When I search for "chart multiple background colors" (without the quotes) I get many records that do not include all the words.
That's the default behaviour of most search engines. If you wish to search for results which contain all the keywords, you have to include those within double quotes like
When I search for "chart multiple background colors" (without the quotes) I get many records that do not include all the words.
The default mode of the search query seems to be to search for threads that contain any of the words rather than all of the words. So when you search for:
chart multiple background colors
The search that seems to run is more like this:
chart OR multiple OR background OR colors
To get it to search for all words, you can explicitly enter it like this:
chart AND multiple AND background AND colors
Note that when you include ANDs and ORs in your search, it appears they need to be uppercase.
I think that if the search would default to an "AND" type mode rather than "OR" when searching, the results would be more in line with members expectations in that the more words they type, the more restrictive the search becomes.
Thanks for the report and the analysis. I agree that the default search should include ALL of the entered keywords and not ANY. This is now logged as a bug.
An update has now been deployed to the site for Forums search, to use an AND type mode. That is, search results are returned only for those threads in which all of the keywords are found. You can continue to enclose exact strings in quotes.
FredS52
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Search returns too many records
Dec 31, 2011 09:16 AM|LINK
When I search for "chart multiple background colors" (without the quotes) I get many records that do not include all the words.
Fred
Ruchira
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Re: Search returns too many records
Dec 31, 2011 10:19 AM|LINK
That's the default behaviour of most search engines. If you wish to search for results which contain all the keywords, you have to include those within double quotes like
"Include all those words in the search"
My Tech blog | My YouTube ChannelPlease 'Mark as Answer' if this post helps you.mbanavige
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Re: Search returns too many records
Dec 31, 2011 01:45 PM|LINK
The default mode of the search query seems to be to search for threads that contain any of the words rather than all of the words. So when you search for:
chart multiple background colors
The search that seems to run is more like this:
chart OR multiple OR background OR colors
To get it to search for all words, you can explicitly enter it like this:
chart AND multiple AND background AND colors
Note that when you include ANDs and ORs in your search, it appears they need to be uppercase.
I think that if the search would default to an "AND" type mode rather than "OR" when searching, the results would be more in line with members expectations in that the more words they type, the more restrictive the search becomes.
tmorton
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Re: Search returns too many records
Jan 03, 2012 03:53 PM|LINK
Thanks for the report and the analysis. I agree that the default search should include ALL of the entered keywords and not ANY. This is now logged as a bug.
ASP.NET/IIS.NET Website Manager, Neudesic
tmorton
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Re: Search returns too many records
Feb 03, 2012 02:49 AM|LINK
An update has now been deployed to the site for Forums search, to use an AND type mode. That is, search results are returned only for those threads in which all of the keywords are found. You can continue to enclose exact strings in quotes.
ASP.NET/IIS.NET Website Manager, Neudesic
FredS52
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Re: Search returns too many records
Feb 03, 2012 09:18 AM|LINK
Fantastic!!! Thank you!