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why is search so bad?


sasiko

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Posted

@Lindy any update on the direction IPS is taking to improve search functionality? Is this something that will be addressed in 4.2 since that is the release aimed to improve the user experience?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Management
Posted

Yes, we're still planning on further addressing search. I don't have any elaborate details at this point. 

  • 1 month later...
Posted

If you guys are looking for a good search engine to integrate into IPB (perhaps even possibly as an addon), you might want to look into dtSearch - it has a fairly easy to use API, and pricing-wise, might be affordable enough (for IPB) to consider integrating into the core package.

Feature-wise, it is amazing - fuzzy searching, phonics, document indexing (imagine all attachments, even images, being searchable) and more.

Demos: http://support.dtsearch.com/dts0189.htm

http://dtsearch.com/

Developer Support and API: http://support.dtsearch.com/ 

  • 1 month later...
Posted
On 4/28/2016 at 6:44 PM, Lindy said:

RevengeFNF - I promise, I hear you loud and clear, my friend... you want Sphinx. ;) Sphinx isn't likely in the cards - we think there's better options, but Elasticsearch is something we are looking at.

The information in this topic has helped us better understand the challenges and concerns, both within the core product and alternative searches. 

Any update on the search issue? Last time we heard from IPB was July or so. Would be great to see elasticsearch or equivalent. 

  • Management
Posted

It's still very much on the radar... I wish I had more definitive information for you as I'm sure we can all agree this has been on the backburner for too long. I'll see what we can do in terms of a gameplan.

Posted

That would be nice.. of the major paid scripts, I think IPS is the only one that relies only on the native MySQL search ability.  The others I am familiar with can utilize Elasticsearch.

And please - DON'T make it a cloud search option in which it's dependent on other providers.  I much prefer the ability to do the search engine back-end on my own server.  An option for a cloud service for those that are on shared hosting would be OK, but standalone needs to be there also.

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Search continues to frustrate me, both in my own community and even in the IPS community.  

Example: I'm running through my weekly task to check on the versions of all my installed plugins, so browse to the IPS Marketplace and search for a plugin "Enable Member Feature."  I get a random hodge podge of applications like Classifieds, Kitchen Sink, Babble, Links Directory, Member of the Month, and a theme by ehren.  The plugin isn't even listed.  

Then I search for "enable member's features."  0 results.  How is it possible to return zero results when the official name is "Enable Member's Features on New Accounts?"  I am literally staring at the plugin name, retyping the first three words of the plugin name, and the plugin still does not appear.  

Example.JPG

As asked by the OP, why is search so bad?  

Posted
1 hour ago, Joel R said:

Search continues to frustrate me, both in my own community and even in the IPS community.  

Example: I'm running through my weekly task to check on the versions of all my installed plugins, so browse to the IPS Marketplace and search for a plugin "Enable Member Feature."  I get a random hodge podge of applications like Classifieds, Kitchen Sink, Babble, Links Directory, Member of the Month, and a theme by ehren.  The plugin isn't even listed.  

Then I search for "enable member's features."  0 results.  How is it possible to return zero results when the official name is "Enable Member's Features on New Accounts?"  I am literally staring at the plugin name, retyping the first three words of the plugin name, and the plugin still does not appear.  

Example.JPG

As asked by the OP, why is search so bad?  

use search with option 

Posted
6 hours ago, TAMAN said:

use search with option 

Pretty sure that's from the advanced options?  If so, it shouldn't be required to go to that extent.  

The point is, falling back to the built in MySQL search from Sphinx WITHOUT having a replacement in the line and near being done was somewhat  of a DA move in the opinion of most people that used Sphinx.  Most forum scripts search (default) sucks even with ElasticSearch or Sphinx, and mySQL search is on the very bottom of the poop list of search choices to rely on.

Posted
6 hours ago, Tracy Perry said:

Pretty sure that's from the advanced options?  If so, it shouldn't be required to go to that extent.  

The point is, falling back to the built in MySQL search from Sphinx WITHOUT having a replacement in the line and near being done was somewhat  of a DA move in the opinion of most people that used Sphinx.  Most forum scripts search (default) sucks even with ElasticSearch or Sphinx, and mySQL search is on the very bottom of the poop list of search choices to rely on.

Yep, totally agree, this setting should be set on default search type

  • Management
Posted
On 10/30/2016 at 11:07 PM, Joel R said:

Search continues to frustrate me, both in my own community and even in the IPS community.  

Example: I'm running through my weekly task to check on the versions of all my installed plugins, so browse to the IPS Marketplace and search for a plugin "Enable Member Feature."  I get a random hodge podge of applications like Classifieds, Kitchen Sink, Babble, Links Directory, Member of the Month, and a theme by ehren.  The plugin isn't even listed.  

Then I search for "enable member's features."  0 results.  How is it possible to return zero results when the official name is "Enable Member's Features on New Accounts?"  I am literally staring at the plugin name, retyping the first three words of the plugin name, and the plugin still does not appear.  

Example.JPG

As asked by the OP, why is search so bad?  

I think that's a bug because of the ' I'll get someone to check it out. 

I'd still very much like to see elasticsearch integration myself. It's a fairly large task that we'll get to eventually, but user engagement and fun stuff is next up in the major improvement area. We do, however, plan on improving the default search, so feel free to articulate specifics. 

  • Management
Posted

The default search is "and". As we're not using natural language mode, it will not recognise that "member" and "member's" are the same word, so it won't find it.

If you search for "any words", it will find it.

Searched_for__enable_member_feature__in_All_Content.jpg

Posted

Since you guys are in here reading this let me throw this on the pile.

When doing advanced searches on nodes (categories, whatever) can you please set it up so that when a parent node is selected the search will search parent *and* children nodes? Right now it searches the specified node and nothing more.

Use case (changed from the specific but you'll get the gist)

Pages CMS.

Primary categories:  Mice. Keyboards. Cases. Video Cards. etc...

Children categories underneath Mice primary: Logitech, Razer, Cosair, etc... 

Now, an advanced search selecting the category of Mice will search just that. It will not search underneath to Logitech, Razer, etc...

REQUEST: Children nodes included in searches automatically when a parent node is selected.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
On 10/5/2016 at 1:44 AM, Lindy said:

It's still very much on the radar... I wish I had more definitive information for you as I'm sure we can all agree this has been on the backburner for too long. I'll see what we can do in terms of a gameplan.

 

Soon please.

Your true competition is not the other dozen or so forum developments that I could name today.  No, rather you're competing against social media (Facebook) and search engines such as Google or Bing, which many members turn toward and often find what they're looking for elsewhere.

The one 1 thing every forum development keeps pushing off and ignoring is search.  And it is the 1 thing making it easier for folks to look elsewhere.  And today, even social media understands the importance of having a user-friendly search engine.

Posted
2 hours ago, lordi said:

yep somehow it is easier to search forum topic from google than using the forum itself :p:lol:

I'll admit it.  Sometimes I use Google to search for stuff on my own community than using the in-built search.  

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