Search Maker Pro Support Area

Welcome to the support area for Search Maker Pro.
These pages contain answers to common and technical questions.

If you cannot find an answer to your query then email support is available.
Please send all support queries to support@searchmakerpro.com

Purchasing and Licensing Queries

For purchasing, licensing, registration key and upgrade queries, please check the registration questions page.

Knowledge Base Articles

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Which browsers is the generated HTML file compatible with?
    
2. Can the application be used for offline searching?
    
3. Can I customize the size of the generated search.html file?
    
4. I know the HTML hexadecimal code of the color I want to use but there is nowhere to enter it.
    
5. The search HTML page works but the links to the found pages do not.
    
6. What does "the application is still trying to cancel the previous http connection" mean?
    
7. My template isn't being used properly / my stylesheet is not being used.
    
8. Why do some of my web pages get missed when indexing my site?
    
9. I want to create a search engine for a list of files in a folder.
    
10. Can I alter the size of the search engine?
     
11. My Word / Excel / PowerPoint files are not being indexed.
     
12. How can I index password protected pages?

1.  Which browsers is the generated HTML file compatible with?

The HTML contains JavaScript 1.1, a standard component of all common web browsers. Java is not required.

The generated HTML is compatible with all versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and all other standard JavaScript enabled browsers.
 

2.  Can the application be used for offline searching?

Yes.  If you have HTML pages on local storage or CD/DVD then they can be indexed and searched in the same way as websites.

If relative links are used then the HTML files and search page can be transferred to other media such as CD/DVD.

3.  Can I customize the size of the generated search.html file?

Yes, use the "Alter Indexes" option from the "Search Engine" menu.

4.  I know the HTML hexadecimal code of the color I want to use but there is nowhere to enter it.

Beside each "Color" button is a piece of text that says the hexadecimal-code of the color such as "#FF00FF".

If you click this piece of text, a small window appears letting you enter the hexadecimal-code directly.

5.  The search HTML page works but the links to the found pages do not.

If you use relative links then the search HTML file builds links relative to the first page indexed.  If you selected the site by pointing to the home page then all links will be relative to this home page.  For the search HTML to work it must be placed in the same folder/directory as the page.

6.  What does "the application is still trying to cancel the previous http connection" mean?

If you cancel an indexing operation by clicking the "Back" button then the current Internet transfer needs to cancelled before another one can begin.

This is usually instantaneous, but if a transfer is mid way through it can take up to a minute to cancel.

If you are using Dial-up Networking then ensure you have closed any Windows requesting you to connect.

7.  My template isn't being used properly / my stylesheet is not being used.

Your template will probably contain links to other pages, images and stylesheets using relative links. For these links to work correctly the search.html page must be placed in the same folder as the template page. Ideally this will also be the same folder as your "home" page.

Therefore the page may not look correct when using Preview but will look correct once saved or moved to the proper folder.

8.  Why do some of my web pages get missed when indexing my site?

The application can process most HTML pages.  If pages are being missed then ensure that you are using standard <a href ...> HTML notation.  However, the application can work round most errors.

Search Maker Pro cannot follow links contained in an external map file, dynamically generated through JavaScript or embedded in a Java application.  You can get round this by providing text navigation or a site map on your site - Search Maker Pro will be able to find these links.

You can also use the "select individual pages to index" method and select all your pages using the "Add Folder" option.


9.  I want to create a search engine for a list of files in a folder.

To do this, select the second option on the opening page of the application ("Select individual pages to index").

By using the shift key in the open dialog box, you can select all the files from a folder at once. Or you can use the "Add Folder" button to add all files from a folder and subfolders.

Absolute links are created using this method. An option to convert these to relative links is made available after indexing.

10.  Can I alter the size of the search engine?

Yes, choose "Alter Indexes" from the Search Engine menu.

11.  My Word / Excel / PowerPoint files are not being indexed.

These document require the associated application to be installed on the PC generating the search. Versions 97 and later are supported. You can test whether these files will be indexes by using the "Options > Other > Test" option.

Only the PC creating the search.html search engine requires these files, not the PC that hosts the search engine or the PC of the person doing the search.

12.  How can I index password protected pages?

Password protected pages can be indexed by entering a URL with the login credential encoded within the URL:

http://username:password@www.yourwebsitetoindex.com/page.html