How to Install Google Custom Search Engine in WordPress – Part 2

By Philip King

Getting and configuring GCSE

1. Go to the WordPress Plugin Directory and download the, Google Custom Search, plugin.
2. Unzip the downloaded file to your wp-content/plugins folder.
3. Sign up for Google Custom Search (if you haven’t already).
4. Click the, "Create a Custom Search Engine", button to enter the, Set up your search engine page.

 



 

5. Enter the information requested on the form, your search engine name, description, language.
6. As you will be searching your own web site, select, Only sites I select, as your default search mode.
7. Enter the full search path, including http:// into the, Sites to search box.
8. Select the, "Standard Edition", for the edition (unless you have loads of money and don’t want the ads).
9. Agree to the, Terms of Service, and click the, Next, button.
10. Try a few searches on the, Try it out, page and click the, Finish, button when you’re happy.
11. This will bring you to the, Search engines I’ve created, page where you need to click on the, control panel, link to customize your search page.
12. Check everything on the, Basics, Sites, Indexing, Refinements and Promotions pages is correct. You shouldn’t need to change anything on these pages.

 



 

13. Select the, Look and feel, link and choose the hosting option required. I would suggest using the, iframe, option. This option provides (limited) customization and require a separate page for results on your site, but does keep the results on your site.
14. Choose a style and click the, Save, button.
15. Click the get code button.
16. Enter the full page url, including http://, in your site where you want the search results to appear in the text box provided, i.e. http://www.yoursite.com/search-page/
17. Specify where you want the advertising to be placed.

• Part 1 – Google Custom Search Engine (GCSE) Install
• Part 3 – Copying the Results Code to the GCSE plugin and creating a results page