We've been using wpForo for a number of months now and, while generally happy, the biggest complaint from our members is regarding forum search, and I have to agree with them, it just doesn't work as expected, especially with regard to phrase matching. For example, if I know the phrase "blue widget" exists in one of our posts and I search for blue widget (without quote marks) then it treats the query as "blue OR widget" which is fine and results are returned for either word, but if I search for "blue widget" (with quote marks) then no results are returned at all which is incorrect and completely useless.
Am I and our members misunderstanding how forum search works and using the incorrect syntax maybe? I can't find any documentation regarding the need to use different/non standard syntax for search queries. Please help so that we can make our members happy again!
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Forum search not working as expected
We've been using wpForo for a number of months now and, while generally happy, the biggest complaint from our members is regarding forum search, and I have to agree with them, it just doesn't work as expected, especially with regard to phrase matching. For example, if I know the phrase "blue widget" exists in one of our posts and I search for blue widget (without quote marks) then it treats the query as "blue OR widget" which is fine and results are returned for either word, but if I search for "blue widget" (with quote marks) then no results are returned at all which is incorrect and completely useless.
Am I and our members misunderstanding how forum search works and using the incorrect syntax maybe? I can't find any documentation regarding the need to use different/non standard syntax for search queries. Please help so that we can make our members happy again!
Hi @upstartdm,
I've also updated to the latest version 1.8.2. What I have tested (me and my team), is that the Search Functionality of the Forum works best with one keyword in the "Search Phrase". This returns exact Results.
I'll just share it here in the Community as well, so that the Support Team can also zero in on how they can resolve some of these issues.
Test scenario #1: Forum Search Widget test with one keyword:
SearchIt123
returns correct Search
Test scenario #2: Two Keywords returns the first keyword "SearchIt123" correctly,
But the second keyword "Again" returns all instances of "again".
It should be boolean search "AND". The results seem to generate "OR".
Test scenario #3: If the two keywords "SearchIt123" and "Again" are typed and placed in quotation marks, like so
"SearchIt123 Again"
it returns a blank result.
I can't find any documentation regarding the need to use different/non standard syntax for search queries. Please help so that we can make our members happy again!
Test scenario #4: If the two keywords "SearchIt123" and "Again" are typed and on the Search Type dropdown, select "Find Topics by Tags"
"SearchIt123 Again"
it returns an exact result.
So what I did on our Forum is I created documentation or posts, to encourage Members / Users to also select the "Search Type" = "Find Topic by Tags"
The Test Scenario #3 above didn't work out because the Search Functionality wasn't designed that way. 🙂
The Search Functionality of wpForo is quite robust and I have been real happy with it, especially when we learn how it works, by design, as we use and test it.
And we can share tips learned with others, too. 🙂
Good luck and God bless you! 🙂
