Make Custom Product Fields Searchable

Hi,

I have searched the forums extensively. I am running 1.4.9.1.
I added two custom fields to the product table in the database called "part_number" and "cross_references"
I added these fields to the admin product form pages and the catalog template view as described of this forum.

I now want to make these fields searchable. So far, I have duplicated the sections that refer to "model" or "description" in the following files and replaced the text as required with "part_number" and "cross_references"

catalog/controller/product/search.php
catalog/language/english/product/search.php
view/theme/mytheme/template/product/search.tpl

Now, if I go to my store front end and click on the "Advanced Search" link, I get the search page, which works properly for the "search in product descriptions" and "search in product model" options.

It shows the check boxes for my "search in part numbers" and "search in cross references", and if I click them, I can search, but I get no results. Apparently, it's not actually searching the fields. I've looked at the framework sticky, but I can't figure it out. What do I have to do to make these fields searchable?

Thanks,

-Dan

I'm still having trouble getting this to work. Can anybody offer any help on this? Thanks.

In case anybody's confused... I'm trying to add searchable criteria to my store. I specifically want "cross-reference" and "part-number" fields in the database, and checkboxes on the front-end search pages to chose what to search.

I would appreciate any useful information on how to begin modifying the store to do this. My earlier posts here will explain what I have done so far.

Thanks to anyone who will try to answer this.

Any luck? I'm looking for the same solution...Would like the search box to search the CMS Module that I added from Qphoric...which I am using as a blog...