What is OpenSearch and how to use it?

About

opensearch is the ability for a web site to publish their internal search engine.

Visitors can then searched directly from the browser.

How to use it with a browser

When a website has published its internal search engine, you can search it directly with the following steps:

• start typing in the address bar, the name of the web site you wish to search
• then stroke the tab key
• then enter your search terms

How to publish your search engine

You should add a link html element in the head that points to an opensearch xml definition file

<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="opensearch.xml" title="ComboStrap">

where the opensearch.xml is an XML file that defines the search engine (entrypoint, name, …)

Example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
  <ShortName>Datacadamia - Data and Co</ShortName>
  <Image width="16" height="16" type="image/x-icon">https://datacadamia.com/favicon.ico</Image>
  <Url type="text/html" template="https://datacadamia.com/doku.php?do=search&amp;id={searchTerms}" />
  <Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" template="https://datacadamia.com/lib/exe/ajax.php?call=suggestions&amp;q={searchTerms}" />
</OpenSearchDescription>