T&C you quoted above doesn't apply.

 

No idea why step 4 of sphider doesn't work, I haven't used it for years. It's possible that godaddy is blocking PHP with your hosting package

 

It's going to take me a bit of time to look into all this, but thanks in advance!

Godaddy has a one click installer for wordpress. You just follow the on screen instructions and once complete login to your dashboard. From there you can add posts, pages, video, images, sliders, forms, comments, themes and plugins.

 

If you feel brave you can develop your own theme. I did (without any PHP knowledge at all) for my very first site. Since then I've learned how to make a site faster, responsive and deliver a great UX.

Godaddy has a one click installer for wordpress. You just follow the on screen instructions and once complete login to your dashboard. From there you can add posts, pages, video, images, sliders, forms, comments, themes and plugins.

 

If you feel brave you can develop your own theme. I did (without any PHP knowledge at all) for my very first site. Since then I've learned how to make a site faster, responsive and deliver a great UX.

 

So I tried Wordpress, but I feel a bit on rails when using it. I'm not sure whether it's my lack of knowledge about the website builder, but I don't think it'll allow my website to look the way I want it to look. So I think I'm going to try and find an alternative search engine instead and try to solve the overflow problem some other way. But thanks for the advice.

Of course it will allow your site to look the way you want. It just takes like to learn how to create a theme. But there are plenty of tutorials on how to do this. Most of it is just playing with the CSS

 

There are far more problems with your site than just the overflow.

Of course it will allow your site to look the way you want. It just takes like to learn how to create a theme. But there are plenty of tutorials on how to do this. Most of it is just playing with the CSS

 

There are far more problems with your site than just the overflow.

 

Since I've already spent a lot of time learning and using OpenElement and I have financial resources invested in this site (and it still hasn't launched) it seems to me that what I want is too comprehensive to do in Wordpress without going passed the base site/page builder and spending a lot of time learning how to use it and developing themes and whatnot. I'm not necessarily completely unwilling to do those things, but concerning the issues I believe the site currently has I'm currently not convinced it's worth the time. I could change my mind though.

 

But what issues do you mean?

Edited September 29, 20178 yr by Analytical Madness

One of the most important features of any site these days is to be responsive. It needs to work on everything from a 26" desktop monitor right down to the smallest phone. Yours doesn't.

 

Yours doesn't and the way OpenElement code works making it fully responsive is almost impossible. This means when the site does launch it will not perform as well as you hope. People are used to sites working seamlessly on all devices so when they land on a site that isn't responsive their first reaction is often to bounce off the site.

 

You will also struggle to get ranking in Google and get a site search to work - again because of the OpenElement structures (it uses images for links instead of CSS for example)

 

The layout on your site is easy to replicate in workpress. If you want some free help I can do this for you.

 

Sorry to be all negative but using OpenElement will make it very difficult to build a modern responsive site. If you want to succeed you need to reconsider your approach to site building.

One of the most important features of any site these days is to be responsive. It needs to work on everything from a 26" desktop monitor right down to the smallest phone. Yours doesn't.

 

Yours doesn't and the way OpenElement code works making it fully responsive is almost impossible. This means when the site does launch it will not perform as well as you hope. People are used to sites working seamlessly on all devices so when they land on a site that isn't responsive their first reaction is often to bounce off the site.

 

You will also struggle to get ranking in Google and get a site search to work - again because of the OpenElement structures (it uses images for links instead of CSS for example)

 

The layout on your site is easy to replicate in workpress. If you want some free help I can do this for you.

 

Sorry to be all negative but using OpenElement will make it very difficult to build a modern responsive site. If you want to succeed you need to reconsider your approach to site building.

 

Well, OpenElement does have features for this. But they've proven rather difficult to get a handle on. But it is something I wanted to address before launch.

 

I know, but I wasn't aware that OpenElement might not be capable of this. I mostly have chalked it up to my own inexperience and as something I've yet to fix.

 

But wouldn't I need to do a lot of coding in order to do this properly? I don't feel confident enough in my abilities to build something from the ground up. That's a fantastic offer, but it seems like that would take you a good deal of time, no? I don't want to be even more than a bother to you than I already am. I mean, the only thing I could really offer in compensation is to put you in my thank yous on the website and to link to your website.

 

Don't worry about being negative, I'm fully open to criticism. It's good to know these things. After all, I want my site to succeed.

I agree OpenElement does has some responsive features but it's not good and the layout you have chosed won't ever work well on a small screen. You have a sidebar - the only place for this on a small screen is below the main content which makes it redundant for nearly everyone who will visit your site.

 

Consider also the main banner image - that reduce down to around 300px width on a small screen making the detail difficult to see. Building a responsive site is a lot more than just tweaking the code, you need to think about how people use the site, hold their device, which hand they use and so on. Some studies show 70% of all non business browsing is done on a mobile phone. That's who you need to build the site for.

 

The layout of the site isn't important. What matters is the content. Nobody but you cares about what the site looks like. Wordpress or any other CMS will make it easier to add, edit and display your content on any device. And of course, search is built into the code.

 

Give me a call sometime. Click on the link in my signature to get the number.

The layout of the site isn't important. What matters is the content. Nobody but you cares about what the site looks like.

 

Layout is hugely important, if you can't consume the content properly, because of bad layout, then what's the point. The web is supposed to be designed, interactive, and have personality, otherwise you just have Ceefax. I can't stand software that doesn't have a nice UI, and I know many others that are the same. If nobody cared about what sites looked like, then no start-up would employ a designer, but as it turns out, there's a huge demand for design work at the moment.

Ok, let me rephrase this a bit.

 

As long as the layout is usable most people don't care too much about the details. You might spend ages agonising about a shade of blue when in reality is just doesn't matter.

 

Look at this forum. The colours are pants, it's not responsive and the organisation isn't the best. But you still visit and post.

 

I tested a site over a number of years using different themes, colours and content arrangement. It made zero difference to visitor behavior.

 

All you need to do is choose theme that suits the type of content and that will do.

Ok, let me rephrase this a bit.

 

As long as the layout is usable most people don't care too much about the details. You might spend ages agonising about a shade of blue when in reality is just doesn't matter.

 

Look at this forum. The colours are pants, it's not responsive and the organisation isn't the best. But you still visit and post.

 

I tested a site over a number of years using different themes, colours and content arrangement. It made zero difference to visitor behavior.

 

All you need to do is choose theme that suits the type of content and that will do.

 

I joined ages ago, but I still think the forum could do with a redesign, responsive layout, and possibly even a new system powering it. It's not going to be easy to get expert UI developers when they expect expect a more modern look and feel. I'm not sure I'd sign up myself if I came across it now, but I like being on here, mainly because of the people, not the content per se.

 

If you've changed the entire theme of a site and not seen any impact, you're probably not testing on a site with much traffic. You could expect user behaviour like that if it's a plumbers site or something, and the user comes back to every year or so, but you wouldn't be able to drastically swap out the look of a site on anything with mid to high traffic. You'll definitely see a change in how your users perceive and use your site if you did, for better or worse.

 

Regarding your shade of blue example, Google actually AB tested with 41 different shades in 2014, the switch gave them an additional 200m on ad revenue in search and Gmail from that decision. Amazon have produced many similar studies on their shade of orange, and button styles. This goes back to my point before, these things matter when the traffic is there, it's not as simple as saying design isn't important, just because the users on your websites don't value it as much. I'm not saying it's something people should do, especially if the time and money is better spent on something else, but it has worked in the past, and companies like Netflix regularly do a tonne of AB testing on the live site, they wouldn't put all of that effort in if the results were minor.

Totally agree.

 

I think the point I was trying to make was you can spend a lot of time tweaking every nuance of a site so your get it exactly how you want it only to discover your visitors disagree. So focus on the content and worry about how it looks later.

 

The site it tested gets around 1000 visitors per month. Not a huge deal but enough to show me that tweaking the colours, fonts and other major features made little difference to conversions. The one thing that did make an impact was increasing the line height.

 

I joined ages ago, but I still think the forum could do with a redesign, responsive layout, and possibly even a new system powering it. It's not going to be easy to get expert UI developers when they expect expect a more modern look and feel. I'm not sure I'd sign up myself if I came across it now, but I like being on here, mainly because of the people, not the content per se.

 

If you've changed the entire theme of a site and not seen any impact, you're probably not testing on a site with much traffic. You could expect user behaviour like that if it's a plumbers site or something, and the user comes back to every year or so, but you wouldn't be able to drastically swap out the look of a site on anything with mid to high traffic. You'll definitely see a change in how your users perceive and use your site if you did, for better or worse.

 

Regarding your shade of blue example, Google actually AB tested with 41 different shades in 2014, the switch gave them an additional 200m on ad revenue in search and Gmail from that decision. Amazon have produced many similar studies on their shade of orange, and button styles. This goes back to my point before, these things matter when the traffic is there, it's not as simple as saying design isn't important, just because the users on your websites don't value it as much. I'm not saying it's something people should do, especially if the time and money is better spent on something else, but it has worked in the past, and companies like Netflix regularly do a tonne of AB testing on the live site, they wouldn't put all of that effort in if the results were minor.

 

You mention several studies here including about shade and button styles. Are the results of these studies freely available? If so, where?

I agree OpenElement does has some responsive features but it's not good and the layout you have chosed won't ever work well on a small screen. You have a sidebar - the only place for this on a small screen is below the main content which makes it redundant for nearly everyone who will visit your site.

 

Consider also the main banner image - that reduce down to around 300px width on a small screen making the detail difficult to see. Building a responsive site is a lot more than just tweaking the code, you need to think about how people use the site, hold their device, which hand they use and so on. Some studies show 70% of all non business browsing is done on a mobile phone. That's who you need to build the site for.

 

The layout of the site isn't important. What matters is the content. Nobody but you cares about what the site looks like. Wordpress or any other CMS will make it easier to add, edit and display your content on any device. And of course, search is built into the code.

 

Give me a call sometime. Click on the link in my signature to get the number.

 

I think the sidebar is very valuable on the actual website itself though (not on phones). In how it improves navigation. And I'm not sure I could create an equally useful alternative through some other way.

 

I mean, personally I can still see the banner image fairly well on my cellphone. But at any rate, while these are certainly possible concerns I don't have the money to test what my audience will do in any way.

 

/

 

Anyway, I'll discuss what we've discussed with my partner and potentially send a call your way when possible. Thanks for the advice so far.

I think the sidebar is very valuable on the actual website itself though (not on phones). In how it improves navigation. And I'm not sure I could create an equally useful alternative through some other way.

There are plenty of ways to do this. This is just one example: https://codepen.io/vichid/pen/cHnmK

 

Or use a magazine theme like this: http://www.upternative.com/

 

There is a whole world of options out there for you play with.

 

You mention several studies here including about shade and button styles. Are the results of these studies freely available? If so, where?

 

You can read more about the Google one here, but I don't know if the official data is around. There's also some stuff on the Netflix developer blog about AB testing.

 

Also regarding a search tool, I would give Algolia a go. I have no idea what it's like to add to the software you use, but it's an amazing product when used correctly.