Search Engine Help Page
We have added a search utility to enhance the usability of our website by allowing our users to search the site using keywords. The search facility is very easy to use.
For a basic search all you have to do is enter the word (s) you are interested in and searching for them.
Our site is setup so you can search certain slices to narrow down the search results. Right now you can search out site by searching the:
- Entire Site - Selecting this option will search our entire site.
- Products - Selecting this option will only search our Product Section
- Recipes - Selecting this option will only search out recipes section.
When searching for information it is worth noting that searching on too specifically might not find the info you are interested in, searching too generically might return too many results. My advice is to start with simple one word searches and then move to more specific searches if you get too many results from the simple search.
For example: As of today May 19th, 2010 if I search the ENTIRE SITE for:
- CAKE - I get 9 results.
- CHEESE CAKE - I get 4 results.
- JELLO CHEESE CAKE - I get 0 results.
Again today if I search PRODUCTS for:
- CAKE - I get 7 results.
- CHEESE CAKE - I get 2 results
Advanced Search Syntax Operators
For the more computer savvy user our search utility allows you to use advanced search syntax.
What are the advanced search syntax operators, such as Boolean, phrasing, and wildcard methods?
Increasing the accuracy of a search can be accomplished by using special search query operators supported by our search utility.
By default, if a search query is entered without any arguments between the words, each words must be present in a document in order for it to show up on the results list. Here is a chart of Boolean arguments and some examples of each:
AND + (plus)
Our search utility supports the AND argument, or the + (plus) which requires the word be present in a document in order for it to qualify as a matching result. In the example below, the words central, park, and the phrase "new york" must all be present in a document in order for it to show up on the results page.
- central AND park AND "new york"
The the example below, the words William and Jefferson must both be present in a document in order for it to show up on the results page.
- +William +Jefferson
NOT - (minus)
As important as it might be to require a word to exist in a search query, it may be just as important to provide words that you do not want to be present in a search. This is where the NOT argument, or the - (minus) comes in handy. This often helps visitors remove documents by specifying words that may not have relevancy to their search. In the example below, the words central and park are required, however, the word mime must not be present in order for a document to show up on the results page.
- central AND park NOT mime
The same thing can be accomplished with + and - operators in the example below.
- central +park -mime
OR | (pipe)
The OR argument, or the | (pipe) is a condition that states that the word or phrase can be present (and thus give it a higher relevancy ranking), but it is not required for a document to show up on the results page. This argument is useful to include additional search query parameters without completely removing other candidate matches. In the example below, the word search is required, but the word term is not -- however, if it is present in a document, it will score a higher relevancy.
- search OR term
"phrase search"
Searching for phrases means that the words between the quotes must show up in that exact order, adjacent to one another. In the example below, the complete phrase "Detroit Rock City" must be present in a document in order for it to show up on a results page. Having the words Detroit, Rock, or City on the document is not enough -- the words must be in the exact word order as provided between the quotation marks.
- "Detroit Rock City"