Help talk:Searching

Phrase matching
Why doesn't the search support phrases? At the very least the search should return pages containing ALL the words first. The search functionality is inadequate.

At some point I plan to replace the Mediawiki built-in search with something that supports phrase matching.

24.128.140.97 - 16:40, 10 April 2007


 * @ At the very least the search should return pages containing ALL the words first. - I definitely agree! Are there any workarounds?
 * does Lucene Search help? - Thanks for hints, -- Achimbode 10:02, 1 April 2009 (UTC)

change Stopwords?
is it possible, to change the stopwords on a local wiki? Where can I find the stopwordlist? --141.113.86.23 16:26, 26 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I found them in the file mysqld-opt.exe, but that does not seem to be directly editable.--Patrick 09:39, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Wildcard Search
What is the recommended approach of adding wildcard search. E.g. I would like to get the following to work Rab* would return Rabbi, Rabbit, Rabbits etc.... Many thanks --Markw21 12:32, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, like that, rab*. The asterisk seems to work only at the end of a word.--Patrick 12:51, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks Patrick, but it does not seem to work for me, I specifically have a document called Outages, but when I search for Outage or Outage* it does not find the document. (Mediawiki 1.9.2, PHP 5.2.1, MySQL 5.0.37) --Markw21 12:54, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I see now that you need to install the extension lucene search.--Patrick 15:40, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Is there anyway I can get wildcard searching working without having to install lucene, c#, mono, mcs. There seems to be various different methods, and I would like to pick an 'easy', commonly adopted method, that will not be broken by future releases of mediawiki.


 * Yes! Create a new file in include/ named SearchMySQL4SubString.php with following content:

db =& $db; }

function legalSearchChars { return "A-Za-z_'0-9\\x80-\\xFF\\-*?+"; }

/** @todo document */ function parseQuery( $filteredText, $fulltext ) { global $wgContLang; $lc = SearchEngine::legalSearchChars; $searchon = ''; $this->searchTerms = array;

wfDebug( "parseQuery filteredText is: '$filteredText'\n" ); wfDebug( "parseQuery fulltext is: '$fulltext'\n" );

# FIXME: This doesn't handle parenthetical expressions. if( preg_match_all( '/([-+<>~]?)((['. $lc. ']+)(\*?)|"[^"]*")/',                   $filteredText, $m, PREG_SET_ORDER ) ) {                  foreach( $m as $terms ) {                        if( $searchon !==  ) $searchon .= ' ';                        $searchon .= $terms[1] . $wgContLang->stripForSearch( $terms[2] );                        if( !empty( $terms[3] ) ) {                              $regexp = preg_quote( $terms[3], '/' );                              if( $terms[4] ) $regexp .= "[0-9A-Za-z_]+";                        } else {                              $regexp = preg_quote( str_replace( '"', , $terms[2] ), '/' ); }                       $this->searchTerms[] = $regexp; }                 wfDebug( "Would search with '$searchon'\n" ); wfDebug( "Match with /\b" . implode( '\b|\b', $this->searchTerms ) . "\b/\n" ); } else { wfDebug( "Can't understand search query '{$this->filteredText}'\n" ); }

$searchon = $this->db->strencode( $searchon ); $field = $this->getIndexField( $fulltext ); return " MATCH($field) AGAINST('$searchon' IN BOOLEAN MODE) "; } } ?>
 * Then add following lines in your LocalSettings.php

require_once( 'SearchMySQL4SubString.php' ); $wgSearchType = 'SearchMySQL4SubString';


 * And yes, it works with MySQL5 :)

--213.214.18.64 09:52, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Many thanks that works great, if there anyway to get it to always add the *, so the user wouldn't have to? --Markw21 11:43, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh yes, you can change the function searchText in the SearchMySQL.php like that

function searchText( $term ) { $resultSet = $this->db->resultObject( $this->db->query( $this->getQuery( $this->filter( $term ).'*', true ) ) ); return new MySQLSearchResultSet( $resultSet, $this->searchTerms );
 * So the * is in the sourcecode and doesn't need to be inserted manually.
 * --213.214.18.64 12:27, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Automagically add wildcard to mediawiki search 1.18
I changed the following line in SearchMySQL.php: return $this->searchInternal( $term, true ); to: return $this->searchInternal( $term.'*', true );

I hope this info may be helpful to someone. 213.154.239.4 23:47, 28 March 2013 (UTC)


 * It might be better to do this addendum of asterisk inside the searchInternal function itself, right after the line "if ( trim( $term ) === '' ) return null;":
 * $term = $term . '*';

Automagically add wildcard to mediawiki search 1.22

 * In Mediawiki 1.22 you have to change the Lines 184 - 186 from:

if ( trim( $term ) === '' ) { return null; }


 * to

if ( trim( $term ) === '' ) { return null; } else { $term = $term. '*'; }


 * This works great for me on 1.24.2

protected function searchInternal( $term, $fulltext ) { // This seems out of place, why is this called with empty term? if ( trim( $term ) === '' ) { return null; }		else{ $term2 = $term. '*';			$term2 = str_replace(' ', '* *', $term2); $term .= ' '.$term2; }		...

Searchresults - jump to result by link
Is it possible to jump directly to a result found in a text? For example: I search for "computer", my result is a page where "computer" appears 200 times. The result I need is in line 1534. Can mediawiki create a link direct to this line in the text? --213.214.18.64 10:12, 10 May 2007 (UTC)


 * This would be nice for page history differences that involve particular sections; having direct links to the section(s) would be nice instead of having to scroll down on particularly long pages (like talk pages) in order to see the actual text. -Eep² 03:19, 25 July 2007 (UTC)

Blank page after upgrade to 1.10
after upgrading to v1.10, this code gives me php errors and a blank page.

The error I get is:

[17-May-2007 13:07:34] PHP Fatal error: Cannot make static method SearchEngine::legalSearchChars non static in class SearchMySQL4SubString in C:\www\doc\includes\SearchMySQL4SubString.php on line 15

anyone know how to fix this? --Dingfelder 01:10, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
 * is there really a SearchMySQL4SubString.php in your include dir? this php is no standard and maybe you have to ceate it on your own --213.214.18.64 06:40, 21 May 2007 (UTC)


 * please read the instructions above for adding the wild card search... they specify to create this file and show it's contents. The reason I am posting is this code is now causing the problem after the upgrade     --Dingfelder 05:15, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

I do not really know, why it works, but it works on my wiki (1.10) after changing the line (in the extension)

function legalSearchChars {

to

public static function legalSearchChars {


 * Thx, that made it work on 1.12 --80.109.49.190 13:06, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Update for 1.1X
It's also working with 1.11 :) Thank you work that great work!!!

Line 23: "function legalSearchChars {" -> "public static function legalSearchChars {"

--213.214.18.64 13:42, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Search for short word or abbreviations
Is it possible to make search also search world like "lvm". I got one article with word lvm in it but it gives me 0 results. However when I search for "logical" I get desired page. I'm 100% sure that everyone will search lvm not "logical volume manager". thank you
 * you could/should use redirects for that --80.109.49.190 13:07, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

3 character search?
I have just discovered that the search function does not give any results on words that have less than 4 characters. Is there a way to change that?

Hans Telgen 07:27, 6 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The answer is in the FAQ here. 199.67.140.153 14:32, 25 July 2007 (UTC)


 * To me, that FAQ entry raises more questions than it answers. It seems to suggest that possibility that only "older versions of MediaWiki" are affected.  Actually I can add further evidence for this possibility; I am an end user on a site running MediaWiki 1.21.1 and I do not face the 4 character minimum.  I assume these help pages are only supposed to document the latest version of MediaWiki, so we should not add anything to Help:Searching about this matter.  Open4D (talk) 13:10, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Search statistics
Is there a way to see what users are searching for? Some kind of statistics. thank you
 * eek! would be awesome. --Subfader 09:11, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Searching for Words with ä, ö and ü in it
We do administrate a German wiki using the MediaWiki-Software. When we post articles with the letters Ä, Ö or Ü in the title the search ever show an Error: "Ungültiger Titel". How can I fix this? --Ulli1105 10:33, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

[RESOLVED] Go for other namespaces
I'd like the Go feature working for other namespaces, e.g. I enter "House" the Go button will take me to Category:House (if exists). It could be combined with the ns you define as default in your user prefs. --Subfader 19:51, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Solved for me by: Extension talk:GoToCategory --Subfader 09:10, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Quote problems
While I search for something like "O'Leary" it'll end up with 404 page :( Has anyone a fix for the quote ( ' ), so that it won't break my Mediawiki?

search ranking?
What is the ranking algorithm used in default mediawiki search, to display the search result? --Ans 10:40, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * By default mediawiki uses mysql fulltext search, which uses ranking only for multiple words searches, afaik. --Rainman 16:51, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * But the ranking is odd. When search multiple words the results seem to be very useless. Example: this is useful includes a result, followed by   returns more results than searching for  .  If that's the normal behaviour, this page should explain it.) Open4D (talk) 13:48, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

Last changes
Please check last change of introduction. No objection? I want to mark this page for translation. --Kaganer (talk) 15:13, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

Search in Title
Is it possible to search in Titles, without installing an extention? Is it possible to set the word i am searching for to bold in the results? Thx for your answers!


 * Titles are searched in 1.23 and later I believe. Kmacdowe (talk) 20:33, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Auto redirect to the first result?
What would be the query to show the page that would be the first in the list of search results without displaying the search page?Gleki.arxokuna (talk) 14:08, 17 October 2014 (UTC)

Should the article indicate version?
Over time the search functions for Mediawiki (MW) have changed but there is no indication of what version MW is being described. If the assumption is the latest version, that should be stated, correct? Kmacdowe (talk) 20:31, 20 February 2015 (UTC)


 * This site needs searching, and newcomers need help searching. I agree that it's an issue. I'd rather see a different name here with a version.


 * So I'm moving the redirect Help:search to Help:CirrusSearch to reflect Special:version. Would somebody please rename this page to something, so we can also use Help:Searching as a redirect to Help:CirrusSearch? If  is not used except for supporting old versions, then the title needs moved to something descriptive I know not what. If MW has multiple options for search extensions, and if they ship a different version of a help:searching page with each one, then yes someone who knows should indicate the version in a hatnote or title or lead.  Cpiral (talk) 01:39, 12 September 2015 (UTC)


 * What do you think this page should be named if it is a "document for other wikis", and not the search engine for this wiki? There are similar examples where the help is for users of this site, not help for developers, that we might discuss here, and conclude.  Please. Cpiral (talk) 04:04, 13 September 2015 (UTC)


 * The difference is not about version, but about what search system is installed on the wiki. The help page is current for MediaWiki 1.26, but as the notice states "This page summarizes the built-in search function" (MySQL search). --Nemo 05:33, 13 September 2015 (UTC)


 * I thought MediaWiki "shipped" with a set of help pages, including help:searching. If so, can't the tarball include this page in it renamed to help:search from help:search-mw126?  Or are all help pages here also in the tarball named exactly like this site names its own help pages.   Making further appeal to reason, If their site is already up and running, they already have there own help:searching, so the only real question is the ability to rename a file in a tarball.  I know that this is routinely done.


 * Finally in an appeal to reason, even if all other help pages shipped by name only (the names had to match), are we really sacrificing our own help:namespaces and help:subpages so we had to forgo all our own help files? Or is  help:search our only sacrifice, I mean we don't use this help:search, we use help:cirrussearch.  Can't we help:search our way to it, like we would help:namespaces? Cpiral (talk) 07:20, 13 September 2015 (UTC)


 * MediaWiki does not ship with any help page. Your questions are going off topic, see Project:PD Help and its talk if interested in the topic of how the Help namespace is managed here. --Nemo 08:46, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

New help link on search pages
MediaWiki 1.27/Roadmap shows 1.27.0-wmf.5 is deployed on Wikimedia projects November 3, 4, 5. Per T115429 it adds a "Help" link in the upper right corner of search pages. By default it goes to https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Searching. See for example testwiki:Special:Search. The target can apparently be changed in the local MediaWiki:Search-helppage. Wikimedia wikis use CirrusSearch so it seems at least one of these should be done: PrimeHunter (talk) 17:00, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
 * 1) Change the default for all wikis to be https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:CirrusSearch (cannot be done from here)
 * 2) Direct Wikimedia users more prominently to Help:CirrusSearch at top of Help:Searching
 * 3) Change Help:Searching to focus on CirrusSearch.
 * (2) was already done. Nemo 20:53, 4 November 2015 (UTC)
 * It currently says:
 * NB This page summarizes the built-in search function. A wiki may have more detailed information about available options and features enabled on it, for example the Help:CirrusSearch for this wiki.
 * It only says "this wiki", and few users will know whether their wiki has CirrusSearch. The new help link will probably generate significant traffic from other wikis. The English Wikipedia plans to replace it with en:Help:Searching but many others will keep the default link. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:24, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Hello all, I think PrimeHunter's first option is what really needs to be done. I have a task with a little more info, but I'd love more feedback and thoughts. Cpiral, Nemo, and others - does this course of action sound right to you? CKoerner (WMF) (talk) 22:00, 22 July 2016 (UTC)


 * For MW and WMF simply configure MediaWiki:Search-helppage to the value "Help:CirrusSearch". Wikipedia did.  MediaWiki did not. Wikiversity did not, etc. (1) implies there is a central, WMF config file, with a "default" to change for "all (WMF) wikis".  I don't know that there is such a place or thing. (2) is ugly and confusing.  (3) is not an option because an install will usually import the Help namespace and not install CirrusSearch.
 * For software development: Default install value for the help-search link should link to this content. (Could be a URL to this page, or a wikilink to an imported copy of this page. Importing is a most likely scenario because help pages are useful.) How do most installs configure themselves?
 * Although I trust PrimeHunter in these matters, I think we also need to consider a fourth option: the possibility that most standard installs import the Help and Manual namespaces. If so, the best option is none of the above: the default in question should then be a local wikilink to Help:Searching, even if it's a red link.  According to one installer fixing red links is a normal installation-cleanup task.  But please bear with this guess, as I have yet to install, and have yet to read the install and configuration pages. -- Cpiral (talk) 03:33, 23 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Just a head's up for those interested, there is a patch in review that should fix this. CKoerner (WMF) (talk) 22:36, 3 August 2016 (UTC)

Search for exact page name still brings up search result, not the page
When I search on my 1.26.2 Mediawiki, it always "searches", even if I search for a precise page name. For example, searching for "Special:Version", I get: >There were no results matching the query. >There is a page named "Special:Version" on this wiki.

It should just take me directly though. I'm not sure why that's happening 99.225.139.21 20:19, 24 February 2016 (UTC)


 * JavaScript is required for Vector skin to navigate instead of search. It's the opposite with MonoBook. Cpiral (talk) 06:11, 10 July 2016 (UTC)

CirrusSearch
When CirrusSearch became the default search engine, some of the info on this page became, and remains, out of date. Perhaps a much shorter page and a link to w:en:Help:Searching would serve us better?

CirrusSearch can do case-sensitive searches
Normal searches (which rely on indexes and are thus fast and efficient) are case-insensitive, but regexp searches are case sensitive by default.--Elvey (talk) 20:04, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

CirrusSearch usually searches only the visible text?
Not true! CirrusSearch has insource: for that; otherwise template arguments, URLs, links, html, etc are missed. But content coming from an included template WILL be picked up. I'm thinking a much shorter page and a link to w:en:Help:Searching would serve us better.--Elvey (talk) 20:17, 6 April 2016 (UTC)


 * I've made a request at Project:Support desk. An admin should fix the problem where the help link on the search results page goes here. (A possible fix is described at Help talk:CirrusSearch.) -- Cpiral (talk) 06:07, 10 July 2016 (UTC)