I had a quick tip for those that are working on branding.  If you would like to change the search button image and CSS is not helping you acheive this via editing an XML file on the SharePoint web server.

Default WSS/MOSS Search Image:

For the Enhanced Search edit the following file - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\OSearchEnhancedFeature\SearchArea.xml

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<Elements xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/”>
<Control
Id=”SmallSearchInputBox”
Sequence=”50″
ControlClass=”Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.SearchBoxEx” ControlAssembly=”Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c”>
<Property Name=”GoImageUrl”>/_layouts/images/gosearch.gif</Property>
<Property Name=”GoImageUrlRTL”>/_layouts/images/goRTL.gif</Property>
<Property Name=”GoImageActiveUrl”>/_layouts/images/gosearch.gif</Property>
<Property Name=”GoImageActiveUrlRTL”>/_layouts/images/goRTL.gif</Property>
<Property Name=”DropDownMode”>ShowDD</Property>
<Property Name=”SearchResultPageURL”>/_layouts/osssearchresults.aspx</Property>
<Property Name=”ScopeDisplayGroupName”></Property>
<Property Name=”FrameType”>None</Property>
</Control>
</Elements>
For the Basic search edit the following file - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\FEATURES\OSearchBasicFeature\SearchArea.xml

<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<Elements xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/”>
<Control
Id=”SmallSearchInputBox”
Sequence=”50″
ControlClass=”Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal.WebControls.SearchBoxEx” ControlAssembly=”Microsoft.SharePoint.Portal, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c”>
    <Property Name=”GoImageUrl”>/_layouts/images/gosearch.gif</Property>
    <Property Name=”GoImageUrlRTL”>/_layouts/images/goRTL.gif</Property>
    <Property Name=”GoImageActiveUrl”>/_layouts/images/gosearch.gif</Property>
    <Property Name=”GoImageActiveUrlRTL”>/_layouts/images/goRTL.gif</Property>
<Property Name=”DropDownMode”>ShowDD</Property>
<Property Name=”SearchResultPageURL”>/_layouts/osssearchresults.aspx</Property>
<Property Name=”ScopeDisplayGroupName”></Property>
<Property Name=”FrameType”>None</Property>
</Control>
</Elements>
After changing the file button, reset IIS and here is what it would look like:

Custom WSS/MOSS Search Image:

If you like to see more branding related posts or something different, let me know by commenting below.  Just wanted to make a shout to Muhanad with his post Customizing the SharePoint Search Control.