Site Custom Search

The search box within the Utility Bar can be used to search your own site in addition to all of ncsu.edu.

To configure the search box for your site, go to Appearance -> Theme Options -> General within the Dashboard. You will need to provide the Google Custom Search Engine (CSE) ID within the appropriate field (details below). You may also want to consider changing the "Search Box Placeholder" field to something more specific to your site. By default it displays "Search ncsu.edu."

How to Acquire Google CSE ID

  1. Go to google.com/cse
  2. Click 'Create a custom search engine' and login (you may want to use a generic Google Account or check with your IT department to see if they have any management policies)
  3. Provide the URL(s) that you'd like to be searchable. This is usually the URL of your site (mysite.ncsu.edu/* for example).
  4. Complete additional fields as prompted.
  5. In left-hand menu, expand the "Edit Search Engine" section of the menu
  6. Ensure that the appropriate 'search engine' is selected from the drop-down box. This should match the name of the search engine you just created.
  7. Click 'Look and Feel'
  8. Within the 'Layout' tab, click 'Results Only'
  9. To hide ads on your custom search engine, follow the steps outlined in this OIT article.
  10. The custom search engine should now be configured. Within the address bar of your browser, copy the text that follows "cx=". This is your search engine's ID that will need to be pasted into WordPress. It normally contains many numbers followed by a colon and many letters. (Example: 012169069644447584939:zcwvuaazmyi)

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