EXT: Ajax Searching Engine¶

What does it do?¶

The Ajax Searching Engine is just another possibility to add a searching engine to your TYPO3 homepage. The difference to other systems is that mh_ajaxsearch is based on the AJAX principle which is not to reload the whole page. So directly when the user is typing something into the searching field the extension searches in the background.

For a demonstration of that see www.marioonline.at where also a F. A. Q. is located in porfolio > typo3 > Ajax Searching Engine > Frequently Asked Questions.

Update – 2007-06-03: You may go directly to the marioonline TYPO3 section by opening http://typo3.marioonline.at.

How to install?¶

Import it. Install it. Let it create the needed database table if you want to view statistics.

How to use?¶

After installing it use the 'insert plugin' option somewhere on your page. Choose the 'Ajax Searching Engine'. Define a starting point, the levels of searching and you are ready to go.

You may also integrate in anywhere on the page. To get known of the possibilities of that configuration see 'Alternative Configuration'.

Max. results¶

If you want to define a maximum of results enter the number here.

Don't show spinner¶

Activate this box if you don't want to show the spinner (running wheel when loading).

No introduction sentence¶

If checked no sentence will be shown. So neither 'x results with query y' nor 'no results found with query y' sentences are going to be displayed.

Focus on load¶

If you have a single page where the search element is on you probably want to set the focus into that field on page load. Just activate this option and enter the id of the input field (if you didn't change any template, enter 'tx_mhajaxsearch_q').

Enable logging¶

If you enable this option logging will be enabled and you can view statistics in the backend 'Web' module > 'Search logging'.

Enable preview¶

Enter a number that represents the amount of signs shown from the content where a result is found. This is like any other preview seen on other search engines.

If it takes too long finding any results try disabling this option.

Enable alternative language¶

If you have installed alternative languages for your homepage activate this option so that the extension will grab the page title in your current language from the 'pages_language_overlay' table.

Search string forwarding¶

This is an option to allow your user to see their searched word on the page they found. Example: You search 'hello', as a result you go to the 'Home' page and there is the word 'hello' highlighted. That this is going to happen you have to install the psm_highlight (Keyword Highlighting) extension by Christoph Köpernick and activate this option in the backend.

Charset¶

You might choose a different character set than the default 'UTF-8' here. Just leave it if you're not sure but if Umlaute (ä, ö, ü, ...) don't work try charset 'ISO-8859-15'.

Startingpoint¶

Define a point in the pagetree on which the search should start.

Recursive

Define the levels in the pagetree that the search should crawl down starting at the startingpoint.

Template file¶

By default the template file in the extension directory /res/tmpl is taken (search.tmpl) but you can define a different one. Needed in the file is an input box that has the onkeyup="javascript: tx_mhajaxsearch_search(this.value);" defined and a div area that has the id=”tx_mhajaxsearch_result”.

Stylesheet¶

The usual stylesheet is located in /res/style/ but you may change that here.

Ignore stylesheet¶

Don't want to include a separate stylesheet 'cause you have your own? No problem, just activate this option. Warning: If you check this option the spinner hiding doesn't work anymore since this is a stylesheet definition. If this case have a look into the default stylesheet located in the extension directory typo3conf/ext/mh_ajaxsearch/res/style/ and copy/paste the #tx_mhajaxsearch_spinner definition into your own stylesheet.

Additional searching tables¶

This is a very complex thing. You may define additional tables that should be searched. By default the extension only searches the tt_content table. The format to enter is 'table: field1,field2,...: pid'. Separate lots of them with a semicolon (;).

A few examples to understand the whole thing:

• tt_calender: title,note: pidSearches the title and note fields in the tt_calender table. The reference field to the page id is pid.
• tt_calender: title,note: pid; tt_news: title,bodytext: pidDoes the same as the one above but additionally searches the tt_news table (title and bodytext). As above the reference field is pid.

PID aliases (x=y;)¶

Like seen in the title you can define PID aliases in format “x=y;” here. PID aliases are a possibility to define “links” from one page to another. So if you have your news stored in a SysFolder but want the page with PID 4 shown (e.g. your single view) instead of the SysFolder you can define the alias 9 = 4; (9 would be your SysFolder, 4 the page you want to link to).

To define more of them separate with a semicolon (;).

NOTE: Generally SysFolders are ignored. Exceptions only if an alias is defined!

Further submits¶

This is a field that you could use if you need other parameters to be submitted. So if you want to submit the single news id from a tt_news if an entry is found. So type the table name, a double point, the field to be submitted, another double point and the parameter name that gets the field to be submitted as value. Separate more of them using a semicolon (;).

An example: You're searching the tt_news table via the 'Additional searching tables' field. Now you want the single id to be submitted, so the following code is needed in 'Further submits': tt_news: uid: tx_ttnews[tt_news]

NOTE: This only works with tables that are already included in the searching string. So tt_content and pages is included by default, others have to be added via the 'Additional searching tables' field (e.g. tt_news).

Another example using two parameters: tt_news: uid: tx_ttnews[tt_news]; tt_news: pid: tx_ttnews[backPid]

Aliases on further submits¶

If this is activated the aliases are also applied to the further submits. If not checked the aliases are ignored for further submits.

Show additional information¶

This is an option to display additional information in common with each search result line. The greyscale is defined in the stylesheet. NOTE: The ordering is ignored, it's just important if items are selected or not. Information is taken from ...

• Created – table: pages; field: crdate
• Modified – table: pages; SYS_LASTCHANGED

Date format¶

Only needed if additional information is shown. In this case this format represents the format of date the creation and modification date is shown. If you have no idea how this works have a look at http://at2.php.net/manual/en/function.date.php or try 'Y-m-d'.

nostyle¶

nospinner¶

onload¶

startingpoint¶

recursive¶

template¶

style¶

results¶

search¶

logging¶

fwdsword¶

preview¶

inclLang¶

submit¶

addReplace¶

nointro¶

addInfo¶

dateFormat¶

charset¶