Does the site need a search engine?

Solo_Wing 2015-01-20 03:19:15 UTC #1

I'm just looking through my list of possible enhancements for TWOTA and one was to add a search feature to the site. This is certainly possible, but I wonder if it's really worth it. We already have the related articles, pictures, etc at the bottom of each encyclopaedia entry. So long as everything is linked together well (as it should be), it seems to me that looking up the particular aspect of the Panzer world in the encyclopedia would produce better results than a search engine anyway.

So, is a search engine really needed (especially given that this might be quite a lot of work to implement)?

Shadow 2015-01-20 10:28:36 UTC #2

Search engines are always necessary! It's the easiest way to find the information you want.

However, it's really up to you based on how much work it would be to implement.

Geoffrey_Duke 2015-01-20 17:49:49 UTC #3

I'd say it's low priority.

Shadow 2015-01-23 14:20:37 UTC #4

A search engine might've been useful here......

legaiaflame 2015-01-24 17:55:27 UTC #5

Aside from that, I think the information is very specific and nicely organized. You don't really need a search engine IMO.

Although, someone might overlook the Encyclopedia section since it's not on the left panel. Maybe you could also include the Encyclopedia section as a link along with the Explore the Games section?

Solo_Wing 2015-01-24 19:25:32 UTC #6

I wonder if search would have been useful if that script was properly organised under "Resources" (with the other scripts).

Has this been an issue in practice? The reason why the encyclopaedia is not in the "Browse by Media Type" section is because it's part of the top navigation. Placing it in the left bar would be duplicating the link. One aim of TWOTA4 was to reduce the amount of clutter in the lefthand navigation.

Solo_Wing 2015-01-24 19:36:29 UTC #7

Another option might be to integrate an existing search engine. In DuckDuckGo, for example, you can type in the search bar:

"site:thewilloftheancients.com panzer dragoon saga script"

Here are the results:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Athewilloftheancients.com+panzer+dragoon+saga+script&kh=-1

legaiaflame 2015-01-24 20:59:30 UTC #8

Having it on the left and at the top of the list of PD games, would also let people just quickly browsing the site, know it's directly associated with information for said games.

I can see how the duplication of the link might bother you. I don't think it would be an eye sore being a duplicated link since it's small enough font, but it's more of a nitpicking decision...

Shadow 2015-01-24 22:48:04 UTC #9

That's how i found the script, by using site:thewilloftheancients.com search on Google.

Geoffrey_Duke 2015-01-25 00:50:18 UTC #10

I support Solo on this. People would have to be blind not to see where the link to the Encyclopedia is. I don't believe that we should assume that people are stupid when visiting this site.

Solo_Wing 2015-01-25 03:23:53 UTC #11

I moved a post to a new topic: Separate section for artwork on the left bar

Solo_Wing 2015-01-25 03:27:55 UTC #12

It looks like DuckDuckGo doesn't provide an API to embedding their search results into another website. However, as a simpler solution we could add a search box to TWOTA which displays the results as a regular DuckDuckGo page when the search button is clicked. That would be easiest solution to implement I think, but it has the downside of taking you out of TWOTA temporarily.

Shadow 2015-01-25 11:13:50 UTC #13

I think it's worth waiting to do it properly as opposed to linking in another engine.

Solo_Wing 2015-01-25 19:18:17 UTC #14

One advantage of using an existing search engine is that DuckDuckGo have a lot more resources to put into making the search capabilities accurate. Whereas, I'm just one guy writing a search engine in his spare time. I'd say using an existing service is different, rather than improper.

Solo_Wing 2015-07-11 12:37:18 UTC #15

I've added a search feature. It uses DuckDuckGo and I really think this is better than anything that I could create in a reasonable amount of time (or at all, given the complexities of writing good search algorithms). It looks like there are options for customising the results page, but I haven't spent much time looking into that. In any case, I hope it proves useful.