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  If the standard methods of integrating search results with your website do not give you the flexibility you need, you can use one of the advanced methods covered here:
  • Use a modal popup window to isolate the search results from the rest of the website.
  • Use a style sheet to take fine control over the appearance of each part of the results.

Using a Modal Popup

The primary benefit of putting the search results in a popup window is that its layout is independent of the page from which the search is performed and thus there is no need to insert the results into a page template. Here are the parts for creating popup search results:
  • Create the input fields for the search.
  • Create a div to contain the popup.
  • Add javascript to operate the popup.
  • Add a style sheet for formatting the div and popup.
The popup "window" is actually a container div that is initially hidden. You can get an implementation of the HTML, CSS and javascript from the Blossom website to use directly or as a model: https://searchBlossom.com/search_modal.css for the style sheet and https://searchBlossom.com/search_modal.js for the HTML and Javascript.

Here's an example of how to use the files.

Create the input fields for the search. The key field will contain the search terms. The parameter to Blossom_doSearch is the URL to the search engine. You can add other formatting parameters to the URL, just like calling the search engine from a form. ID is the id of the search index.

<div>
	<input type="text" id="key" size="32">
	<button id="search" onclick="Blossom_doSearch('https://searchBlossom.com/query/ID')">
	Search
	</button>
</div>

Create the popup div and add javascript to operate the popup. Put the following code at the top level of the page, that is, as a child of the body.

<script src="https://searchBlossom.com/search_modal.js"></script>

Add a style sheet for formatting the div and popup. Put the following code in the head section of the page.

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://searchBlossom.com/search_modal.css"/>

A refinement for the input fields. In the example above, a user has to press the search button to submit the search. Many keyboard users are accustomed to having the return key submit a form. You can add that behavior by modifying the text input field:

<div>
	<input type="text" id="key" size="32"
		onkeydown="if(event.keyCode==13) document.getElementById('search').click();"
	>
	<button id="search" onclick="Blossom_doSearch('https://searchBlossom.com/query/ID')">
</div>

Using a Style Sheet

You can take fine control over the appearance of the search results by creating a style sheet and using the "css" option. When /css is appended to your search URL, each component of the search output will be surrounded by either
<span class="Class_Name"> search-engine output </span>
or
<div class="Class_Name"> search-engine output </div>
Class_Name identifies the output component as follows:

ClassWhen used
Blossom_Header The header summarizes the search results. It is the first text output after the "head" file.
Blossom_Suggestions If the search may offer hints to improve the search query. For example, it may suggest alternatives to misspelled words or offer to relax the "nearness" constraint. If the search matched only a few pages the search engine may suggest shorter phrases that will match more. Alternatively, if the search matched a lot of pages, the search engine may suggest longer phrases that will match fewer. The block containing the phrases are enclode in a "div" of class "Blossom_Suggestions";
Blossom_BBItem The format of the URL and description for a Best Bet. The style is opened before each item and closed after each item.
Blossom_BBTitle The format of the title text for a Best Bet. The title appears before the first Best Bet match.
Blossom_CatNavbar The format of the navigation bar at the top of a category search. The navigation bar lists all categories with hits. The current category is in bold font; other categories are links. This style is also used for the "file types" and "sort order" navigation bars.
Blossom_DocBlock All of the output for each document is enclosed in a "div" of class "Blossom_DocBlock". Use this to control block-level behavior such as shading, hovering, and selecting.
Blossom_DocTitle
Blossom_Link
If the search was successful, then each document matched will be displayed, beginning with the title. When the title is linked (as controlled by the "link" option), its style is controlled by "Blossom_Link". Otherwise its style is controlled by "Blossom_DocTitle".
Blossom_DocURL
Blossom_Link
When the URL is linked (as controlled by the "link" option), its style is controlled by "Blossom_Link". Otherwise its style is controlled by "Blossom_DocURL".
Blossom_DocType If a document is not HTML, then an indicator of the document type is added to the title. This class controls the style of the indicator.
Blossom_DocInfo Used for the document size and date (as controlled by the "info" option).
Blossom_DocDesc Used for the document description, if it has one.
Blossom_Context Controls the style of the document extracts that show the context of each hit.
Blossom_Highlight Used to highlight the search terms within each page extract.
Blossom_MoreButtons Links for the "next" and "previous" pages of search results are displayed when the "more" option is used. This style controls the format of the link text.
Blossom_SearchForm A div containing the search-again forms.

Put your style sheet into the head file for the search index.