Creating a searchable database

  • Resolved Gart

    (@gart)


    14 years ago

    Hi Guys,

    I would really appreciate your help with the following. I’m the author of this blog http://www.stopthewarondrugs.org and am trying to find out whether it would be possible to add a page or a widget with a searchable database. My idea is as follows: I have in my computer a large number of documents, mainly PDF but other formats too, that I would like to upload to my website and make it available to the general public. I want people to be able to access the documents directly form my site, instead of providing links to said documents. The icing on the cake would be if people could search for a particular document, using keywords for instance, instead of scrolling through a list of documents. I hope this make sense. Thanks in advance for your help.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
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  • Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    14 years ago

    Sounds like you need a search function, standard in WP. Try WordPress › Relevanssi « WordPress Plugins. Indexing the content of pdfs is different, though. Try Google Custom Search – Site search and more

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Thanks, songdogtech. I now realise that I’ve made my query confusing by conflating the two issues. So, let me state it again: I can create a page in my website, say Key Papers, and start listing the documents, say 50 papers, and wrap each of them with the corresponding link in the usual manner using HTML code, for instance:

    Cato Institute – Drug Decriminalisation in Portugal – 2009.pdf

    But that is time consuming. What I’m trying to find out is whether there is a way I can just use a plugin or create a link/code to those papers that are already in a file in my computer without having to specify their web address.

    I hope this makes more sense now. Thanks!

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Update: I’ve found this plugin Documents Link Widget. It does what I need but it places the documents on one of the sidebars. I need something that allows me to place them in a page (reason: to put a large number of papers in a sidebar will clutter up the site).

    Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    14 years ago

    Take the code out of the widget and put it into a page template.

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    My apologies, songdogtech. How do I do that? (warning: my knowledge is quite basic)

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Does anybody know what songdogtech is talking about or how to make the Document Links Widget plugin display the list of documents not in the sidebar but in the Key Research Papers page in my website, here:

    I’d really appreciate any help, guys!
    Thanks!

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Honestly, it’s so disappointing when somebody offers some sort of advice but seems reluctant to offer additional directions/advice so that one can sort out the problem. They shouldn’t offer advice in the first place!

    Harris O.

    (@hfort)

    14 years ago

    I have never used but maybe you can try this plugin which will allow you to insert widgets withing the page’s content. http://ww.wp.xz.cn/extend/plugins/widgets-on-pages/

    The installation is very straight forward: http://ww.wp.xz.cn/extend/plugins/widgets-on-pages/installation/

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Thanks, Harrison O. I’ll give it a try and let you know the outcome. Thanks again.

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Thanks, Harrison O. It works pretty well. Now I want to find out something else: the Document Links Widget plugin orders the documents according to their upload date, which is not very useful. I want to order them alphabetically, instead. Any ideas how can it be done?

    Paul de Wouters

    (@pauldewouters)

    14 years ago

    Is this close to what you’re looking for?
    http://ahapc.ca/documents/
    I custom coded it, but I may consider making it available as a plugin

    you could also try
    http://ww.wp.xz.cn/extend/plugins/download-manager/

    Mark Ratledge

    (@songdogtech)

    14 years ago

    @gart said:

    They shouldn’t offer advice in the first place!

    Relax. We’re all volunteers here. You’re asking for help with plugins and custom php. Have patience or learn php yourself.

    And you’re also whining in multiple threads:

    http://ww.wp.xz.cn/support/topic/listing-documents-as-links-within-a-page?replies=4

    Don’t multipost, re: the Forum Rules.

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    My apologies.

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Many thanks, pauldewouters. I’ll have a look and let you know the outcome.

    Thread Starter Gart

    (@gart)

    14 years ago

    Interesting plugins, pauldewouters, but not exactly what I’m looking for. So far, the combination of “Document Links Widget” and “Widgets on page” plugins seems the way to go, provided I can sort out the issue with the ordering, i.e. ordering the documents alphabetically or at least, stopping it ordering by upload date.

    Thanks!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)
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