WiscWeb - WordPress UW Theme - Using the KB Search Plugin

WordPress users using the UW Theme have the option to add an additional functionality to their sites to search the campus Knowledge Base when a visitor uses the search field.

Activation

Administrators can activate this plugin by following the instructions in WiscWeb - WordPress UW Theme - Self Service Plugin Activation / Deactivation.

You will also need to have the KnowledgeBase API enabled for your KB sub-site. To request that this be enabled, please send an email to kb-team@lists.wisc.edu. Include your KB sub-site name and request that they enable the API for your project.

Usage

Using the KB Search Plugin on your site requires several steps to prepare the plugin for use. Once the plugin has been activated, you will need to add a Widget to your site to make the results appear in the right side of your Search Results page. To do this, hover your mouse over the Appearance menu item on the left, and choose Widgets from the menu that appears.

In the Widgets menu, scroll down on the left side and click on the Knowledge Base Search widget to expand it. You will then choose Archive Sidebar and click Add Widget.

Add Knowledge Base Search widget

You can now view the Widget in your Archive Sidebar on the right side of your page. It is here where you will enter the Knowledge Base Subsite (your KB name, for example wiscwebcms) to enable KB documents associated with the search terms entered to also be displayed.

Set Knoweldge Base Subsite value

Click Save to commit your changes.

Now, when a user searches your site, results on the right side of the Search Results page will also display Knowledge Base documents from your KB site that are related to the search term entered.

Knowledge Base results frame

Using Google Search and the KB Search Plugin

One aspect of the KB Search Plugin that needs to also have settings updates is how results are displayed. By default, when a site uses the Google Custom Search Engine WiscWeb - WordPress UW Theme - Adding A Custom Google Search To Your Site the results page is displayed as an overlay window. This window removes the KB Search results from appearing. You will need to go to your Google Search options to change the way results are displayed.

To do this, first log in to your Google Custom Search Engine dashboard. From there, choose your property that you have set Google Custom Search for.

Now, click on Look and Feel on the left menu. In this section, choose Results only and click Save at the bottom to commit these changes.

Change search results display