Content search on this site

[TracyIsland]

I have some basic questions about the 4.7 board that I can't find in the Help guide.  I have tried searches using the invisioncommunity search bar but the results are so far off that I almost always revert to a Google search that helps me find some of the answers.  

My feedback is for IPS to make a concerted effort to improve the search bar function using AI that helps to narrow search.

Example: unread/read topic status buttons

AI: are you asking about the topic status buttons?

Yes

AI: Those buttons show the read/unread status of a topic

How can I change the shape of the status buttons

AI: This topic might address your question .... or you can change the buttons with css ... or ...?

 

Maybe it is just me but I find the IPS search bar so inaccurate and difficult that I just give up after a couple of pages of listings and use Google search.  

[Joel R]

Some thoughts: 

1. When you think of the typical user experience, I want to applaud you for actually taking the time to search.  Most users won't even bother to search, they'll just open a new a topic! 

2. On the search page, why don't we offer a prompt after the set of results, something like: "Didn't find what you were looking for? Post a topic and let the community answer you." 

These are the kinds of small, incremental design flourishes that address behavioral patterns and keep users in the community. 

3. Google has had an advantage in search that can only be measured in light years. LLMs present the opportunity to democratize search in a revolutionary way. 

ElasticSearch is satisfactory in search over a well defined set of objects.  But it fails in intuiting the cacophony and diversity of language and intent behind a user search, which is where LLMs can really fill the gap.  

4. LLM search applied to the corpus of all Invision-powered communities would rival Reddit.  This is the kind of large scale project for Community Hive that would make me proud of using IPS. 

5. Our independent communities are being pushed more and more into mini-search engines with questions and helpful answers, and this certainly fits with the overarching development theme that IPS is already pursuing.