How to implement simple and easy search functionality on an index page

Here's how to implement simple and easy search functionality on an index page:

1. Let's say your controller looks like this:

public function actionIndex()
{
  $dataProvider=new CActiveDataProvider('Model');
  $this->render('index',array(
  'dataProvider'=>$dataProvider,
  ));
}

2. Change it to this:

public function actionIndex()
{
    $criteria = new CDbCriteria();

    if(isset($_GET['q']))
    {
      $q = $_GET['q'];
      $criteria->compare('attribute1', $q, true, 'OR');
      $criteria->compare('attribute2', $q, true, 'OR');
    }

    $dataProvider=new CActiveDataProvider("Model", array('criteria'=>$criteria));

    $this->render('index',array(
      'dataProvider'=>$dataProvider,
    ));
}

The above will read in the "q" (for query) parameter, and use the compare function to create the sql to search a few attributes for that value. Note the use of the 'OR' operator.

3. In your index view, add this:

<form method="get">
<input type="search" placeholder="search" name="q" value="<?=isset($_GET['q']) ? CHtml::encode($_GET['q']) : '' ; ?>" />
<input type="submit" value="search" />
</form>

The above creates a form that will submit to itself using the querystring. It displays a search input box, which is a text input box with a "cancel" command. It works in most browsers and defaults to a text field in the rest. When the user hits the search button, the form is submitted and the data is filtered by the search value.