Help:Search - Revision history

Admin at 16:31, 3 September 2007

2007-09-03T16:31:52Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:31, 3 September 2007
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	====Limiting results====		====Limiting results====
	* '''Any word''': BelieveTheSign's default search mode will turn up results with '''''any''''' of the words in your query. For instance, ~~<tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=~~serpent+seed~~&fulltext=Search serpent seed]</tt>~~ will turn up results containing only "serpent" but not "seed" or only "seed" but not "serpent" in addition to the ones you probably wanted, which contain both words.		* '''Any word''': BelieveTheSign's default search mode will turn up results with '''''any''''' of the words in your query. For instance,
	* '''All words''': To limit to results that include '''''all''''' words, put a "+" at the beginning of each word: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=%2Bserpent+%2Bseed +serpent +seed]</tt> returns only pages containing both words, like Google's default mode. You can also do a phrase search by enclosing words in quotes: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=%22serpent+seed%22 "serpent seed"]</tt> turns up a smaller set of results, which not only have both words but have them in order.		serpent seed
	* '''Exclude words''': To exclude results that include some words, put a "-" at the beginning: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=serpent+-seed serpent -seed]</tt>		will turn up results containing only "serpent" but not "seed" or only "seed" but not "serpent" in addition to the ones you probably wanted, which contain both words.

	Boolean search is also possible, using words including "AND", "OR", and "NOT".		* '''All words''': To limit to results that include '''''all''''' words, put a "+" at the beginning of each word:
			+serpent +seed
			returns only pages containing both words, like Google's default mode. You can also do a phrase search by enclosing words in quotes:
			"serpent seed"
			turns up a smaller set of results, which not only have both words but have them in order.

			* '''Exclude words''': To exclude results that include some words, put a "-" at the beginning:
			serpent -seed

			*Boolean search is also possible, using words including "AND", "OR", and "NOT".

	====Avoid short and common words====		====Avoid short and common words====
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	====Wildcards====		====Wildcards====
	You can use some limited wildcards if you really want to. Look up "[http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/fulltext-boolean.html fulltext search]" on ~~http://www.~~mysql.com/ and look down under 'boolean search' for the details. However, wildcard searches are slower, so go easy on ~~the~~ poor server.		You can use some limited wildcards if you really want to. Look up "[http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/fulltext-boolean.html fulltext search]" on mysql.com and look down under 'boolean search' for the details. However, wildcard searches are slower, so go easy on our poor server.

	====Words in single quotes====		====Words in single quotes====
	If a word appears in an article with single quotes, you can only find it if you search for the word with quotes. ~~Since this is rarely desirable it is better~~ to ~~use double quotes in articles, for which~~ this ~~problem does not arise. See~~ the ~~[[BelieveTheSign:manual of style\|manual of style]] for more info~~.		If a word appears in an article with single quotes, you can only find it if you search for the word with single quotes. This should not occur often as we have tried to exclude this from the site.

	An apostrophe is identical to a single quote, therefore Mu'ammar can be found searching for exactly that (and not otherwise). A word with apostrophe s is an exception in that it can be found also searching for the word without the apostrophe and the s.		An apostrophe is identical to a single quote, therefore Mu'ammar can be found searching for exactly that (and not otherwise). A word with apostrophe s is an exception in that it can be found also searching for the word without the apostrophe and the s.

Admin at 16:23, 3 September 2007

2007-09-03T16:23:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:23, 3 September 2007
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	An apostrophe is identical to a single quote, therefore Mu'ammar can be found searching for exactly that (and not otherwise). A word with apostrophe s is an exception in that it can be found also searching for the word without the apostrophe and the s.		An apostrophe is identical to a single quote, therefore Mu'ammar can be found searching for exactly that (and not otherwise). A word with apostrophe s is an exception in that it can be found also searching for the word without the apostrophe and the s.

	~~====Namespaces searched by default====~~
	The search only applies to the namespaces selected in the user's [[special:preferences\|preferences]]. To search the other namespaces check or uncheck the tickboxes in "Search in namespaces" box found at the bottom of a search results page. Depending on the browser, a box may still be checked from a previous search, but without being effective any longer! To make sure, uncheck and recheck it.

	~~Searching the image namespace means searching the image descriptions, i.e. the first parts of the image description pages.~~

	====Delay in updating the search index====		====Delay in updating the search index====
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	==External search engines==		==External search engines==

	External search engines such as Google will provide search capability of BelieveTheSign within a few weeks.		External search engines such as Google will provide search capability of BelieveTheSign within a few weeks of the public release of the site.

Admin at 16:02, 3 September 2007

2007-09-03T16:02:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:02, 3 September 2007
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	==BelieveTheSign search==		==BelieveTheSign search==
	Put your keyword in the searchbox on the ~~far left side~~ of the page.		Put your keyword in the searchbox at the top right of the page.

	* '''Go''' - (or ''Enter'' on keyboard), will take you automatically to the article.		* '''Go''' - (or ''Enter'' on keyboard), will take you automatically to the article.
	* '''Search''' - will return a list of articles that contain the term you are looking for.		* '''Search''' - will return a list of articles that contain the term you are looking for.

	===Effective searching===		===Effective searching===

	Here are few good tips and hints for using the BelieveTheSign search feature effectively:		Here are few good tips and hints for using the BelieveTheSign search feature effectively:

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	====Delay in updating the search index====		====Delay in updating the search index====
	~~For reasons of efficiency and priority, very~~ recent changes ~~are~~ not always immediately taken into account in searches.
			Very recent changes in the website may not always immediately be taken into account in searches.

	==External search engines==		==External search engines==

	~~Until BelieveTheSign is released to the public, external~~ search engines such as Google will ~~not allow searches~~ of BelieveTheSign.		External search engines such as Google will provide search capability of BelieveTheSign within a few weeks.


	~~[[Category:BelieveTheSign features\|{{PAGENAME}}]]~~

Admin at 17:52, 23 January 2007

2007-01-23T17:52:13Z

New page

This article provides an overview of BelieveTheSign's '''search''' featureto find information.

==BelieveTheSign search==
Put your keyword in the searchbox on the far left side of the page.
* '''Go''' - (or ''Enter'' on keyboard), will take you automatically to the article.
* '''Search''' - will return a list of articles that contain the term you are looking for.

===Effective searching===
Here are few good tips and hints for using the BelieveTheSign search feature effectively:

====Limiting results====
* '''Any word''': BelieveTheSign's default search mode will turn up results with '''''any''''' of the words in your query. For instance, <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=serpent+seed&fulltext=Search serpent seed]</tt> will turn up results containing only "serpent" but not "seed" or only "seed" but not "serpent" in addition to the ones you probably wanted, which contain both words.
* '''All words''': To limit to results that include '''''all''''' words, put a "+" at the beginning of each word: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=%2Bserpent+%2Bseed +serpent +seed]</tt> returns only pages containing both words, like Google's default mode. You can also do a phrase search by enclosing words in quotes: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=%22serpent+seed%22 "serpent seed"]</tt> turns up a smaller set of results, which not only have both words but have them in order.
* '''Exclude words''': To exclude results that include some words, put a "-" at the beginning: <tt>[http://www.BelieveTheSign.org/w/wiki.phtml?search=serpent+-seed serpent -seed]</tt>

Boolean search is also possible, using words including "AND", "OR", and "NOT".

====Avoid short and common words====
If your search terms include a common "stop word" (such as "the", "one", "your", "more", "right", "while", "when", "who", "which",
"such", "every", "about") it may give a large number of non-relevant results. BelieveTheSign's index does not use "stop words", so any word can be successfully used in search queries.

====Wildcards====
You can use some limited wildcards if you really want to. Look up "[http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql/en/fulltext-boolean.html fulltext search]" on http://www.mysql.com/ and look down under 'boolean search' for the details. However, wildcard searches are slower, so go easy on the poor server.

====Words in single quotes====
If a word appears in an article with single quotes, you can only find it if you search for the word with quotes. Since this is rarely desirable it is better to use double quotes in articles, for which this problem does not arise. See the [[BelieveTheSign:manual of style|manual of style]] for more info.

An apostrophe is identical to a single quote, therefore Mu'ammar can be found searching for exactly that (and not otherwise). A word with apostrophe s is an exception in that it can be found also searching for the word without the apostrophe and the s.

====Namespaces searched by default====
The search only applies to the namespaces selected in the user's [[special:preferences|preferences]]. To search the other namespaces check or uncheck the tickboxes in "Search in namespaces" box found at the bottom of a search results page. Depending on the browser, a box may still be checked from a previous search, but without being effective any longer! To make sure, uncheck and recheck it.

Searching the image namespace means searching the image descriptions, i.e. the first parts of the image description pages.

====Delay in updating the search index====
For reasons of efficiency and priority, very recent changes are not always immediately taken into account in searches.

==External search engines==

Until BelieveTheSign is released to the public, external search engines such as Google will not allow searches of BelieveTheSign.

[[Category:BelieveTheSign features|{{PAGENAME}}]]