Search Tools?

[Gary Lewis]

Folks, we have multiple search tools on the site, and they are confusing as well as take up real estate on the page. So I'd like to know which ones you use, and towards that end I've created a poll. You can vote for up to three, so if you use all three vote for all of them.

But, if you have a preference tell me that in a post. Or suggestions. Or questions.

And here are the three different ones:

[86 12 Brutus]

All i have is this, it dosent say anything about the different searches

[kramttocs]

All i have is this, it dosent say anything about the different searches

Gary added the red text in his screenshot as a way to give us all common identifiers for reference.

The searches are there in your screenshot - just not labeled

 

[Rembrant]

I use the main search on the forum once in a while which I guess is the Nabble one? I was not aware of the others to be honest until you pointed them out.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I use the main search on the forum once in a while which I guess is the Nabble one? I was not aware of the others to be honest until you pointed them out.

No option for "other"?

If I use one of the search bars here on the forum, I use the advanced Nabble search, but usually Google it like Scott.

[Ford F834]

I use “search forum” and “search documentation” respectively... but I did not realize they were separate engines/search tools. I just picked which area I wanted to search in. I may have used the general weebly search once or twice not realizing it was separate from the others, but I can’t remember. I wouldn’t miss it.

[Gary Lewis]

I use “search forum” and “search documentation” respectively... but I did not realize they were separate engines/search tools. I just picked which area I wanted to search in. I may have used the general weebly search once or twice not realizing it was separate from the others, but I can’t remember. I wouldn’t miss it.

Jim - Are you suggesting that we have a search function that searches outside of the forum and the website?

Jonathan - Before you dismiss the Weebly search I'd recommend you do some comparisons. I just learned something I didn't know - Freefind apparently doesn't search the whole of the web page and Weebly does. At least that's what it looks like to me.

I searched for "LRC" using both Freefind and Weebly. Freefind said "No pages were found that match your query." But Weebly said it found LRC on the 3G Conversion page. At first blush I didn't see it, but by using the browser search function of Control F I was able to find two instances of LRC on the Choosing An Alternator tab.

So apparently Freefind doesn't look on the various tabs but Weebly does.

[Ford F834]

Jim - Are you suggesting that we have a search function that searches outside of the forum and the website?

Jonathan - Before you dismiss the Weebly search I'd recommend you do some comparisons. I just learned something I didn't know - Freefind apparently doesn't search the whole of the web page and Weebly does. At least that's what it looks like to me.

I searched for "LRC" using both Freefind and Weebly. Freefind said "No pages were found that match your query." But Weebly said it found LRC on the 3G Conversion page. At first blush I didn't see it, but by using the browser search function of Control F I was able to find two instances of LRC on the Choosing An Alternator tab.

So apparently Freefind doesn't look on the various tabs but Weebly does.

Thanks Gary, I have no idea how each works, I simply picked the search bar based on where I wanted to search. Does Weebly search the forum or documentation or both?

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks Gary, I have no idea how each works, I simply picked the search bar based on where I wanted to search. Does Weebly search the forum or documentation or both?

Weebly searches the web site, which means everything but the forum. (The forum is actually hosted on the Nabble web site and is just "embedded" on the Weebly site so it looks like it is actually on the site.) And it apparently searches it more thoroughly than the Freefind one does. But, there are confusing results with both, so I really need to sit down and test them more.

[Gary Lewis]

Weebly searches the web site, which means everything but the forum. (The forum is actually hosted on the Nabble web site and is just "embedded" on the Weebly site so it looks like it is actually on the site.) And it apparently searches it more thoroughly than the Freefind one does. But, there are confusing results with both, so I really need to sit down and test them more.

Ok, I've been playing with the search engines and I'm not too impressed. The Weebly one in the top right does drill down and find things that the Freefind, in the top left, doesn't. But, it doesn't support the ability to use quotes to force it to find specific phrases.

 

Let me explain that with an example. If I search for LRC the Freefind search doesn't find it but the Weebly one does. Yippee! But, if I want to find load response control, which is what LRC stands for and is included on the same page, I'd put quotes around that phrase, like "load response control". However, I get lots of responses and it turns out that it found results for all three words, not just that phrase.

 

With more research I've found that there is a feature for search engines where you can limit it to a specific URL. It is called "site", and I used this search: site:garysgaragemahal.com lrc. And that found lots of results on both the forum as well as in the rest of the web site.

 

 

So, I'm now researching how to create a search function that incorporates the "site" limit. And it looks like that may be a possibility. The only downside is that the free version brings adverts, but there's a "paid" version that costs $5/1000 searches, so that may be a reasonable possibility.