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Difference between revisions of "Proposals/Done/Search 2.0"

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(→‎Search result page: mention facets)
(add an out-of-scope section)
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* users (firstname, lastname, email)
 
* users (firstname, lastname, email)
 
* groups (name and description)
 
* groups (name and description)
 +
 +
Note that searches will not pick up the content of blocks (e.g. Google Apps block, external feed block, etc.).
  
 
==Search box==
 
==Search box==
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The universal search box will be done in a dashboard block. It can be removed by users but it's also visible for logged out users.
 
The universal search box will be done in a dashboard block. It can be removed by users but it's also visible for logged out users.
  
By defaultl, it will appear above the "popular pages showcase" block.
+
By default, it will appear above the "popular pages showcase" block.
  
 
The types of results you will get depend on the search plugin you have enabled. For example, there will be no full text search in the content of artefacts if using the <tt>internal</tt> plugin.
 
The types of results you will get depend on the search plugin you have enabled. For example, there will be no full text search in the content of artefacts if using the <tt>internal</tt> plugin.
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==Search result page==
 
==Search result page==
  
Clicking on a result will take you as close as possible to the result. For example, if an artefact matches one of the search terms, then clicking on that result will take you to the artefact page (which has a link back to the containing view).
+
Clicking on a result will take you as close as possible to the result. For example, if an artefact matches one of the search terms, then clicking on that result will take you to the artefact page (which has a link back to the containing view) if it exists.
  
 
The page will also use facets so that users can easily hide results in the categories they don't want to see (e.g. hiding the user account and group matches).
 
The page will also use facets so that users can easily hide results in the categories they don't want to see (e.g. hiding the user account and group matches).
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In order to get the universal search working, we'll add new methods to the <tt>internal</tt> search plugin which will only be implemented in <tt>elasticsearch</tt>. Search plugin writers may choose to implement them in their own plugins, but <tt>internal</tt> search is not going to have an implementation for it.
 
In order to get the universal search working, we'll add new methods to the <tt>internal</tt> search plugin which will only be implemented in <tt>elasticsearch</tt>. Search plugin writers may choose to implement them in their own plugins, but <tt>internal</tt> search is not going to have an implementation for it.
  
==Facetted search pages==
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=Search improvements=
 
 
(This may require the Solr search plugin and not have a fallback for the internal search plugin.)
 
 
 
Each of the following existing searches will include a few facets.
 
 
 
* user search ("Find friends"): insitution, institution category, user tags, role (e.g. staff, admin, other)
 
* group search ("Find groups"): group category, group type, group tags
 
* page search ("Shared pages"): institution, institution category, page tags, user tags (user pages), user role (user pages only), group tags (group pages only), group category (group pages only)
 
 
 
==Full-text search for "Shared pages"==
 
 
 
(This may require the Solr search plugin and not have a fallback for the internal search plugin.)
 
  
This will allow users to search in the contents of pages that are visible to them:
+
Other things that we could improve later but that are out of scope at the moment:
  
* artefact content (where it makes sense)
+
* making sure there's only ever 1 search box per page (usability issue)
* artefact description and tags
+
* migrating all slow searches to <tt>elasticsearch</tt> (while retaining the implementation in <tt>internal</tt>)
* filenames
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* search inside the contents of uploaded files (e.g. PDF, ODF, Word documents, text files)
* file contents (e.g. PDF, ODF, Word documents, text files)
 
  
 
=Extra Tagging=
 
=Extra Tagging=

Revision as of 13:21, 25 January 2012

This is a proposal for improving the search experience in Mahara. It covers searching for users, groups and pages (views).

There are a few elements in here which aren't directly related to search but that are designed to provide more metadata and therefore improve the quality of searches.

Full text search

The main goal of this work is to add a universal search box to the home page which will search in:

  • forums (title & description)
  • forum threads (contents)
  • views (title, description, tags)
  • artefacts (tags, content)
  • users (firstname, lastname, email)
  • groups (name and description)

Note that searches will not pick up the content of blocks (e.g. Google Apps block, external feed block, etc.).

Search box

The universal search box will be done in a dashboard block. It can be removed by users but it's also visible for logged out users.

By default, it will appear above the "popular pages showcase" block.

The types of results you will get depend on the search plugin you have enabled. For example, there will be no full text search in the content of artefacts if using the internal plugin.

Search result page

Clicking on a result will take you as close as possible to the result. For example, if an artefact matches one of the search terms, then clicking on that result will take you to the artefact page (which has a link back to the containing view) if it exists.

The page will also use facets so that users can easily hide results in the categories they don't want to see (e.g. hiding the user account and group matches).

Revive lucene plugin

Not sure about the state of the solr search plugin one but we're told it no longer works (see bug #680710) and we'll be using elasticsearch instead.

Plugin architecture

The elasticsearch plugin will inherit from internal search and may in the future override methods that it can implement faster.

In order to get the universal search working, we'll add new methods to the internal search plugin which will only be implemented in elasticsearch. Search plugin writers may choose to implement them in their own plugins, but internal search is not going to have an implementation for it.

Search improvements

Other things that we could improve later but that are out of scope at the moment:

  • making sure there's only ever 1 search box per page (usability issue)
  • migrating all slow searches to elasticsearch (while retaining the implementation in internal)
  • search inside the contents of uploaded files (e.g. PDF, ODF, Word documents, text files)

Extra Tagging

Add user tags

We currently have tags for users but they are set by the system and are not user-editable.

We will make new types of tags which will be defined by each user in their profile area. They will be displayed as part of the Profile Info block.

Furthermore, these tags will be searchable in the "Find friends" and "Copy page" searches.

Add group tags

These tags will be defined by group owners in the group settings. They will be displayed as part of the Group Info block on the group homepage.

The tags will be searchable in the "Find groups" searches.

Group categories will be replaced with group tags.

Create a new "Page Tags" block

Users are already able to assign tags to the pages they create but these tags aren't displayed anywhere on these pages.

Landing pages for tags

When tags are displayed anywhere, it will be in the form of links that will lead to index/landing pages which will display other similar items.

There will therefore be three different landing pages displaying items:

  • one for all users tagged with a particular tag (can be optionally restricted to one of the institution you belong to)
  • one for publicly visible groups tagged with a particular tag
  • one for pages (views) accessible to the current user and tagged with a particular tag