This article is devoted to changing of the standard search box which is passed to .tpl.php through $search_box variable.

Solution

Show a form in template

You need insert the following code:

<?php if ($search_box): ?><div class="block block-theme"><?php print $search_box ?></div><?php endif; ?>

Search form will be shown when:

• Search standard module is activated
• Search form showing is enabled (‘Search box’ is checked) on the page of theme settings (admin/build/themes/settings/< theme-name >)
• Права доступа к форме поиска ("Поиск материалов") были установлены на странице "Контроль доступа" (admin/user/access) в зависимости от роли.

Change search form appearance

Step 1

• Create template.php file if there is no such file in your theme.
• Add the following code there:

<?php
function phptemplate_search_theme_form($form) {
/**
   * This snippet catches the default searchbox and looks for
   * search-theme-form.tpl.php file in the same folder
   * which has the new layout.
   */
return _phptemplate_callback(‘search_theme_form’, array(‘form’ => $form), array(‘search-theme-form’));
}
?>

Step 2

Snippet in template.php catches search form by default before its showing and finds search-theme-form.tpl.php in the same folder. This file defines new graphical design.

Very simple example of search-theme-form.tpl.php file (Druapl 4.x):

<label for="edit[search_theme_form_keys]">Search</label>
<input type="text" maxlength="128" name="edit[search_theme_form_keys]" id="edit-search_theme_form_keys" size="25" value="" title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." class="form-text" />
<input type="submit" name="op" value="Search" />
<input type="hidden" name="edit[form_id]" id="edit-search-theme-form" value="search_theme_form" />
<input type="hidden" name="edit[form_token]" id="a-unique-id" value="<?php print drupal_get_token(‘search_theme_form’); ?>" />

Snippet is updated and checked for compatibility with Drupal 4.7.x and Drupal 5.x:

<label for="search_theme_form_keys">Custom Search</label>
<input type="text" maxlength="128" name="search_theme_form_keys" id="edit-search_theme_form_keys" size="25" value="" title="Enter the terms you wish to search for." class="form-text" />
<input type="submit" name="op" value="Search" />
<input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-search-theme-form" value="search_theme_form" />
<input type="hidden" name="form_token" id="a-unique-id" value="<?php print drupal_get_token(‘search_theme_form’); ?>" />

Attention:
You don’t need opening and closing tags in the search-theme-form.tpl.php. Drupal will when forms drawing.

Example. Changing text of "Search" button

Find the following line in search-theme-form.tpl.php:

<input type="submit" name="op" value="Search" />

and change it to:

<input type="submit" src="images/go-button.gif" name="op" value="GO!" />

Example. Replacing search button with a picture

You can do this using CSS. But if you wish to replace button with an image using your search-theme-form.tpl.php then you need to replace this code:

<input type="submit" name="op" value="Search" />

with this one:

<input type="image" src="images/go-button.gif" name="op" value="Search" />

Set correct path to the picture.