SID-02320: Multiple web search pagination options

Status:	Asked	TWiki version:	6.0.0	Perl version:
Category:		Server OS:		Last update:	8 years ago

When you do a search across multiple webs, there is no way to get to the 2nd and subsequent 50 results in any web that returns more than 50 results. It will say, for example "81 pages", but only shows 50 and provides no way to get to the remaining 31 pages. The only option is to then manually go to that web and perform the search again.

My intranet web is setup to search all webs. So I have edited WebPreferences to include Set SEARCHRESULTSPERPAGE = 100, BUT whilst this helps, it still means that if the page you seek is the 103rd result, it will not appear on the search results.

Any suggestions? Or even some suggestions for improving the 'relevance' of results and then sorting them accordingly?

-- Jane Gianoutsos - 2017-06-25

Discussion and Answer

I have no solution (even after struggling some time with the deep magic in TWiki/SearchResultsPagination), but some suggestions:

• Perhaps only one, or only few webs exceed the search limit? In that case, to avoid "manually go to that web and perform the search again", you could add a button like "repeat search in this web only" to the format parameter of your search, feeding it the parameters from the current search.
• For improving relevance, I've created some "custom searches", especially for TWiki applications. People usually know whether they are looking for a bug report or for some manual. QuerySearch has a bit of a learning curve but helps to restrict searches to topics which contain some form.
• TagMePlugin is another mechanism to classify topics across all webs. Setting it up to be useful either requires an active community or a hardworking editor-in-chief.

-- Harald Jörg - 2017-06-26

Thanks Harald.

• Your first suggestion makes sense, but I have to confess I have no idea how I'd got about that! People are using the default search box on the front page of the wiki.
• I do have several applications for specific purposes and the team search in those when appropriate, but a lot of our support data is better suited to non-application pages - thus the need for better searching.
• I have been wondering about employing the TagMePlugin. I'm just trying to see what other options there are before going down that route. I've already got quite a bit of resistance from a team who are sick of poor search results, so the onus is largely on me to win them over.

-- Jane Gianoutsos - 2017-06-26

I can help to implement the first suggestion. But before guessing wildly, I'd like to check: What is the default search box on the front page of the wiki? Are you referring to the "Search" box in the top right corner of every page, like here on twiki.org - or have you created a custom front page (like I usually do)? Or do you mean the WebSearch topic which lives in every web? There are solutions for all of these search methods, but they are slightly different, and some require intermediate wizardry if the customization should survive a TWiki upgrade.

-- Harald Jörg - 2017-06-27

By Default Search Box, I do mean the search box in top right corner of every page. On my 'Intranet' web, this searches all data content webs. On my 'Delivery' web (where most of my data resides) that box only searches the Delivery web. But most people start from the Intranet web when searching for something, as that is where our home landing page is.

Thanks!

-- Jane Gianoutsos - 2017-07-03

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