Windows Tricks

Windows 7 Resources (Built & How To On Themes & Connectors)

January 30, 2009

It seems that Microsoft’s allowing users to create custom theme packs has made a lot of enthusiasts come out with their own combination. Add to that the highly useful Federated Search using which can be used search to website databases, there a lot of connectors & themes already doing rounds. The are 14 connectors in the pack, wherein I created 1 for searching the Microsoft Support & the MSDN database, amongst others:

Federated Search Sources:

Federated Search allows you to search for content on websites from right within Explorer itself. Creating a Federated Search add-on for a particular website is also a piece of cake.

The pack below contains Search Connectors for:

  • Microsoft Support
  • MSDN Database
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Wikipedia
  • Flickr
  • isohunt.com
  • Deviantart
  • Google Blog Search
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Live.com

I created 2 connectors for my friends as well:

  • WinVistaClub
  • AskVG.com

NOTE: All connectors aren’t created by me.

To Create Search Connectors:

You can create your own Search Connectors by following these steps:

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”UTF-8″?><OpenSearchDescription xmlns=”http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/” xmlns:ms-ose=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/opensearchext/2009/”> <ShortName>Name of your choice</ShortName> <Description>Create your own connectors</Description> <Url type=”application/rss+xml” template=”http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3asitename.com&amp;num=10&amp;format=rss”/> <Url type=”text/html” template=”http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q={searchTerms}+site%3asitename.com&format=rss”/> </OpenSearchDescription>

  1. Copy & paste the text in a text file.
  2. Replace the text in blue with the desired.
  3. Change the number of results by changing the value 10.
  4. Save the file & change the extension to .osdx
  5. You’re done.

Themes:

One feature that makes a come-back post Vista is themes.

Here are some themes I’ve created for Windows 7:

To Create Theme Packs:

Customize the highlighted areas in the image below as to what you want then right click on the Unsaved Theme and select Save theme for sharing. Screen shot:

~Enjoy

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14 comments
  • Reeteshinator has written:

    Ah… I am still wondering if I can recover grub and vista boot-loaders after installing it over them..

    Anyone with linux installed it? I am guessing its going to be pretty easy.. just have to sit and google for sometime I guess :P

  • Rctaubert has written:

    I have Win7 with all the latest updates and CANNOT get any Search Connectors to work.

    When I right click on the file and click on Create Search Connector I get an error message saying “The search connector could not be created.  The description file is not compatible with this version of windows.”

    Any clue why they won’t work?  Did MS change something?

  • Rctaubert has written:

    UPDATE:
    I went back to try them all again.  I right-clicked on each one and then clicked on Create Search Connector.  ALL except yahoo and youtube gave an error message.  There were two scenerios: 1) failed immediately, 2) Asked if I wanted to create the connecter and then failed when I clicked OK.  Most of them worked even though It gave the error message.

    Deviant Art                 Scenerio 1, then worked
    flickr                           Scenerio 2, then worked
    Google blog               Scenerio 1, then did not work
    Google                       Scenerio 2, then worked
    isohunt                       Scenerio 2, then worked
    live search                  Scenerio 1, then worked
    msdn                          Scenerio 1, then did not work
    msft-support               Scenerio 1, then did not work
    search askvg              Scenerio 1, then did not work
    twitter-search             Scenerio 1, then worked
    wikipedia                    Scenerio 1, then did not work
    wvc search connctr    Scenerio 1, then did not work
    yahoo                         Installed correctly
    youtube                      Installed correctly

    At any rate it does not seem to be as simple as it is made out to be to create one of these

  • Rctaubert has written:

    UPDATE:
    I went back to try them all again.  I right-clicked on each one and then clicked on Create Search Connector.  ALL except yahoo and youtube gave an error message.  There were two scenerios: 1) failed immediately, 2) Asked if I wanted to create the connecter and then failed when I clicked OK.  Most of them worked even though It gave the error message.

    Deviant Art                 Scenerio 1, then worked
    flickr                           Scenerio 2, then worked
    Google blog               Scenerio 1, then did not work
    Google                       Scenerio 2, then worked
    isohunt                       Scenerio 2, then worked
    live search                  Scenerio 1, then worked
    msdn                          Scenerio 1, then did not work
    msft-support               Scenerio 1, then did not work
    search askvg              Scenerio 1, then did not work
    twitter-search             Scenerio 1, then worked
    wikipedia                    Scenerio 1, then did not work
    wvc search connctr    Scenerio 1, then did not work
    yahoo                         Installed correctly
    youtube                      Installed correctly

    At any rate it does not seem to be as simple as it is made out to be to create one of these

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