Search Tools?

[kramttocs]

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.

The site argument sounds promising! Like clicking the 'more results from...' link in google to add the site argument to the query. Very handy.I don't see that it returns forum results though, at least in google directly but glad that you are finding an engine that is. Having a search that does both will be nice.

[Gary Lewis]

The site argument sounds promising! Like clicking the 'more results from...' link in google to add the site argument to the query. Very handy.

I don't see that it returns forum results though, at least in google directly but glad that you are finding an engine that is. Having a search that does both will be nice.

Here are some of the results from my site search for LRC. The first is from our 3G page in Documentation, but the next three are from the forum. Unfortunately it appears to take you to the page and not the post the results are in, so you have to do a Cntl F to find the post - or read.

But, it is finding things in both the forum as well as the rest of the site. I tried Dad's Truck and it found 26 pages worth!

So give it a try and see what you think, please.

[kramttocs]

Here are some of the results from my site search for LRC. The first is from our 3G page in Documentation, but the next three are from the forum. Unfortunately it appears to take you to the page and not the post the results are in, so you have to do a Cntl F to find the post - or read.

But, it is finding things in both the forum as well as the rest of the site. I tried Dad's Truck and it found 26 pages worth!

So give it a try and see what you think, please.

Aha - my issue was using www which because the forum is using 'forum.' it wasn't returning those results.

Using just garysgaragemahal.com works great and gives the mixed results one would expect. I like this option for the weebly search if you can make it work.

[Ford F834]

Here are some of the results from my site search for LRC. The first is from our 3G page in Documentation, but the next three are from the forum. Unfortunately it appears to take you to the page and not the post the results are in, so you have to do a Cntl F to find the post - or read.

But, it is finding things in both the forum as well as the rest of the site. I tried Dad's Truck and it found 26 pages worth!

So give it a try and see what you think, please.

Thanks for the explanation/demonstration Gary. I will give the Weebly search a try now that I know the difference.

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks for the explanation/demonstration Gary. I will give the Weebly search a try now that I know the difference.

Ok guys, I've done some more work and have some results. I used the Nabble search function, the "site" function w/in a Google search, and a free Google search function I created, all to find "LRC":

• Nabble: 45 instances across 14 different threads. And if you click on the link you are taken to the post in which LRC was used. But, note that Weebly only searches the forum so it didn't find the instance in the 3G Conversion page that Google found.

• Google search via "site": 20 instances across 9 threads and the one page in documentation. And if you click on the link you are taken to the page within the thread where LRC was mentioned but not the post.

• Custom Google Search: 7 instances across 6 threads and the one page in documentation. And again, clicking the link takes you to the page in the thread, not the post.

To me the results are pretty telling. The Google searches are far less complete and harder to use, so I don't see a reason to spend more time trying to implement a custom Google search. But am I missing something?

 

[kramttocs]

Ok guys, I've done some more work and have some results. I used the Nabble search function, the "site" function w/in a Google search, and a free Google search function I created, all to find "LRC":

• Nabble: 45 instances across 14 different threads. And if you click on the link you are taken to the post in which LRC was used. But, note that Weebly only searches the forum so it didn't find the instance in the 3G Conversion page that Google found.

• Google search via "site": 20 instances across 9 threads and the one page in documentation. And if you click on the link you are taken to the page within the thread where LRC was mentioned but not the post.

• Custom Google Search: 7 instances across 6 threads and the one page in documentation. And again, clicking the link takes you to the page in the thread, not the post.

To me the results are pretty telling. The Google searches are far less complete and harder to use, so I don't see a reason to spend more time trying to implement a custom Google search. But am I missing something?

Weebly or Nabble?

I didn't think Weebly searched the forum.

[Gary Lewis]

Weebly or Nabble?

I didn't think Weebly searched the forum.

Nabble. I edited the post. Thanks!

[kramttocs]

Nabble. I edited the post. Thanks!

Thanks. No argument that the Nabble one works great for the forum and per the poll results, appears that it's the most used option. Indicating that most viewers get to the doc pages using methods other than the site's built in search (direct links in forum posts, navigation, or google search results).

Considering that searching for lrc in Freefind doesn't return anything, doesn't bode well for it surviving

Can Weebly use the 'site' feature when building its index?

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks. No argument that the Nabble one works great for the forum and per the poll results, appears that it's the most used option. Indicating that most viewers get to the doc pages using methods other than the site's built in search (direct links in forum posts, navigation, or google search results).

Considering that searching for lrc in Freefind doesn't return anything, doesn't bode well for it surviving

Can Weebly use the 'site' feature when building its index?

I tried "site:garysgaragemahal.com LRC" in the Weebly search and the results I got were strange. Twenty results, none of which should have LRC. So I think the answer is NO!

[swampedout]

I use the forum search bar on the top of the website often. I love the site and use it frequently, so this is just constructive criticism from a non-tech savvy individual.

When I search for keywords, the results list every post in a thread with those words. For instance, I just searched "brake line" and had to scroll thru every post in a thread entitled "brake line fasteners" before I found relevant information. Is there a way to condense results so I see only threads, not individual posts?