Searching Improvements

[AlexandreGans]

1. INTRODUCTION

An tool of searching would offer options of filter and bring relevant results.
This proposal should describe how a extension can be create to provide searching improvements at Joomla!

2. SCOPE

This extension will be able to:

1) Search for a specific content type or all contents with a query;

2) The query can be a content type, section and category, key-word, sentence or a combination of all;

3) Sort the results with relevance, most recent, content type, etc;

4) Use Ajax in front-end;

3. TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION

For this implementation I have two questions:

1) Use mysql, postgresql or both? The two data bases has great solutions for full-text search, what data base this extension will support?

1.1) For mysql I think use the MATCH and AGAINST operators with a few changes at structure of content type tables;

1.2) For postgresql I think use tsearch2 with a new table for indexes;

2) Do not use an data base: use other software for full-text search like xapian (http://www.xapian.org) with PHP bindings;

This extension will have a configuration page where the user choose the content types for the search;

4. IMPACTS

Depends of the type of implementation: (mysql, postgresql or xapian) some changes can be performed at the tables of content types and some tables can be create for indexes.

[newart]

there is a need for a better search component, please see also at http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f ... 0#p1239690 in particualre there are sundry interesting posts (they are the last ones).

[unleash.it]

I agree with this.

Right now search defaults at NEWEST first. The other options are most popular, alphabetical, etc... none of which are very useful for the average site.

Many times when I'm on a Joomla site and I'm looking for something specific like the name of an article or a product, I'll have to sometimes wade through multiple pages to get to the item I'm looking for. You're not going to be interested in the newest article (which happens to share one of your search keywords) when you're looking for something specific. An example is the Joomla extensions site. Ex: try searching for something specific like "ultimate content display module"...nowhere (probably on page 20). Next search Google "site:http://extensions.joomla.org/ ultimate content display module" and you'll find it right at the top!

Even if you're not sure what you're looking for, relevance is still going to be better than newest since you're hoping to find the matches that weigh closest to your chosen keywords.

[AlexandreGans]

And the relevance can be done with some changes, see this link [1].
The mysql can performing full-text searching, using stopwords, weighted searches, boolean queries, etc.

With this implementation can be more relevant than the actual, using the LIKE operator.

For the categorization I think in use Semantic Web. With this all content type can be more collaborative with then.

[1] http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/ ... earch.html

[newart]

apart from how to do the improvement we are all agreeing with the fact that joomla needs a more professional search component - never changed since mambo (nuke?) days

[bigodines]

I would recommend Alexandre (if you are a student) to submit this proposal for GSoC.
More indo here: http://www.joomla.org/content/view/4725/1/

There is an advanced search idea but no student has submitted a proposal yet.

cheers,
bigo

[newart]

in these last days I'm observing the search component for finding good ideas to share here and I've noted that if you insert a KeyWord to search an article, well, the listed articles are in a "messing" order... explaining better, I think it's important to see firstly the articles tagged by that Keyword and after that by the (inserted & searched) word inside other articles...

now I see no order between keyword and word in the found articles list, so please take care, into account this problem too!

[SamMilby]

Thanks for this searching improvements. It is very useful.

Great job everyone.

Thanks again.



Pret immobilier

[Deepak Sahu]

Hello every one !
i want some new searching module which can search among database records in a better manner
Thanks !

[newart]

I'd like to see a lot of improvements in com search for 1.6 version but who needs NOW a better search extension has to see in the extension part of joomla.org site!

[Adesso]

A simple request:

could we make the limits for search (min/max chars) a variable. I have made a module with plugin to use com_search, and just fell off my chair when I relized that it takes max 20chars.. I don't like hacking the base system. It would be nice to have this as a setting... so if you have a BIG server, you can set it up to 50, or the like..

The Ajax request would also be great...



PS. am willing to help to get this in 1.6

[newart]

PS. am willing to help to get this in 1.6

Very interesting! But I do not find where it is the recruiting article in the dev part of our site... so please contact a forum moderator (I'm thinking of Brad) I'm sure you can help you!