Here is a list of the changes:

• Options page has been cleaned up with a sidebar for meta information with links for support, donations, etc. Any of these widgets can be hidden using the screen options found on most pages in wp-admin. Also, descriptions for each field have been added.
• I was using only Curl to make the BOSS API call. This has been changed to use the WP_Http class instead which will use other means to make the call if Curl is not installed on the host.
• Added a nonce on the form update for better security
• Removed the deprecated level 10 when initializing the options page and replaced it the manage_options permission.
• Added localization.

There are so many features to add to this plugin. But the project I created this for was put on hold no it hasn’t seen further development. I’m interested in knowing which features you would like added or have already added.

Here were my requirements going into this:

1. Limit the search to the sites I want. I give them a list and it only searches those sites. The list would need to be updated dynamically or via an API.
2. Allows me to modify the search results in any order I want or mixing it with other data.
3. Allows me to format the search results how I please.
4. I want the results in a multiple formats to allow for flexibility when and where the results are displayed.
5. I would love to try to monetize the search engine however I want.

Searching for what I needed led me to discover many cool technologies.

I first looked at possibly the most obvious: Google Custom Search Engine. Google CSE is a cool product but it didn’t suit my needs at all. The terms of service don’t allow you to modify the results. I also looked at Google AJAX Search API. Again, doesn’t fit the requirements. I may find a need for the AJAX Search API in the near future though.

Other technologies deserved some attention as well. Products such as CouchDB and Lucene required too much so I didn’t spend much time looking into these.

I had looked at Yahoo BOSS (build your own search service). Initially, it didn’t look like it would suit my needs. After revisiting BOSS, looking at code samples and the API, it was exactly what I was looking for. Easy, fast, reliable. Fits exactly my requirements. Awesome.

Since the site I am building was based on WordPress (like all my sites), I decided to put my work it into a WordPress plugin to allow a WordPress site to easily add a real search engine to the site just by defining some simple options. The first version will be very limited in what can be done but I have a lot of features that I will be adding to it very soon.

I just need to get it ready to release. Soon I hope.

What do I mean by silo or walled garden? It basically means that users are inputing data and the site provides no way to get that data out. For example, I use web based email where all my contacts are stored. Am I able to use that contact list outside of my webmail? Why would I want the contacts? An example would be to use the addresses of some of my contacts to send Christmas cards to. Or using the contacts to find friends on any given social network.

One of the jobs I had in the past, this was a common theme. A huge enterprise with many applications. The employees had to login to each app separately. This is a pain for both the users and from an administration standpoint.

Is this a big deal? Probably not for most people. But for me, it’s a huge deal.

Over the past few years, many apps have given access to data through means of an API (application programming interface). With the API, you can use your data stored in one app in a totally different app. This is a mashup. Cool applications come from mashups. Your customers’ data is being used in ways you never would have thought of. The customer should be allowed to do whatever they want with their data.

Even export it into a rivals app. This is a big deciding factor for me. Many of my friends who aren’t technical have blogs hosted on blogger. Google has provided ways to export a user’s data to other blogging engines such as wordpress. Not that Google is going out of business anytime soon, but what if they decided to get rid of blogger all of a sudden, much like they decided to get rid of Notebook. Apparently, not many people used Google Notebook. But I did. The important thing is is that they have provided me with a way to get that data out. They always have.

When times are tough, employees get laid off. Companies big and small consolidate and possibly go under. Make sure you have access to your data. Especially, if you have invested a lot of time compiling the data.

Just something to think about.