SMF2.1:Search (admin): Difference between revisions

Work in progress, expect frequent changes.

Please see SMF1.1:Search (admin), SMF2.0:Search (admin) or SMF2.1:Search (admin) depending on the version of SMF you are using.

In the Admin Center > Forum > Search sub-menu, there are three tabs or pages of options to set: Weights, Search Method, and Settings. Administrators can use them to configure how their forum search feature performs. Please see the Search manual page, to learn how to use the forum search features, after the administrator has configured them. (Of course this is entirely a different feature than the similarly named Search Engines page.)

Weights

On the Admin Center > Forum > Search > Weights page, you can configure weights, which control how the search results are presented to users. Weight factors are used to determine the relevancy of a search result. Change these weight factors to indicate which type of results are specifically important for your forum. For instance, a forum of a news site, might want a relatively high value for Relative search weight for age of last matching message so that those results are presented first. All values are relative to each other and should be positive integers.

Relative search weight for number of matching messages within a topic - This factor counts the number of matching messages and divides them by the total number of messages within a topic.
Relative search weight for age of last matching message - This factor rates the age of the last matching message within a topic. The more recent this message is, the higher the score.
Relative search weight for topic length - This factor is based on the topic size. The more messages are within the topic, the higher the score.
Relative search weight for a matching subject - This factor looks at whether a search term can be found within the subject, or title of a topic.
Relative search weight for a first message match - This factor looks at whether a match can be found within the first message of a topic.
Relative search weight for a sticky topic - This factor looks at whether a topic is sticky and increases the relevancy score if it is.

After you finish configuring the weights for the search results in your forum, be sure to click the Save button in the bottom right corner.

Search Method

On the Admin Center > Forum > Search > Search Method page, first, be sure to read the little Help window by clicking on the text link Why create a search index? if you do not already clearly understand these options.

Before choosing your search method, you can see the current size of these two areas in the database, in KB values:

Space used by forum messages in the database:
Space used to index messages in the database:

The size of these areas in the database are important because some of the search methods, or indices, use them, which can potentially result in using a lot of server space. Their values will help you decide which settings are best for your forum.

Search Index

No Index - Click this if you do not want to create a search index for your forum.
Fulltext index - If you want to use a fulltext index when searching your forum, first click the text link, [create fulltext index]. Follow the prompts, and when the process is finished, you can tick the Fulltext index button.
Custom index - If you want to use a custom index when searching your forum, first click the text link, [create custom index]. Follow the prompts, and when the process is finished, you can tick the Custom index button.

Search Method

Force the use of a search index: Checking this will force the use of a search index.
Match whole words only: - Using this will match only full words when searching. An example can be if a post has the word 'strictly' in it. When searching for 'strict' with this option checked, you will not get any results back, but with the option unchecked, you will get results.

Finally, be sure to click the Save button in the bottom right corner, after you finish making those choices.

Settings

On the Admin Center > Forum > Search > Settings page are a few more general options to consider.

Membergroups with access to the search function - Choose which membergroups can help administrators configure the search feature.
Number of search results per page - Set how many search results will be displayed per page.
Maximum results to show - Set the maximum number of results you want for each single a search. Set to zero for no limit.
Time required between searches from same user - Set how many seconds you want users to wait between searches. Set to zero for no limit.

Be sure to click the Save button in the bottom right corner, after you finish setting the options.

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@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ====Search Index====
-*'''No Index''' - Click this if you don't want to create a search index for your forum.
+*'''No Index''' - Click this if you do not want to create a search index for your forum.
 *'''Fulltext index''' - If you want to use a fulltext index when searching your forum, first click the text link, ''[create fulltext index]''. Follow the prompts, and when the process is finished, you can tick the '''Fulltext index''' button.
 *'''Custom index''' - If you want to use a custom index when searching your forum, first click the text link, ''[create custom index]''. Follow the prompts, and when the process is finished, you can tick the '''Custom index''' button.

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