Recently I was working on a requirement where the user wanted to open the OOB Search results in the Search Center site in a new Page instead of opening the result in the same page.
There are 2 ways to achieve that:
Ask the user to use the ctrl + Click to open the result in a new window. This option is known to everyone obviously, and hence I did not suggest this a solution.
Now, coming to the implementation of opening the Search results without pressing the ctrl Button.
The HTML that is rendered for the Search results is an outcome of the XSLT transformation that happens on the raw XML returned as Search result.
Follow the steps below to modify the XSLT to open the Search results in a new page.
1. Open the Search Center Site and navigate to the Search Results Page.
2. Edit the Page to edit the Search Core Results WebPart
3. Click on Edit WebPart for the Search Core Results WebPart
4. Open the Display Properties and uncheck the “Use Location Visualization” to enable editing the XSLT
5. Click on the XSL Editor button to get the XSL that is already applied.
6. Replace the existing XSL with the one provided below. I have highlighted the difference between the original XSL and the one below in yellow. Once you have replaced the XSL, click on Apply to stop editing the webpart and Save the Page. The Search results will open in a new window.
<xsl:stylesheet version="1.0"xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"xmlns:srwrt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebParts/v3/searchresults/runtime"xmlns:ddwrt="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WebParts/v2/DataView/runtime"><xsl:output method="xml" indent="no"/><xsl:param name="Keyword" /><xsl:param name="ResultsBy" /><xsl:param name="ViewByUrl" /><xsl:param name="ShowDropDown" /><xsl:param name="ViewByValue" /><xsl:param name="SortBy" /><xsl:param name="SortOptions" /><xsl:param name="Relevancy" /><xsl:param name="ModifiedDate" /><xsl:param name="DropDownOption" /><xsl:param name="Multiply" /><xsl:param name="PictureTaken" /><xsl:param name="IsNoKeyword" /><xsl:param name="IsFixedQuery" /><xsl:param name="ShowActionLinks" /><xsl:param name="MoreResultsText" /><xsl:param name="MoreResultsLink" /><xsl:param name="CollapsingStatusLink" /><xsl:param name="CollapseDuplicatesText" /><xsl:param name="AlertMeLink" /><xsl:param name="AlertMeText" /><xsl:param name="SrchRSSText" /><xsl:param name="SrchRSSLink" /><xsl:param name="SearchProviderText" /><xsl:param name="SearchProviderLink" /><xsl:param name="SearchProviderAlt"/><xsl:param name="ShowMessage" /><xsl:param name="IsThisListScope" /><xsl:param name="DisplayDiscoveredDefinition" select="True" /><xsl:param name="NoFixedQuery" /><xsl:param name="NoKeyword" /><xsl:param name="ResultsNotFound" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion1" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion2" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion3" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion4" /><xsl:param name="NoResultsSuggestion5" /><xsl:param name="AdditionalResources" /><xsl:param name="AdditionalResources1" /><xsl:param name="AdditionalResources2" /><xsl:param name="IsSearchServer" /><xsl:param name="Period" /><xsl:param name="SearchHelp" /><xsl:param name="Tags" /><xsl:param name="Authors" /><xsl:param name="Date" /><xsl:param name="Size" /><xsl:param name="ViewInBrowser" /><xsl:param name="DefinitionIntro" /><xsl:param name="IdPrefix" /><xsl:param name="LangPickerHeading" /><xsl:param name="LangPickerNodeSet" /><xsl:param name="IsDesignMode">True</xsl:param><!-- When there is keywory to issue the search -->
<xsl:template name="dvt_1.noKeyword"><span class="srch-description2"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="$IsFixedQuery"><xsl:value-of select="$NoFixedQuery" /></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="$NoKeyword" /></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></span></xsl:template><!-- When empty result set is returned from search -->
<xsl:template name="dvt_1.empty"><div class="srch-results"><xsl:if test="$AlertMeLink and $ShowActionLinks"><span class="srch-alertme" > <a href ="{$AlertMeLink}" id="CSR_AM1" title="{$AlertMeText}"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="/_layouts/images/bell.gif" alt="" border="0"/><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&nbsp;</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$AlertMeText" /></a></span></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length($SrchRSSLink) > 0 and $ShowActionLinks"><xsl:if test="$AlertMeLink">|</xsl:if><a type="application/rss+xml" href ="{$SrchRSSLink}" title="{$SrchRSSText}" id="SRCHRSSL"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" border="0" src="/_layouts/images/rss.gif" alt=""/><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&nbsp;</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$SrchRSSText"/></a><xsl:if test="string-length($SearchProviderLink) > 0">|<a href ="{$SearchProviderLink}" title="{$SearchProviderText}" ><img style="vertical-align: middle;" border="0" src="/_layouts/images/searchfolder.png" alt=""/><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&nbsp;</xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$SearchProviderText"/></a></xsl:if></xsl:if></div><div class="srch-results" accesskey="W"><span class="srch-description2" id="CSR_NO_RESULTS"><p><xsl:value-of select="$ResultsNotFound" /><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&nbsp;</xsl:text><strong><xsl:value-of select="$Keyword" /></strong><xsl:value-of select="$Period" /></p><h3><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion" /></h3><ul><li><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion1" /></li><li><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion2" /></li><li><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion3" /></li><xsl:if test="string-length($NoResultsSuggestion4) > 0"><li><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion4" /></li></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length($NoResultsSuggestion5) > 0"><li><xsl:value-of select="$NoResultsSuggestion5" /></li></xsl:if></ul><h3><xsl:value-of select="$AdditionalResources" /></h3><ul><li><xsl:value-of select="$AdditionalResources1" /><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&nbsp;</xsl:text><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="string-length($IsSearchServer) > 0"><a href="javascript:HelpWindowKey('MSSEndUser_FindContent')" label="$SearchHelp"><xsl:value-of select="$SearchHelp" /></a></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><a href="javascript:HelpWindowKey('WSSEndUser_FindContent')" label="$SearchHelp"><xsl:value-of select="$SearchHelp" /></a></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></li><li><xsl:value-of select="$AdditionalResources2" /></li></ul></span></div></xsl:template><!-- Main body template. Sets the Results view (Relevance or date) options -->
<xsl:template name="dvt_1.body"><xsl:if test="$ShowActionLinks"><div class="srch-sort-right2" accesskey="W"><xsl:if test="$LangPickerNodeSet and count($LangPickerNodeSet) > 0"><xsl:value-of select="$LangPickerHeading"/><select class="srch-dropdown" onchange="window.location.href=this.value" id="langpickerdd"><xsl:for-each select="$LangPickerNodeSet"><xsl:element name="option"><xsl:attribute name="value"><xsl:value-of select="@url"/></xsl:attribute><xsl:if test="@selected = 'true'"><xsl:attribute name="selected">selected</xsl:attribute></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="@title"/></xsl:element></xsl:for-each></select><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></xsl:if><xsl:if test="$ShowDropDown = 'true'"><xsl:value-of select="$SortBy" /><select id="dropdown" title="{$SortOptions}" onchange="PostToUrl(this.value)" class="srch-dropdown"><xsl:if test="$DropDownOption = '0' or $ViewByUrl != ''"><xsl:element name="option"><xsl:attribute name="value"><xsl:value-of select="$ViewByUrl"/></xsl:attribute><xsl:if test="$DropDownOption = '0'"><xsl:attributename="selected">selected</xsl:attribute></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="$Relevancy"/></xsl:element></xsl:if><xsl:if test="$DropDownOption = '1' or $ViewByUrl != ''"><xsl:element name="option"><xsl:attribute name="value"><xsl:value-of select="$ViewByUrl"/></xsl:attribute><xsl:if test="$DropDownOption = '1'"><xsl:attributename="selected">selected</xsl:attribute></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="$ModifiedDate"/></xsl:element></xsl:if></select></xsl:if><xsl:if test="$AlertMeLink"><xsl:if test="$ShowDropDown = 'true'"></xsl:if><span class="srch-alertme" > <a href ="{$AlertMeLink}" id="CSR_AM2" title="{$AlertMeText}"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="/_layouts/images/bell.gif" alt="" border="0"/></a><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></span></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length($SrchRSSLink) > 0"><a type="application/rss+xml" href ="{$SrchRSSLink}" title="{$SrchRSSText}" id="SRCHRSSL"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" border="0" src="/_layouts/images/rss.gif" alt=""/></a><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length($SearchProviderLink) > 0"><a href ="{$SearchProviderLink}" title="{$SearchProviderAlt}" ><img style="vertical-align: middle;" border="0" src="/_layouts/images/searchfolder.png" alt=""/></a></xsl:if></div></xsl:if><div class="srch-results" accesskey="W"><xsl:apply-templates /></div><xsl:call-template name="DisplayMoreResultsAnchor" /></xsl:template><!-- This template is called for each result --><xsl:template match="TotalResults"></xsl:template><xsl:template match="NumberOfResults"></xsl:template><xsl:template match="Result"><xsl:variable name="id" select="id"/><xsl:variable name="currentId" select="concat($IdPrefix,$id)"/><xsl:variable name="url" select="url"/><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="string-length(picturethumbnailurl) > 0 and contentclass[. = 'STS_ListItem_PictureLibrary']"><div style=" padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"><div class="srch-picture1"><img src="/_layouts/images/imageresult_16x16.png" /></div><div class="srch-picture2"><img class="srch-picture" src="{picturethumbnailurl}" alt="" /></div><span><ul class="srch-picturetext"><li class="srch-Title2 srch-Title5"><a href="{$url}" id="{concat('CSR_',$id)}" title="{title}"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="title"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></a></li><li><xsl:if test="string-length(picturewidth) > 0 and string-length(pictureheight) > 0"><xsl:value-of select="$Size" /><xsl:value-of select="picturewidth" /><xsl:value-of select="$Multiply" /><xsl:value-of select="pictureheight" /><xsl:if test="string-length(size) > 0"><xsl:if test="number(size) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="round(size div 1024) < 1"><xsl:value-of select="size" /> Bytes</xsl:when><xsl:when test="round(size div (1024 *1024)) < 1"><xsl:value-of select="round(size div 1024)" />KB</xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="round(size div (1024 * 1024))"/>MB</xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:if></xsl:if></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length(datepicturetaken) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$PictureTaken" /><xsl:value-of select="datepicturetaken" /></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length(author) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$Authors" /><xsl:value-of select="author" /></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length(write) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$Date" /><xsl:value-of select="write" /></xsl:if></li><li><span class="srch-URL2" id="{concat($currentId,'_Url')}"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedproperties/HHUrl[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedproperties/HHUrl" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="url"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></span></li></ul></span></div><div class="srch-clear"><img alt="" src="/_layouts/images/blank.gif" /></div></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><div class="srch-Icon" id="{concat($currentId,'_Icon')}"><img align="absmiddle" src="{imageurl}" border="0" alt="{imageurl/@imageurldescription}" /></div><div class="srch-Title2"><div class="srch-Title3"><!-- links with the file scheme only work in ie if they are unescaped. For
this reason here we will render the link using disable-output-escaping if the urlbegins with file.--><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="substring($url,1,5) = 'file:' and $IsDesignMode = 'False'"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"><a target="_blank" href="</xsl:text><xsl:value-of disable-output-escaping="yes" select="srwrt:HtmlAttributeEncode($url)" /><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">" id="</xsl:text><xsl:value-of disable-output-escaping="yes" select="srwrt:HtmlAttributeEncode(concat($currentId,'_Title'))" /><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">" title="</xsl:text><xsl:value-of disable-output-escaping="yes" select="srwrt:HtmlAttributeEncode(title)" /><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">"></xsl:text><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="srwrt:HtmlEncode(title)"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"></a></xsl:text></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><a target="_blank" id="{concat($currentId,'_Title')}"><xsl:attribute name="href"><xsl:value-of select="$url"/></xsl:attribute><xsl:attribute name="title"><xsl:value-of select="title"/></xsl:attribute><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedproperties/HHTitle" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="title"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></a></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></div></div><div class="srch-Description2"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedsummary[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedsummary" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:when test="description[. != '']"><xsl:value-of select="description"/></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><img alt="" src="/_layouts/images/blank.gif" height="0" width="0"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></div ><div class="srch-Metadata2"><xsl:call-template name="DisplayAuthors"><xsl:with-param name="author" select="author" /></xsl:call-template><xsl:call-template name="DisplayDate"><xsl:with-param name="write" select="write" /></xsl:call-template><xsl:if test="string-length(popularsocialtag0) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><xsl:value-of select="$Tags" /><xsl:value-of select="popularsocialtag0"/><xsl:if test="string-length(popularsocialtag1) > 0">::<xsl:value-of select="popularsocialtag1"/></xsl:if><xsl:if test="string-length(popularsocialtag2) > 0">::<xsl:value-of select="popularsocialtag2"/></xsl:if></xsl:if><xsl:call-template name="DisplaySize"><xsl:with-param name="size" select="size" /></xsl:call-template><img style="display:none;" alt="" src="/_layouts/images/blank.gif"/></div><p class="srch-Metadata1"><span><span class="srch-URL2" id="{concat($currentId,'_Url')}"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="hithighlightedproperties/HHUrl[. != '']"><xsl:call-template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:with-param name="hh" select="hithighlightedproperties/HHUrl" /></xsl:call-template></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="url"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></span><xsl:call-template name="DisplayCollapsingStatusLink"><xsl:with-param name="status" select="collapsingstatus"/><xsl:with-param name="workid" select="workid"/><xsl:with-param name="id" select="concat($currentId,'_CS')"/></xsl:call-template><xsl:call-template name="ViewInBrowser"><xsl:with-param name="browserlink" select="serverredirectedurl" /><xsl:with-param name="currentId" select="$currentId" /></xsl:call-template></span></p></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:template><xsl:template name="HitHighlighting"><xsl:param name="hh" /><xsl:apply-templates select="$hh"/></xsl:template><xsl:template match="ddd">…</xsl:template><xsl:template match="c0"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c1"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c2"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c3"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c4"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c5"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c6"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c7"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c8"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template match="c9"><strong><xsl:value-of select="."/></strong></xsl:template><xsl:template name="DisplayAuthors"><xsl:param name="author" /><xsl:if test="string-length($author) > 0"><xsl:value-of select="$Authors" /><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="string-length(author_multival) > 0"><xsl:for-each select="author_multival"><xsl:variable name="p" select="position()"/><xsl:if test="$p > 1"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">,</xsl:text><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="."/></xsl:for-each></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="author"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:if></xsl:template><xsl:template name="DisplayDate"><xsl:param name="write" /><xsl:if test="string-length($write) > 0"><xsl:if test="string-length(author) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="$Date" /><xsl:value-of select="write"/></xsl:if></xsl:template><!-- The size attribute for each result is prepared here -->
<xsl:template name="DisplaySize"><xsl:param name="size" /><xsl:if test="string-length($size) > 0"><xsl:if test="number($size) > 0"><xsl:if test="string-length(write) > 0 or string-length(author) > 0"><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text></xsl:if><xsl:value-of select="$Size" /><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="round($size div 1024) < 1"><xsl:value-of select="$size" /> Bytes</xsl:when><xsl:when test="round($size div (1024 *1024)) < 1"><xsl:value-of select="round($size div 1024)" />KB</xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:value-of select="round($size div (1024 * 1024))"/>MB</xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:if></xsl:if></xsl:template><xsl:template name="ViewInBrowser"><xsl:param name="browserlink" /><xsl:param name="currentId" /><xsl:if test="string-length($browserlink) > 0"><span class="srch-urllink"><a href="{$browserlink}" id="{concat($currentId,'_VBlink')}"><xsl:value-of select="$ViewInBrowser" /></a></span></xsl:if></xsl:template><!-- A generic template to display string with non 0 string length (used for author and lastmodified time -->
<xsl:template name="DisplayString"><xsl:param name="str" /><xsl:if test='string-length($str) > 0'>-<xsl:value-of select="$str" /></xsl:if></xsl:template><!-- document collapsing link setup -->
<xsl:template name="DisplayCollapsingStatusLink"><xsl:param name="status"/><xsl:param name="workid"/><xsl:param name="id"/><xsl:if test="$CollapsingStatusLink"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="$status=1"><xsl:variable name="CollapsingStatusHref" select="concat(substring-before($CollapsingStatusLink, '$$COLLAPSE_PARAM$$'), 'duplicates:"', $workid, '"', substring-after($CollapsingStatusLink, '$$COLLAPSE_PARAM$$'))"/><span class="srch-urllink"><a href="{$CollapsingStatusHref}" id="$id" title="{$CollapseDuplicatesText}"><xsl:value-of select="$CollapseDuplicatesText"/></a></span></xsl:when></xsl:choose></xsl:if></xsl:template><!-- The "view more results" for fixed query --><xsl:template name="DisplayMoreResultsAnchor"><xsl:if test="$MoreResultsLink"><a href="{$MoreResultsLink}" id="{concat($IdPrefix,'_MRL')}"><xsl:value-of select="$MoreResultsText"/></a></xsl:if></xsl:template><xsl:template match="All_Results/DiscoveredDefinitions"><xsl:variable name="FoundIn" select="DDFoundIn" /><xsl:variable name="DDSearchTerm" select="DDSearchTerm" /><xsl:if test="$DisplayDiscoveredDefinition = 'True' and string-length($DDSearchTerm) > 0"><script language="javascript">function ToggleDefinitionSelection(){var selection = document.getElementById("definitionSelection");if (selection.style.display == "none"){selection.style.display = "inline";}else{selection.style.display = "none";}}</script><div class="srch-Description2 srch-definition2"><a href="javascript:ToggleDefinitionSelection();" id="{concat($IdPrefix,'1_DEF')}" mss_definition="true"><xsl:value-of select="$DefinitionIntro" /><strong><xsl:value-of select="$DDSearchTerm"/></strong></a><div id="definitionSelection" class="srch-Description2" style="display:none;"><xsl:for-each select="DDefinitions/DDefinition"><br/><xsl:variable name="DDUrl" select="DDUrl" /><img style="display:inline" alt="" src="/_layouts/images/discovered_definitions_bullet.png" /><xsl:value-of select="DDStart"/><strong><xsl:value-of select="DDBold"/></strong><xsl:value-of select="DDEnd"/><br/><span class="srch-definition"><xsl:value-of select="$FoundIn"/><xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes"> </xsl:text><a href="{$DDUrl}"><xsl:value-of select="DDTitle"/></a></span></xsl:for-each></div></div></xsl:if></xsl:template><!-- XSL transformation starts here -->
<xsl:template match="/"><xsl:if test="$AlertMeLink"><input type="hidden" name="P_Query" /><input type="hidden" name="P_LastNotificationTime" /></xsl:if><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="$IsNoKeyword = 'True'" ><xsl:call-template name="dvt_1.noKeyword" /></xsl:when><xsl:when test="$ShowMessage = 'True'"><xsl:call-template name="dvt_1.empty" /></xsl:when><xsl:otherwise><xsl:call-template name="dvt_1.body"/></xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:template><!-- End of Stylesheet -->
</xsl:stylesheet>