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Can I create an IMDB search box on my own blog / site?

I've been building a celebrity blog and want to add a simple feature where readers can get the filmography and latest projects for movie stars like Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. So what I want is to have pre-defined searches (on IMDB, preferably) for specified actors and actresses and also allow users to type in another name if they'd like. How do I do that??


Dave's Answer:

Sounds like a great addition to a celebrity / movie star weblog, I have to say. It's refreshing to hear from someone who sees their blog as a jumping-off point to the wealth of information on the Web rather than an isolated island!

Like you, I am also a big fan of the Internet Movie Database (aka "IMDB" or, to be more accurate, "IMDb", but either is fine for our work here!) and use it frequently enough that I know I can simply type in a URL like "http://imdb.com/find?" followed by the word or words, separate with a plus sign, to get what I want and sidestep the search engines entirely. Try it: http://imdb.com/find?casablanca. :-)

That doesn't really help you too much, though it'll work for fixed searches like "Angelina Jolie", which can simply be encoded as http://www.imdb.com/find?angelina+jolie. In fact, using that basic pattern you should be able to nail all the actors on your short list.

If that doesn't work, try doing a search, then right clicking on the matching entry in the search results. Like this:

imdb brad pitt

Choose "Copy Link" and you'll be able to just paste the resultant URL into your own blog template to have a direct link to their page. In this case, by the way, you can find lots of information about Brad Pitt here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000093/.

To build a search box, we could actually delve into the intricacies of the actual IMDb search engine, or we could just be lazy and notice that a search on the site produces a URL like "xx?q=pattern". This means that we can just produce our own search box:

<form method="get" action="http://www.imdb.com/find" />
look for: <input type="text" name="q" />
<input type="submit" value="go!" />
</form>

Which, when we actually code it, looks like this:


look for:

That's what you want. Done. Simple and quick!


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Categorized: HTML, JavaScript and Web Site Programming   (Article 8611, Written by )
Tagged: angelina jolie, blogging, brad pitt, imdb, nicole kidman, tom cruise
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Reader Comments To Date: 2

Tia said, on November 17, 2008 8:39 AM:

I have an idea: why don't you use yahoo news API?. With it you can grab the latest news (in real time) of the celebrity of your choice.
It returns an XML file which you can then parse. That will enhance and add value to your site!
Check http://developer.yahoo.com/search/news/V1/newsSearch.html (see for instance the example of madonna)

Regards

Marneen Fields said, on February 25, 2009 7:52 AM:

Read your article. Check me out on the imdb.com, enter Marneen Fields in the search box and click GO. What services or blog sites are good for an actor to use to get more exposure on imdb.com?

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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