While working on upgrading the site to the latest Geeklog engine, I discovered a relatively simple modification to the search engine that greatly improves its usefulness. While the new site won't be up for a little while, I took a couple minutes last night and added the modification to the existing search engine. As of now, you can (finally!) search on words instead of phrases on the site. I haven't updated the instructions page as of yet, but here's how it works.
To search on a phrase (the old style), use the search box (or the advanced search page) as always - just enter the phrase. For example, searching on (no quotes) 'tcsh shell path' will find only those hints that contain the exact phrase. You probably won't get a match for most phrase searches, given the odds of guessing the right combo of letters.
Searching on words, however, is much more useful. To perform a word search (for example, any hint containing "tcsh,", "shell," and "path,"), just enter the words separated by commas - 'tcsh, shell, path' (again, no quotes).
This change makes the search engine much more effective at finding old information, as you can now narrow the search scope effectively by using a few keywords. For now, this modified search is available only when searching hints (not comments). Try it out and let me know if you run into any glitches!
-rob.
To search on a phrase (the old style), use the search box (or the advanced search page) as always - just enter the phrase. For example, searching on (no quotes) 'tcsh shell path' will find only those hints that contain the exact phrase. You probably won't get a match for most phrase searches, given the odds of guessing the right combo of letters.
Searching on words, however, is much more useful. To perform a word search (for example, any hint containing "tcsh,", "shell," and "path,"), just enter the words separated by commas - 'tcsh, shell, path' (again, no quotes).
This change makes the search engine much more effective at finding old information, as you can now narrow the search scope effectively by using a few keywords. For now, this modified search is available only when searching hints (not comments). Try it out and let me know if you run into any glitches!
-rob.
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