Implement an external CSS stylesheet to personalize the look of the Google Custom Search Engine

I recently developed a search engine for my website using Google Webmaster Tools, and now I am looking to personalize the look of the search results provided by the Custom Search Engine (CSE). Google allows me to download the CSS file entirely, but when I integrate it into my PHP file within the head section, the custom styling does not seem to take effect.

Placing Google's style code inside the body tag does work as expected, however, this method goes against the standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium. Additionally, inserting such a lengthy block of CSS code directly into the body of my page makes my code appear messy and disorganized.

Is there a way to utilize an external style sheet to modify the default appearance of the search engine without compromising on web standards?

cssgoogle-custom-search

Answer №1

Have you ever tried using an external CSS stylesheet for a Custom Google Search box? That's exactly what I experimented with today, and it even passed the W3C validator test:

Take a look at this link: a homepage featuring Google Custom Search with an external stylesheet.

If you examine the page source, you'll notice that I obtained Google Custom Search's "Source CSS" from their "Get Code" page. After making some adjustments to the CSS, I uploaded it to my website's server.

I then extracted the script segments from the "Get Code" page and inserted them into the HTML of the homepage. I modified the line:

google.load('search', '1', {language : 'en', style : google.loader.themes.MINIMALIST});

to read as follows:

google.load('search', '1', {language : 'en', style : src="http://hoodexc.com/css/google-search.css"});

If anyone proficient in JavaScript has a more efficient method (just because something works doesn't mean it's optimal), please feel free to share your insights.

Answer №2

By simply adding the parameter "nocss: true" when initiating Google Custom Search, you can prevent Google from loading any default css styles for the search box. This allows you to customize and define all gcse-, gs- classes without any interference.

The "nocss" boolean parameter informs the API whether or not to load the standard style sheets associated with its controls. If you do not plan on using the default CSS, setting this to true can significantly reduce load times. By default, it is set to false.

https://developers.google.com/loader/#DetailedDocumentation

Code: 

google.load('search', '1', { 
    callback: OnGoogleSearchLoad,
    language : 'en',
    nocss: true,
    style : src="http://example.com/assets/css/gcse.css"
});

Result (no css, except site default rules) :

Example custom CSS file for Google Custom Search:

.gsc-tabsAreaInvisible,
.gsc-resultsHeader,
.gsc-branding,
.gcsc-branding,
.gsc-url-top,
.gs-watermark,  
... (CSS classes continuation)

Result (with custom styles):

Answer №3

A big shoutout to Gniewomir and Kris for their help.

Currently, I'm setting up a two-page layout Google custom search on my WordPress blog using the V1 code. To display the search box, I inserted 

<div id="cse-search-form">Loading</div>
in a text widget and placed the remaining script in my header.

In the process, I made a modification here:

google.load('search', '1', {language: 'en', style: google.loader.themes.GREENSKY});

which I changed to:

google.load('search', '1', {language: 'en', nocss:true, style:"http://www.domain-name/wp-content/themes/theme-name/css/gcse.css"});

Simultaneously, I downloaded GREENSKY.css, renamed it as 'gcse.css' and uploaded it to my server.

After running this setup through GTMETRIX, I noticed that the warnings related to HTTP Redirects have disappeared.

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