Primarily, the search feature at the top of all pages of the M site does not seem to include for forums (last I checked). I would also like to see a forum-specific search at the bottom of the forum home page, just like how it’s included in the forum-category home pages.
We are moving to Google Custom Search today which will make things much better (including spelling correction). That said, we are still waiting for Google to index the bulk of the pages on the site, so there may be a few days of ‘not so great’ results.
I was about to start a thread myself.
The site search didn’t find the word javascript, and I know I just started a thread for it.
The way it stands now you would have to search each category in the forums to find that word and it would only be found in the General one at the moment.
I don’t think EE (expression engine) has an advanced search feature on their site either, maybe they are using the same Google search feature?
On their site it brings up the different search finds at the top of the forum listings and wherever else they are found on the site, it doesn’t work that good you have to click on each thing like in the site, or in the wiki to see what it found, sometimes not much of anything.
Anyways, besides a better search, another handy forum feature is when the forum shows the top 10 active posts in that category, possibly at the bottom of the page.
It’s much easier to keep up with the active topics with that type of feature.
Just some thoughts, hardly the focus of the subject at hand —kick-butt shopping carts!
tzCart - the search on the expression engine site is pretty bad. We’ve actually been working on a much stronger implementation that should be up in the next few days. You can also expect advanced search functionality and tools to filter through latest posts much easier. It’s all in the works
Thanks Roy, I probably mis-spoke when I complained about the EE forum search. It works differently from some others.
The only other thing I noticed is when I close all the international forums using the (-) minus button, they don’t stay closed.’
(I know I’m of no help in any other language than english).
The new total site search w/Ajax really rocks now!!
Looks like it uses some features from the Google Ajax feed api.
Something like that would make a cool cart search, check these for demo’s of RSS feed controls:
http://ajaxian.com/archives/ajax-feed-api-blogroll-and-slideshow-controls
My boss spotted the fact that you need an api key for each use, and part of the reason maybe in the future they will only allow 1,000 hits or searches, like they do with some of their other services. Unless you go with a business/paid key.
I don’t believe we are using Ajax - but thanks for the nice words. We do not have a limit of searches since we are using a commercial google service that we pay for.
I noticed that it is much improved. Didn’t see any ajax, etc but I love how it’s organized by site-section. Roy, you said you’re using Google for this? Is this part of the new “Custom Search Business Edition” .. You aren’t using a Google Mini, right?
I’d looked into Google in the past for search, and the only options at the time were the Google Mini ($$$) or sending your customers to a customized page on Google’s site. This new service is a welcome addition, and the price is competitive with other similar services. I’m gonna look into it for a couple of my clients as well as myself.
