Search Provider

New to Internet Explorer 8 is the concept of Accelerators. Accelerators enable you to access service providers anywhere on the page

Search Provider Categories

       - Web Search
       - Topic search

The following sample OpenSearch Description file contains the search provider's name, URL, and icon. 

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/">
 <ShortName>My Custom Search</ShortName>
 <Url type="text/html" template="http://example.com/?q={searchTerms}&amp;source=IE"/>  
 <Image height="16" width="16" type="image/icon">http://example.com/mycustom.ico</Image>
</OpenSearchDescription>


All OpenSearch Description files must include the search provider name and search URL. Without these elements, Internet Explorer 8 cannot install your search provider. All search URLs must contain "q={searchTerms}" somewhere in the query string. When Internet Explorer 8 navigates to this provider to get search results, "{searchTerms}" is replaced by the query string that the user typed into the Instant Search box. you should include an icon within the OpenSearch Description file.