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Redirecting search requests from a custom search form to the Search Center

If you plan to develop a custom search form, you might want to redirect search requests issued by the search form to the Search Center.

The following example form implements a Search feature:

<form name="myQueryForm" method="get" action=".">
     <input type="hidden" name="uri" value="searchCenter:query"> 
     <input type="hidden" name="contentNode" value="ibm.portal.Search Center">
     <input type="hidden" name="layoutNode" value="ibm.portal.Search Center Portlet Window">
     <input type="text" name="query"> 
     <input type="Submit" name="SearchButton" value="Search">
</form>

If a user selects Search, the form sends a request to the Portal server. The Portal server redirects the request to the Search Center by using the following parameters:

  • uri

    This parameter must be set to searchCenter:query to address the query functionality of the Search Center portlet.

  • contentNode

    This parameter is optional and specifies the unique name of the page where the Search Center portlet is placed. The default value is ibm.portal.Search Center.

  • layoutNode

    This parameter is optional and specifies the unique name of the Search Center portlet window. The default value is ibm.portal.Search Center Portlet Window.

  • query

    The Search Center uses the value of this parameter to search for the terms that a user specified.

If you placed the Search Center on a different page, for example, a public page, the values for the parameters contentNode and layoutNode might be different.

For more information, see Placing the Search Center on a public portal page.