You can tap into Internet Explorer's and Firefox's search capability to detect open search definition files. Open search defines where the browser can send a search query to the current site. It also enables visitors to save the settings of the current site as a search provider in order to send a query from any browser session. This functionality is very easy to implement, and only requires a few things...
Open Search File
First, create an XML file that looks like the following. Be sure to customize the tags to something related to your search results site.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
<ShortName>Your Custom Search</ShortName>
<Description>Your Custom Search</Description>
<Url type="text/html" template="http://server/SearchCenter/pages/results.aspx?k={searchTerms}"/>
<SyndicationRight>open</SyndicationRight>
</OpenSearchDescription>
Place this file somewhere accessible by your web site, or if you're working in SharePoint, add this to a document library. For the purposes of this blog, I named mine OpenSearch.xml and placed it in a document library named XML.
LINK Tag
Next, add the following link tag to your page, or better yet, your master page. Make sure you place it within the <HEAD> section.
<link title="Your Custom Search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" rel="search" href="/SearchCenter/XML/OpenSearch.xml" />
Once this is configured, you will see the search button turn orange:
When you drop the list down, you'll notice an option for “Your Custom Search”:
Choose the Add Search Providers menu option and you will see this search provider listed:
Once you select "Your Custom Search", you will be provided with the following dialog box:
Choose Add Provider and your custom search provider will be listed as an option for searching in Internet Explorer!
Now, any time you're browsing in Internet Explorer, you will have the ability to search your SharePoint site without having to navigate to the site first. This is a great convenience and an appreciated time saver. Enjoy!