The default searchform.tmpl looks rather bare and unintuitive with just an input field.
The patch below adds a label for the field to improve usability:
--- templates/searchform.tmpl.orig Fri Jun 15 15:02:34 2007
+++ templates/searchform.tmpl Fri Jun 15 15:02:41 2007
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
<form method="get" action="<TMPL_VAR SEARCHACTION>" id="searchform">
<div>
+<label for="phrase">Search:</label>
<input type="text" name="phrase" value="" size="16" />
<input type="hidden" name="enc" value="UTF-8" />
<input type="hidden" name="do" value="hyperestraier" />
I don't do this by default because putting in the label feels to me make the action bar too wide. YMMV. What I'd really like to do is make the content of the search field say "search". You see that on some other sites, but so far the only way I've seen to do it is by inserting a nasty lump of javascript. --Joey
Please don't do that, it is a bad idea on so many levels
See e.g. http://universalusability.com/access_by_design/forms/auto.html for an explanation why. --HenrikBrixAndersen
If you really want to do this, this is one way:
--- searchform.tmpl.orig Sat Aug 25 11:54:28 2007
+++ searchform.tmpl Sat Aug 25 11:56:19 2007
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
<form method="get" action="<TMPL_VAR SEARCHACTION>" id="searchform">
<div>
-<input type="text" name="phrase" value="" size="16" />
+<input type="text" name="phrase" value="Search" size="16" onfocus="this.value=''" />
<input type="hidden" name="enc" value="UTF-8" />
<input type="hidden" name="do" value="hyperestraier" />
</div>