How to Install Google Custom Search Engine in WordPress – Part 3

Copying the Results Code to the GCSE plugin and creating a results page.

18. Go to your WordPress Dashboard page.
19. Click the, Pages > Add New, tab to Add a New Page.
20. Enter the title of the page, i.e. Search Page. This will be the search page you defined earlier, i.e. http://www.yoursite.com/search-page/
21. De-select the discussion items. There will not be comments for search pages.
22. Click the, Publish, button.

 

23. Click the, Plugins, tab to Manage Plugins. The Google Custom Search Plugin should be visible in the Plugin list.
24. Click the, Activate, link to activate the plugin.
25. Click the, Settings > Google Search, tab to enter the Google Custom Search Configuration page.
26. Enter the width for your search page. This should be a few pixels smaller than your main window area and will depend upon whether you do or do not decide to hide the sidebar. Don’t for get to allow for the margin.
27. Enter the margin width required.
28. Select show or hide sidebar on results page.
29. Copy the, Search box code, from the GCSE page to the, Paste code for CSE Search Box.
30. Copy the, Search results code, from the GCSE page to the, Paste Code for CSE Search Results box.
31. Click the, Save changes, button.

 



 

32. Click the, Preview, button to have a look at the page. Try entering a search parameter to check everything is working.
33. Click the, Appearance > Widgets, tab and drag a Search box to your sidebar.
34. Click the, Visit Site, button and test the search box results.

That’s it, Google Custom Search Engine should now be installed and working.

Conclusion

Google’s Custom Search Engine Plugin could be better and you have to accept the advertisements (or pay, or be a charity or an educational institute) but compared with the WordPress shipped search engine it’s well worth installing.

 

• Part 1 – Google Custom Search Engine (GCSE) Install
• Part 2 – Getting and configuring GCSE