The searchbox shortcode hr_SIS_nextgen_searchbox provides the same functionality as the searchbox widget:

• it places a searchbox on any page or post
• it accepts search parameters, which can be set differently for public users and for logged in users
• it accepts the same parameters as the widget provided searchbox, but also accepts additional parameters
• it passes the search text entered by users together with its search parameters to a display shortcode hr_SIS_display_images for displaying the result list of the search

However, whereas the widget provides a graphical interface for defining its parameters, there is no graphical interface for defining the shortcode parameters. All shortcode parameters have default values which may be differently for logged in users and for public users. If not explicitly defined in the shortcode, these parameters are set to there default values, depending on whether the current user is public or logged in. If parameters are defined explicitly in the shortcode, this will override any preset default values.

A list of all parameters and their default values is provided further down this page.

The widget provided searchbox will sent the search request to the automatically generated search landing page, where the display shortcode will generate and display the search result list. In contrast to this, the searchbox shortcode can sent the search request to any page or post by specifying the corresponding url as a target parameter. By default, this target parameter points to the current page or post where the searchbox shortcode is defined.

The searchbox shortcode will place a searchbox at the current location of the searchbox shortcode. This is the same searchbox as is provided by the searchbox widget. Again, the design of this searchbox will heavily depend on your chosen theme for styling. You may need some CSS customization to get the styling you are looking for. On the plugin settings page you can choose between two stylings for the searchbox:

The most difficult part is to style the magnifying glass in the correct size, in particular if your theme is responsive and dynamically adjusts sizes. In certain situations it might be best to hide the magnifying glass by CSS customization completely.

The searchbox shortcode accepts the following parameters:

(*1*) The default placeholder_text is set to  __(„Enter searchstring for images“, „ngg-smart-image-search“). This text is prepared for translations, if available. Overwriting this text individually will no longer be available for translations.

(*2*) These indicators mark the image metadata fields by 1, where the search text is searched for.

(*3*) Here you define the scope of the entered search.
Either you search in all galleries by include_galleries=all (which will not specify any gallery) or you search only in a list of specified galleries by include_galleries=selected . In this case the provided list of albums, if defined, will be exploded to a list of contained galleries. This gallery list will then be merged with the list of explicitly listed galleries, if defined. The resulting gallery list will be passed to the search execution as a constraint. Note that for a list of comma seperated values you have to enclose them with quotation marks:  i.e. search_galleries=’1,2,3′.

Using the parameter exclude_galleries you can define restrictions for the search scope. If no galleries are excluded by exclude_galleries=none, there are no restrictions. Otherwise by exclude_galleries=selected there will be a list of excluded galleries (albums again will be exploded to galleries) defined by the parameters excluded_albums and excluded galleries. If the search is defined for all galleries above, this exclusion list will be passed to the search as an additional restriction. If the search above defines a list of search galleries, this search gallery list is possibly shortened by the excluded gallery list, if both lists contain common galleries.

(*4*) These indicators mark the image metadata fields, which shall be shown in the search result list. However, this only applies if the search result list is displayed as a single image list or as a linked image list. Otherwise they are ignored. If you use a native NextGEN Gallery display type, only the native NextGEN Gallery fields can be documented.

(*5*) By default, the target parameter is not set. In this case the search request will be directed to the current page or post, which contains the searchbox shortcode. Otherwise the target parameter must provide a valid url of a page or post, which also contains a display shortcode to list the search result.

The listed parameters will apply for all users, i.e. for public users and for logged in users. They will overwrite any corresponding default parameter values. If you want to define different parameter values for logged in users and for public users, you have to use the prefix pu_ for public user and the prefix lo_ for logged in users for each parameter.  I.e. pu_limit=20 will only limit the search result list to 20 images for public users, lo_limit=100 will limit the search result list for logged in users.