diff --git a/pylons_app/tests/functional/test_search.py b/pylons_app/tests/functional/test_search.py
--- a/pylons_app/tests/functional/test_search.py
+++ b/pylons_app/tests/functional/test_search.py
@@ -3,5 +3,13 @@ from pylons_app.tests import *
 class TestSearchController(TestController):
 
     def test_index(self):
+        self.log_user()
         response = self.app.get(url(controller='search', action='index'))
+        print response.body
+        assert 'class="small" id="q" name="q" type="text"' in response.body,'Search box content error'
         # Test response...
+
+    def test_empty_search(self):
+        self.log_user()
+        response = self.app.get(url(controller='search', action='index'),{'q':'vcs_test'})
+        assert 'There is no index to search in. Please run whoosh indexer' in response.body,'No error message about empty index'
\ No newline at end of file