"The Little
Search Engine That Could"
By Thomas Benton
Every content rich website needs its own search
engine. There are many site search engines to choose from. But,
is site search all you need?
My website, http://www.webdesignwisdom.com, was
conceived as a web design and Internet marketing vortal. I wanted
to put together a complete one-stop resource for aspiring Internet
entrepreneurs. In order to maintain an index of such websites,
it needed the ability to function as a true Internet search engine.
I needed something that would allow site submission and spidering
of websites.
I also needed a site search engine that could
handle hundreds of pages on my site. And, I wanted a single search
engine that could perform both the on and off-site tasks.
After looking into various options, I decided
to give the Fluid Dynamics Search Engine (http://www.xav.com/scripts/search/)
a try.
FDSE turned out to be the right choice. The installation
was entirely automated from the xav website. Nothing could have
been easier. Type in some information to allow access to the root
directory and go. After installation, access a handy Admin Control
Panel to configure your preferences, customize your pages, create
realms, and spider websites of your choosing for adding to your
index. You can even push search results from your site (or any
domain you choose) to the top if you wish.
As with anything worthwhile, you'll have to devote
a little time to learning how to manage FDSE. It is fairly intuitive
for a semi-technical person. Within a couple of hours I had figured
out how to make FDSE do what I wanted it to do.
Rather than try to explain all the features here,
I suggest that you visit http://www.webdesignwisdom.com and try
a few searches for yourself. You can do a site search from the
little search box in the left navigation column or search the
ebiz vortal directory from the *eBiz InfoSearch* page. Here you
have the option of searching *This Site Only* or *[All]* sites
in the index.
FDSE automated installation deploys the full-featured
Shareware version. There isn't any expiration date so you have
ample time to learn to use it. Once you've decided that you want
to keep FDSE you can elect to register it as the Freeware or the
licensed version. At a one-time fee of $40.00 the full-featured
licensed version is one of the Internet's true *bargains*.
Find out more about FDSE and see the Admin Control
Panel at http://www.xav.com/scripts/search/. The online help is
quite adequate and should enable you to solve most problems without
additional assistance.
FDSE is *the little search engine that could*
do everything I wanted and needed for my first *vortal* website.
It could be the search engine solution you've been looking for
too.
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