Help with PicoSearch

How can I hide all references to PicoSearch using my purchased plan?

If it is important to you, then you can hide PicoSearch entirely using a purchased plan, so that no one will ever know that you are using a search engine which is not within your site. Of course, we appreciate it very much if you want to recommend PicoSearch to your visitors somewhere else, but we understand if you cannot do so and it is not required. Here then is what you need to do:
  1. Turn Off the PicoSearch Branding: This is done in your Account Manager's Page Design options, under the Designing topics. Just check the box to no longer say the branding line, such as "Site Search by PicoSearch". As a paying customer, you have your own template to fully integrate your search results into your site's design as well. And if you are an HTML newbie and not sure how to eliminate the PicoSearch logo from the cut-and-paste search box code, it will disappear after you turn off the PicoSearch branding - just revisit the "How to Add a Search Box" link after updating the switch.

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  2. Replace the URL with your own Private Search Domain: Since your search engine is hosted over the internet, you are calling the PicoSearch site to retrieve your index and display the search results. All links for result pages then loop back to your own website, so the system is completely functional but not completely transparent, since users will temporarily see the address www.picosearch.com in the links and browser status bar while exploring the search results.
     
    It may be professionally desirable for your site to not reveal any URLs other than your own. The search links can always remain within your domain if you arrange for this with us. For example, you can have the search appear to be your own in-house service by showing the private domain "search.mysite.com", instead of "www.picosearch.com". There is a one-time set-up fee for this, since it involves domain registrations and custom server reconfigurations at PicoSearch headquarters. The non-refundable one-time work fee is $150 for Professional accounts and $100 for Premium accounts, so please contact us for purchase (preferably contact us after paying for your account online so we can easily bill your same credit card when setup is complete).
     
    Private Search Domain registration is the only method that will completely mask the PicoSearch URL from your users without any drawbacks. You are not prohibited from trying other browser tricks, but they may seriously compromise your template and/or site design (we've seen some creative attempts but nothing that can fix all the links). The only other PicoSearch option that could supercede the Private Domain is the datafeeds, which allow you to integrate your search results into your site directly from your own scripts. That is of course its own bigger project, and would be overkill for just hiding the PicoSearch domain.


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