October, 2008 - Part 3

Add Custom Search Engine to your wordpress blog easily

Replace your default wordpress theme search engine with Google Custom Search Engine.
There are 3 option’s to show the result page:-

If you want to have results within your own site, then you need to create another page similar to your blog pages(to make it look more professional), and add the codes from Adsense account. This requires one to have some knowledge about html and some other basic Internet programming knowledge.
If you are using a magazine style theme and if you are showing additional advertisements on the sidebar, then remove it from your result page. Because its an violation of adsense policy.

There is another easy option, which doesn’t require any programming knowledge.
1. Open results on Google in the same window.
2. Open results on Google in a new window.

Now you decide about opening results page in new window or in the same window(Its considered user friendly, if all links open in same window, so we recommend selecting the 1st option. i.e., Open Results in the same window.)

Goto your Adsense account or Google Custom Search Engine page and get the codes to paste in your wordpress blog.

Now login to your wordpress and click on the “Design” tab –> Click on “Theme Editor”. Now search for “searchform.php” or similar file and click on it.
Now look for <div class="search"> </div> tags and delete everything inbetween them and paste the CSE codes from your adsense or Google CSE account and save it.

For Example:- Look at my Custom Search Engine[Top right corner — near navigation bar] and search for any keyword and see the result page.

If you are good at HTML and PHP, you can integrate the CSE into your own site and you can make the results to be shown in your own site. This looks even more professional.
But having any type of Custom Search Engine is better than not having one, so follow any method and integrate CSE to your blog.

Know This Before Using Google Custom Search Engine

There are many advantages of adding Google Custom Search Engine to your wordpress blog.
Some are listed below..
1. People are used to search in Google.com and they will not find it difficult to do the same in your blog.
2. You can monetize the search results using Google Ads. [Optional]
3. Ability to give options for users, to search only our blog or the entire web.
4. We can know exactly what people are searching in our blog using the search engine.
5. Looks more professional. SERP can be hosted on our own site or Google.
6. Easy to integrate and use.
7. More features. We can include Refinements/Labels at the top of the result page.
8. Highly Customizable. We can customize the look and feel of the result page. We can put our logo instead of Google logo and link it back to our main site/blog. Font colour and the placement of ads can be controlled by ourselves.
9. We can control the type of ads appearing on our search result page, by including Search engine keywords, Site description etc. The ads will match to the keyword of search as well as to the keywords that we have included. We can even block competitors advertisements.
10. Can include the results from multiple sites/blogs.

Caution:-
We have seen many bloggers using CSE(Custom Search Engine) and their SERP(Search Engine Result Page) is violating the Adsense policy, by showing additional ads on the SERP.
Here is what Google has to say about it..

Can I show ads on AdSense for search results pages in my own site?

We ask that you don’t place any additional ads on pages with framed search results. However, you’re welcome to place an AdSense for search box on the page so your users can continue to search if they haven’t found what they’re looking for.

Now without wasting much of time, Create a CSE and put it on to your blog, if you haven’t done yet.
There are two ways to do this.
1. Login to your adsense account and goto “AdSense Setup” tab and click on “AdSense for Search”. Further instruction are self explanatory.
2. Goto Google Custom Search Engine and click on “Create a Custom Search Engine”.

The advantage of using the 2nd option is, we get “Advance setup features” and more customization options. So we recommend using CSE.

To connect your Custom Search Engine account with Google AdSense, visit the Make money tab in your search engine’s control panel.

Fill in the form with the email address that you use with your AdSense account, your zip code, and the last 5 digits of your phone number. Google will use this information to connect your Custom Search Engine account to your AdSense account and you can start making money immediately.

Now you make money by monetizing the search result page and your readers will be comfortable searching what they are looking for. So its a win-win situation 🙂

Feeling Good Can Enhance Your Performance

Like many of you, I am also very much interested in blogging and I feel good while I am blogging or working for my blog. It gives me a kind of joy, even when I am working overtime or late nights.
All these years while I was undergraduate, I use to feel too bad while I had to write assignments(Homework’s). I use to hurryup and finish the works off, so that I can be free afterwards. But those things never helped me, as I never really understood what I was writing.

Day before yesterday as I was writing one of my first assignments in PG(Post Graduation — MCA[Master of Computer Application]), I just wanted to finish it off, and start blogging. But mean while I thought, let me try to enjoy writing the assignment and try to feel good, like I do when I am blogging. Guess what, I really started getting interest in my assignment writing work!
I just practiced this feeling good exercise for two days and now I am completely loving my assignments and trying to understand and write – Now its no more a burden.

Some times when I never got any idea for blogging, I use to feel bad and frustrated and at that time I was never able to comeup with any new article ideas. It was only after a deep relaxing sleep or some jolly long walks, I use to get some ideas for blogging. But when I started to fall in love with blogging completely and started feeling good, ideas for blogging started coming easily and now I don’t get frustrated even when there is no idea to write any thing, I just feel good and after a while some idea pops up in my mind.
blogging-late-night
To start feeling good in the beginning will be a bit of forceful thing – you need to remember some thing which makes you feel good, like remember the flower that you love, garden, your pet animal, baby etc. Practice this for some time and you will start feeling good automatically while doing any work, and this will surly enhance your performance in any of the fields.

And one more thing is, we need to stop underestimating ourselves. Underestimating ourselves will surly be a great hindrance in our progress.

Brian Gardner’s Revolution theme(s) going open source

Brian Gardner has surprisingly decided to make his Revolution theme open source. This means that all themes will be released under the GPL license and in compliance with standards set forth by WordPress.
The themes that are currently available at Revolution theme site will no longer be available after 12:00 midnight, Friday October 31st.

Brian’s blog also reveals that – On November 1st 2008, a completely new Revolution site will launch. There will be a new set of themes on that website, which will be made available under the GPL license.

This image below, is now like a antique piece in museum:-
Brian-Gardner-Revolution-theme-site-30-oct-2008

Jason Schuller, who runs WP Elements as well as created the Featured Content Gallery plugin, will be teaming up with Brian Gardner on the upcoming Revolution project

Now, I know that many of you are thinking that – Oh man this is unfair to those who have already purchased Revolution theme. but look at what Brian Gardner has to say about it..

For the current All-Inclusive members…
I wanted to add that anyone who has purchased or upgraded to the current Revolution All-Inclusive membership, you will automatically inherit the ability to receive the aforementioned theme package benefits at no additional cost. This is our way of saying thanks for what you’ve spent already.

All these above information are actually taken directly from Brian Gardner’s blog post, head to his article to know more.

I am excited about Brian Gardner’s future projects and I wish him a great success in all his good work.

Google SMS Channels: Group messaging System

Its a great news for many people in India(2nd largest mobile users). Now we can publish and receive SMS messages from Google SMS Channels.
Google SMS is free for both content publishers as well as mobile phone users who subscribe to text updates via SMS.
We can create a group and send updates to all those who subscribe to our text updates, via SMS. Interestingly, we can integrate our blog using our feed and our SMS subscribers will receive the updates whenever we have a new article in our blog. And subscribers can choose when(time) and the number of SMS’s to be received through Google SMS service.

Presently there are a great variety of groups from most popular GoogleNews Channel to blogs and famous newspapers groups. We can subscribe to all these group’s updates.

We can post an update to our SMS group, using our mobile or directly from the web or automatically from our blog feeds(when there are new articles published).
We need to keep in mind that, our text updates won’t reach our SMS text update subscribers as soon as we publish something, it always arrives to their mobile inbox only at the time they have chosen to receive the updates.

If you are not getting SMS updates, then you need to look at the “settings“ in your Google SMS account.

Hope Google will extend this service to many more countries shortly.

For a complete explanation of this service and a self explanatory help center, click here.

If you are from some other country(other than India), and if this service is available in your country also, then please share some details with us.