Welcome

The tutorial many people have been waiting for, is finally here! In this tutorial you will learn to make a FireFox Search Plugin, just like the one in the top right of your browser. Using the search plugin, you can tell it to search your site or forum. You will be able to search, Invision Power Board. vBulletin. Your custom coded script, that's if its coded well. and any software or script that has a search function. This plugin will be able to search it!

Mozilla's Developer Guide

Now yes, Mozilla does offer a developer guide on how to make a search plugin but many people find it too complicated and give up. Then come running to me and ask me to make it for them. But once you know how to do it, it's actually very easy. There are a few ways of making the search plugin, in this tutorial I will be showing you 1 way; The way I think is easiest. There will be a lot of explaining in this tutorial, as it needs to be easier to understand than Mozilla's developer guide.

Lets learn how to do it, what we need to do and what things do...

The Theory Behind

So obviously as with everything else, there is a theory behind making this plugin. The plugin uses a file, which contains all the data needed. The file is a .src and you will learn more about that soon. In the .src you will find information such as, the site name, the site URL, the search method, the input fields and lots more. This may sound confusing, but it will make more sense later! To edit the .src file I recommend you use Notepad. I am going to explain how to make a search plugin for Invision Power Board then I will tell you how to adapt it for vBulletin. If you are looking to make a plugin for PHPBB, MyBB or another script you will need to have an advanced knowledge of how to make a plugin. Obviously I cant tell you how to make a plugin for every single forum software, blog software etc. I am teaching you how to do this, not how to copy and paste my code.

Lets get started with making it. Move onto the next page...