The search plugin adds Jabber Search XEP-0055 capabilities to Openfire. This plugin is designed to work with various Jabber clients to allow other users to search for users currently registered on the same server they are.
Copy the file, "search.jar" into the plugins directory of your Openfire installation. The plugin will then be automatically deployed. To upgrade to a new version: 1) go to the plugin screen of the Admin Console, 2) click on the delete icon on the same row as the currently installed search plugin, 3) copy the new search.jar into the plugins directory of your Openfire installation.
The search plugin is configured via the "Search Service Properites" sidebar item located under the "Server" tab in the Openfire Admin Console. By default, after the search plugin has been deployed all of its features are enabled. To enable or disable the plugin select the appropirate radio button and then click on the "Save Properties" button. To change the service name enter the new name for the service and then click on the "Save Properties" button. To disable a field from being searched by clients un-check the corresponding checkbox and click on the "Save Properties" button.
Use of this plugin varies from client to client; however, basic instructions for accessing the search screen for some of the more popular clients are listed below. On the search screen there is a single textfield with three checkboxes. In the textfield enter all or part of the user's name, username and/or email that you want to find. As an example, if you want to find your friend John but don't know if his last name is spelled "Smith" or "Smyth", try entering "John S*" in the search field and making sure the name checkbox is selected. The "*" symbol acts as a wildcard so your search might return not only "John Smith" but all the users whose name begins with "John S", i.e. "John Slater", "John Salazar", etc.