diff --git a/application/controllers/SearchController.php b/application/controllers/SearchController.php
index f648ce8a7..f14e1b544 100644
--- a/application/controllers/SearchController.php
+++ b/application/controllers/SearchController.php
@@ -16,7 +16,14 @@ class SearchController extends ActionController
         $this->setAutorefreshInterval(10);
         $search = $this->_request->getParam('q');
         if (! $search) {
-            $this->view->hint = $this->translate('Ready to search, waiting for your input');
+            $this->view->tabs = Widget::create('tabs')->add(
+                'search',
+                array(
+                    'title' => $this->translate('Search'),
+                    'url'   => '/search',
+                )
+            )->activate('search');
+            $this->render('hint');
             return;
         }
         $dashboard = Widget::create('dashboard')->createPane($this->translate('Search'));
diff --git a/application/views/scripts/search/hint.phtml b/application/views/scripts/search/hint.phtml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..91a85e9fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/views/scripts/search/hint.phtml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<div class="controls">
+<?= $this->tabs ?>
+</div>
+
+<div class="content">
+<h1><?= $this->translate("I'm ready to search, waiting for your input") ?></h1>
+<p><strong><?= $this->translate('Hint') ?>: </strong><?= $this->translate(
+    'Please use the asterisk (*) as a placeholder for wildcard searches.'
+  . " For convenience I'll always add a wildcard after the last character"
+  . ' you typed.'
+) ?></p>
+</div>
diff --git a/application/views/scripts/search/index.phtml b/application/views/scripts/search/index.phtml
index fe596cdbe..52dc7a14c 100644
--- a/application/views/scripts/search/index.phtml
+++ b/application/views/scripts/search/index.phtml
@@ -2,12 +2,6 @@
 <?= $this->tabs ?>
 </div>
 
-<?php if ($this->dashboard): ?>
 <div class="content dashboard">
 <?= $this->dashboard ?>
 </div>
-<?php else: ?>
-<div class="content">
-<strong><?= $this->hint ?></strong>
-</div>
-<?php endif ?>