Consider this thread a general seach improvement feature request.
A much better search function (preferrably with some more options) is what we really need.It doens't have to be exactly as described below, as long as we get a good search function this will have served its purpose.
The feature request.
The image below is pretty self explanatory, but here's what I'd like to see in it on top of the current search feature:
- 2 Checkboxes to search for either only threads, or only posts, or both. (If both are unchecked it will search for both.)
- A "includes all keywords filter". This basically narrows down the search to show only results that have ALL keywords given.
- Case sensitive filter. This is self-explanatory.
- Allow partial matches checkbox. When this is active the search will allow partial keyword matches. Meaning that if I were to search for "CTH480" it would show results that only include CTH and only 480, or both separated, and of course both as in the search aswell. (See the Notes section.)
- Multiple forum choices. Meaning that it will ONLY search ALL forums added. You can add as many as you want by clicking the + button. A new drop-down menu with remaining forums will appear if the + button is clicked.
- Using quotation marks on a keyword so that the search MUST include that specific keyword.
- An ignore/blacklist words option. Words entered here would filter out threads that contain said words in the search results.
(Credits to abraker for suggesting this.) - See the Notes section for more suggestions that aren't directly in the search feature.
Image Example
Why do we need this?
- We currently have 2 search functions on the website. One that uses Google and the other one that just isn't good enough.
And with "not good enough" I mean that it's near useless. There is no option to narrow down the search to threads only (eg don't show multiple posts in the same thread. And shows basically ALL posts in the forum that match match the search query. It's more often than not handier to use the search function in my browser and scroll trough pages. Well, I'm not gonna write a book of complaints about it here, but I'm sure we can all agree that the current search function isn't the greatest.
Notes
- Also check this thread as it's a great idea that would help make the search function better aswell. (By Oinari-sama.)
- Feel free to make suggestions regarding this topic. I might add it if it's a good idea.
- Partial matches would be done trough the search feature splitting keywords up into multiple possible keywords of at least X (I would suggest 4) characters in length and then searching for all those keywords. All these exta keywords would not be visible to the user, however.
- It would also be nice to set the amount of results shown per page. Or show all results on one page. Because swapping back and forth on pages isn't the handiest thing ever. (Credits to wingman626 for suggesting this.)
- Sorting by relevance or sorting by date might also be a nice to have thing.
Changelog
- 2015-04-20 Made the Image example a bit prettier.
- 2015-04-20 Fixed some typos.
- 2015-04-20 Added a notes section.
- 2015-04-20 Added the use of quotation marks.
- 2015-04-20 Added an explanation of how partial matches would be done.
- 2015-04-20 Swapped order of "Image Example" and "Why do we need this?".
- 2015-04-20 Added results/page suggestion to Notes. Also added reference to the Notes section.
- 2015-04-20 Changed Image Example once again. Also added sorting to notes.
- 2015-04-30 Added abraker's suggestion.
- 2015-04-30 Added credits.
- 2015-04-30 Changed the Image Example once again.
- 2015-06-23 Added [web] tag.
- 2015-08-03 Added new notice at the top.
~!!