[SITE] Search

So yeah, the search function isn't the greatest.  I'm going to spend some time debugging and tuning it.  It turns out there are a few parameters that can be tuned to get better results.

First things first though.  It is suggested that if there are possible search issues, one of the first things to do is to rebuild your search index.  If the index is corrupted, the results can be bad.  So I've started rebuilding the index (clicked the button that rebuilds it).  This can take quite a while (days!), so sit tight while this is processing.  BTW, the forums may be slightly sluggish while the index is being rebuilt, so please be patient until it is done.

In the meantime, I'd like to solicit some helpers.  What I'm looking for is a number of test cases that we can subjectively judge the quality of the results.  I'd like the helpers to have their own set of searches.  Let me know what those searches are and your opinion on the quality of the results.  Periodically I'll tweak the settings and ask you to run your searches again and report back on the quality of the results.  This will be an iterative process and can take some time.  So if you sign up as a tester, please be prepared to give feedback on an ongoing basis.

To give you an idea of what I can tweak, there are a number of parameters that can be weighed in terms of importance.  Currently it is set to the forum software defaults.  Here are the parameter and the weighting (sum of the weightings equals 100%).

Relative search weight for number of matching messages within a topic: 30%
Relative search weight for age of last matching message: 30%
Relative search weight for topic length: 15%
Relative search weight for a matching subject: 15%
Relative search weight for a first message match: 15%
Relative search weight for a sticky topic: 0%

Anyways, let me know if you are interested in helping, and we'll get started once the re-indexing finishes.

Thanks.

-Allen

The generation of the new index has finish, 1 1/2 days later.  I actually generated a different type from before that is supposed to result in faster searches.  It does indeed appear to be faster.

So, any volunteers to help tune things?

-Allen

would love to help out but i have limited time on the site. I did in the past to try and search out a post i did on prepping eel for cooking, with no luck. I'm going to try again. Don't remember if it was a respond or a post of my own. Maybe i was inputting the wrong key word for the search.
 
Thanks for all your hard work.

Tried it and actually worked! my search word were ,cooking eel.

A post titled,  Moss Landing Marathon, By Arron Hull back in 2007.

Tried it and actually worked! my search word were ,cooking eel.

A post titled,  Moss Landing Marathon, By Arron Hull back in 2006.

That's strange.  I seach those terms and don't find the article you are talking about.  But I did find your last post.  Weird.  Which position did that article come in for your search?

-Allen

it was position 5

Can you do it again and take a screen shot of the results?

-Allen

Can you do it again and take a screen shot of the results?

-Allen

Can you do it again and take a screen shot of the results?

-Allen

Allen are you able to see the screen shot clearly? its kind of small on my view1

Ah ... I see it.  Thanks.  And I get the same results.  Thanks.

-Allen

no problem bro! i was looking for the pictures of the eel and couldn't find it in my library and thats when i started the such on the website. Glad you got it sorted out its nice to look back on old post…

! i was looking for the pictures of the eel

Careful what you search for on the internets! 

! i was looking for the pictures of the eel

Careful what you search for on the internets! 

Lol…
especially on this site! thing like this might pop up

! i was looking for the pictures of the eel

Careful what you search for on the internets! 

LOL!

If you wanted to see my eel Alex you just had to ask!

 

 

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

You know ... it's actually really hard to search for a specific page/thread/article you have in mind, not just at NCKA, but on the general internal.  A better measure is if the top results to your search are actually meaningful w.r.t. the search term.

Hmmm ... Try it on Google and see.  Try to find that eel post.  Search the following on google.

site:norcalkayakanglers.com cooking eel

I just did.  The post you were looking for is number 9.  Are the other in the top 10 useful?  How does that compare to the site's search result?

This is probably a good test of how our search results perform.  Use the site search and then use Google to search the site.  Note that Google won't have access to members only sections.

-Allen