Plugin:Google Custom Search
From Cerberus Helpdesk Wiki
Contents |
Overview
When Cerb4 launched we offered a feature called 'Fetch & Retrieve' to provide a single search across all your resources (forums, blogs, wikis, KBs, etc). This feature wasn't as popular as it could have been because it required custom drivers for each resource to allow searching. Depending on the particular software being integrated (e.g. lack of an API), the search functionality provided through these drivers could be incredibly crude.
With the Cerberus Helpdesk 4.2 release we've changed our strategy a bit to make this functionality more accessible. The purpose of Fetch & Retrieve was to share links to public resources -- not restricted forums -- so we've decided to leave website searching and indexing to the major companies like Google and Yahoo that have thousands of people working on it. Chances are, your resources are already indexed by major search engines. Drivers should not be necessary.
This plugin focuses on Google's 'Custom Search Engine' (CSE) offering, which allows you to create a private Google-powered search engine using a list of URL patterns you provide.
With this plugin enabled in Cerb4 you'll have:
- a new 'Google Custom Search' tab under the 'Research' menu.
- a new 'Google Custom Search' button when replying to tickets.
This plugin supports multiple Custom Search Engines, so you can create a search engine for all the resources specific to a brand or product offering.
Example Resources
- Blogs
- Forums
- Wiki/Docs
- Knowledebases/FAQs
- Bug Tracking/Wishlist
Configuration
Create a new Google Custom Search Engine
- Visit http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
- Click the 'Create a Custom Search Engine' button.
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- Fill out the form. Here's a screenshot of the settings we used:
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- Click 'Next' when finished.
- Click 'Control Panel' next to the new search engine
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Refinements
- Click 'Refinements' from the menu on the left. Refinements allow you to label your specific resources. Using refinements you can restrict matches to a specific resource. For example, you can search for a specific phrase occurring only on your project wishlist.
- In the pop-up, name your refinement (e.g. "Blog", "Forums", "Bugs/Wishlist").
- Select 'Search Only Selected Sites'. You will define the sites in a later step.
- Click the 'Save' button.
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- Repeat this process for all your resources. You can always come back to this step later.
Sites
- Click 'Sites' from the menu on the left.
- Check the box next to the sites which you want to group as a single resource (e.g. "Blog") and select 'Add Label' from the dropdown.
- Repeat this process for all your resources.
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Personalization
- Click 'Look & Feel' from the menu on the left.
- Tune colors if desired. You can add your logo at the bottom.
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Collaborators
- Optionally you can add a few Collaborators -- other people in your organization who you want to allow to add new sites or refinement labels.
Monetize
- People are used to ads on Google (or they're already blocking them with browser plugins). If you have an AdWords account with Google you can receive commission for clicks. If you'd prefer to hide ads on your custom search engine you have the option of paying Google a small fee to hide ads and enable a few new features (like XML access to search results).
Configuring in Cerb4
- Click 'My Search Engines' from the menu on the left.
- Click the name of your new search engine. Copy the URL from your browser to your clipboard.
- Log into your Cerb4 helpdesk as a superuser.
- Click 'helpdesk setup' in the top right.
- Click the 'Google Custom Search' tab. If the tab doesn't exist, enable the plugin from 'Features & Plugins'.
- Click 'add custom search'.
- Enter a name for your new search engine.
- Paste the URL from your clipboard into the 'URL' field.
Using
In Cerb4 you should now be able to search your custom search engine from the 'Research' menu or while writing mail.
- Search:
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- Results:
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Note that you can click on the refinement labels above the search results to filter your matches.
Enjoy!
