diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.cpp b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.cpp
index 056056e1e..20423b730 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.cpp
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.cpp
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ SearchDialog::SearchDialog(QWidget *parent)
     ui.setupUi(this);
 
     ui.lineEdit->setFocus();
+    ui.lineEdit->setToolTip(tr("Enter a keyword here (at least 4 char long)"));
 
     /* initialise the filetypes mapping */
     if (!SearchDialog::initialised)
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@ SearchDialog::SearchDialog(QWidget *parent)
     connect( ui.searchSummaryWidget, SIGNAL( customContextMenuRequested( QPoint ) ), this, SLOT( searchtableWidget2CostumPopupMenu( QPoint ) ) );
 
     connect( ui.lineEdit, SIGNAL( returnPressed ( void ) ), this, SLOT( searchKeywords( void ) ) );
+    connect( ui.lineEdit, SIGNAL( textChanged ( const QString& ) ), this, SLOT( checkText( const QString& ) ) );
     connect( ui.pushButtonsearch, SIGNAL( released ( void ) ), this, SLOT( searchKeywords( void ) ) );
     connect( ui.pushButtonDownload, SIGNAL( released ( void ) ), this, SLOT( download( void ) ) );
     connect( ui.cloaseallsearchresultsButton, SIGNAL(clicked()), this, SLOT(searchRemoveAll()));
@@ -182,6 +184,20 @@ SearchDialog::SearchDialog(QWidget *parent)
 #endif
 }
 
+void SearchDialog::checkText(const QString& txt)
+{
+	if(txt.length() < 4)
+	{
+		std::cout << "setting palette 1" << std::endl ;
+		ui.lineEdit->setStyleSheet("QLineEdit { background-color: blue; }");
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		ui.lineEdit->setStyleSheet("QLineEdit { background-color: white; }");
+		std::cout << "setting palette 2" << std::endl ;
+	}
+}
+
 void SearchDialog::initialiseFileTypeMappings()
 {
 	/* edit these strings to change the range of extensions recognised by the search */
@@ -525,6 +541,9 @@ void SearchDialog::searchKeywords()
 	QString qTxt = ui.lineEdit->text();
 	std::string txt = qTxt.toStdString();
 
+	if(txt.length() < 4)
+		return ;
+
 	std::cerr << "SearchDialog::searchKeywords() : " << txt << std::endl;
 
 	TurtleRequestId req_id = rsTurtle->turtleSearch(txt) ;
@@ -628,11 +647,12 @@ void SearchDialog::updateFiles(qulonglong search_id,FileDetail file)
 {
 	/* which extensions do we use? */
 	std::string txt = ui.lineEdit->text().toStdString();
-
+#ifdef DEBUG
 	std::cout << "Updating file detail:" << std::endl ;
 	std::cout << "  size = " << file.size << std::endl ;
 	std::cout << "  name = " << file.name << std::endl ;
 	std::cout << "  s_id = " << search_id << std::endl ;
+#endif
 
 	if (ui.FileTypeComboBox->currentIndex() == FILETYPE_IDX_ANY)
 		insertFile(txt,search_id,file);
diff --git a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.h b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.h
index 3e8394e93..c85ee1929 100644
--- a/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.h
+++ b/retroshare-gui/src/gui/SearchDialog.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ private slots:
     void broadcastonchannel();
 
     void recommendtofriends();
+	 void checkText(const QString&) ;
     
     void copysearchLink();