Fast AlltheWeb adds Alchemist CSS customization tool

(July 17 2002) Fast allows the presentation of search results from AlltheWeb.com to be completely customized with the new AlltheWeb Alchemist tool.

Last year we got this brilliant idea here at Pandia.

What if we introduced various sets of search page designs or user interfaces? After all, people do not buy clothes on the basis on functionality only, do they? They buy them on the basis of looks.

Moreover, isn't your search engine just as much an expression of your personality as -- let's say -- your car?

We could make a Pandia Powersearch Exclusive Armani page for the independent business man (black and grey with an elegant serif font), Pandia Independent and Sensitive for modern women (pink background with sunflowers), Pandia the Super Duper Librarian for Kids (bright colors and comic book illustrations).

We made some experiments on our iMac (now that's a machine that just spells out the importance of life style!), but gave it up when we realized the time it would take to update all the various version. Take a look at Pandia for Kids to see where we were heading, though.

What we could have done, of course, was to design one Web page containing the essential information (i.e. all the text and links) and use cascading style sheets to design the different variations.

It goes like this:

Traditional Web pages are built on plain text files (HTML or XHTML files) with various codes that decides how the page is going to look. There is for instance a special FONT-tag that defines the size and type of the font.

When using cascading style sheets (CSS), however, you can put all (or most of) the information that defines the lay out in a separate CSS text file, and include a link to that CSS file in the main Web page HTML-file, so that the Web browser will find it.

By changing the CSS file you may actually change the design (but normally not the content) of the Web page quite dramatically. Hence: If you control the CSS-file, you control the look of the Web page.

Now the Fast search engine company would like to give you control of their CSS-file, giving you the power to design the AlltheWeb home page. Or, more correctly, they give you the chance to point their home page to a CSS file of your own design.

"By using standards like XHTML 1.0 and CSS 1 and 2, AlltheWeb Alchemist provides a glimpse of the future Web where the logical structure of the content is separated from how search results are presented," Dr. John M. Lervik, chief executive officer of FAST says.

Ah, but this is totally pointless, some would argue. Why on earth would someone like to do that? Certainly, we are here to search, not to improve the design of the search engine webmasters!

This kind of nonsense is, however, exactly the sort of meaningless activities that make life worth living. Man is just as much an esthetic as a rational being.

If we spend hours decorating our own home, we might as well design our own search engine. (That was at least our argument when we designed the Pandia Metasearch engine.)

This is also why teenagers swap "skins" for their MP3-players, and why we put pictures of our family on our desktop.

Now you can do the same at the AlltheWeb search engine.

"Even if users don't know CSS, it's fairly easy for technical-minded users to learn and within a couple of hours they will be able to tweak fonts, background, heading's etc.," Public Relations Manager Monica Hargis of Fast argues.

"As they get more advanced they can customize pictures, build templates, and eventually move into more advanced applications such as customizing per device (i.e. making sure the screen fits in your Palm pilot or handheld computer)."

Ah well, it can actually quite difficult. You have to know how to code a cascading style sheet (and those of us who have tried, know that that can be quite a painful experience).

Furthermore, you will probably have to have access to your own Web server to store the file. Many Web browsers only accept links to Web servers, i.e. to normal URLs or http Web addresses, not to files on your hard drive.

This means that for the time being the AlltheWeb Alchemist service is truly for Web alchemists, i.e. for coders and designer who know how to turn a Web page into gold.

The CSS-file provided by AlltheWeb for our test, gave a rather boring - albeit fast loading -- result. Fast did send us some rather fascinating screen shots of what you can do, though (see below)

The Alchemist is yet in its beta test stage and much can be done to expand the service.

We propose that AlltheWeb arrange a CSS design contest, and ask designer to send in their favorite CSS-files. AlltheWeb can then select 10 to 20 various designs, check for browser and platform compatibility, and add them to the Alchemist page.

Next we suggest AlltheWeb allows people to point their set ups to relevant CSS-files on the AlltheWeb server, thus allowing people that know nothing about CSS to customize their search page using one of the predefined winner designs.

Now we're talking!

Go to the AlltheWeb Alchemist customization page.

Another example of a CSS redesign:

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