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Mod to Search; getting rid of auto-navigation

by Petras (Friar)
on Aug 14, 2003 at 06:37 UTC ( [id://283774]=monkdiscuss: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??

This caught me a few times when I was new to the Monastery. It still does, occassionaly.

The other day I was searching for Mail::Mailer and was autodirected to a post with that title. Before I would have assumed it was the only post on the subject, and that's why I was sent there. Now I know better. So, I changed the search to Mailer, and had to wade through some other unrelated stuff. There have been times when I'd search for a function and wind up on someone's home node! So I was thinking, if I could simply search for Mail::Mailer and be autodirected, then I wouldn't have to do the second search. Whatcha think?

Cheers!
Petras
Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.

-Howard Aiken

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Mod to Search; getting rid of auto-navigation
by sauoq (Abbot) on Aug 14, 2003 at 06:55 UTC

    Are you familiar with Super Search?

    The "auto-navigation" provided by the search box on every page is actually very useful if you know how to use it. If you enter a node's title and it is a unique title, you go directly to that page. If you enter a string which appears in more than one node title, you get a list of titles containing that string. If you enter a node id, you go directly to that node.

    But, if you are really searching for information, Super Search is super sexy.

    Update: I should mention the PerlMonks FAQ too. And not just because PodMaster requested I do so... :-)

    -sauoq
    "My two cents aren't worth a dime.";
    
      Right, Search bar will take you to such nodes as Best Nodes, Worst Nodes or Stats Page directly. Which makes me think, why aren't or are nodes like those listed on some navigation menu? Or they're meant to be Easter eggs?
Re: Mod to Search; getting rid of auto-navigation (two two)
by tye (Sage) on Aug 14, 2003 at 16:58 UTC

    In future, search for Mail::Mailer Mail::Mailer or Mail::Mailer aake8dkslna. Though this doesn't help everyone else who will run into that problem.

    I think my preferred solution would be to have a search for "Best Nodes" take you directly to that node but note that this was because of a single, exact title match and so display a link near the "search" box that searches for all nodes with titles containing "best" and "nodes" with text something like "Or search for other nodes with similar titles".

                    - tye
Re: Mod to Search; getting rid of auto-navigation
by Rex(Wrecks) (Curate) on Aug 14, 2003 at 20:44 UTC
    I have been bit by this too, and I think that the behavior you are describing would be better left to a Googlesque "I'm feeling lucky today" button. But at the same time, refactoring my search is not so bad either :)

    Update: Oh, the other thing that is covered in the site FAQs, and that would prevent this, is people using good titles for thier nodes. IMHO "Mail::Mailer" is not a good title for a node.

    "Nothing is sure but death and taxes" I say combine the two and its death to all taxes!
Re: Mod to Search; getting rid of auto-navigation
by Intrepid (Deacon) on Aug 31, 2003 at 07:40 UTC

    Greetings, Good Monks.

    It seems On-topic for me to follow-up this posting with my opinions, recently arrived-at, regarding the Perl Monks "Search" textfield+submit elements in the site banner.

    I also had numerous confused experiences *well* into my time at Perl Monks (which, contrary to what many may think, you'll find has been considerable), because I expected something labelled "Search" to work analogously to other site-wide engine-driven searches found widely on the Net in general. I submit for consideration my personal report of how the Perl Monks site design mis-met those expectations, as nothing more than the report of one user, namely myself. So, FWIW:

    The tool behind "Search" in fact only searches on strings or substrings in names of nodes, AFAIUI. This is a very simple facility (not unlike AOL's notion of "Keywords", dare I point it out -- I mean no insult by drawing any comparison between PM and AOL). IMHO, such a tool is better labelled something else, and that something might be: "Jump To". To my thinking this better conveys the impression of a quick user convenience that "Search" presently is -- is it not really there so as to allow quick movement in-between named nodes that the user is already aware of? "Search" implies inquiry into the unknown. Certainly some users may find that they are capable of getting good, quick results (esp. if they ask or read an FAQ and acquire inside knowledge of how the presently-named "Search" works) on queries into unknown areas of the Monastery by using "Search", but by and large, isn't the "Super Search" really much better for that.

    I therefore submit the request that renaming of this element of the Perl Monks UI be undertaken (discussion of, that is) with the idea that it end up being labelled something like "Jump To". Thanks for reading.

    Update:
    PodMaster's comment below corresponds with my thinking. "Go" had also occurred to me.

        Soren/Intrepid

    -- 
    Try my n.y.p.m.blue Perl Monks CSS Theme
    (edit "On-Site CSS Markup" in your User Settings)
      I like "Jump To" better than "Search", although I think a better choice might be simply "GO".

      BTW, I think your signature has some unclosed tags, you should fix those.

      MJD says "you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!"
      I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6.x and 5.8.x -- I take requests (README).
      ** The third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

      I vote against this. People encourage meaningful titles so people looking for the same information can find it easily. Look up is definetly not clearer than Search.
      Whenever I look up, I either see the sky or the ceiling.

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