Help:Searching: Difference between revisions
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==Two search | ==Two search methods== | ||
On the left toolbar present when viewing any page in Proteopedia | On the left toolbar present when viewing any page in Proteopedia is a standard '''wiki search box''', similar to what you find in Wikipedia. The second search method is using Google to search Proteopedia with the search string "site:proteopedia.org ...", where "..." stands for the term or combination of terms you are interested in. Why have two? Performing good searches is a hard task, and the standard wiki search feature often comes up short, so we wanted to provide another option. | ||
===Disadvantages of the wiki search box=== | ===Disadvantages of the wiki search box=== | ||
Words of 3 or fewer characters in length are ignored and cannot be found, for example searching for '''MHC''' fails to find any page text matches, while doing the same search in the Google search box finds many. Words of 4 or more characters are found, e.g. '''hook''' | Words of 3 or fewer characters in length are ignored and cannot be found, for example searching for '''MHC''' fails to find any page text matches, while doing the same search in the Google search box finds many. Words of 4 or more characters are found, e.g. '''hook''', unless they are stop words (see [[Help:Stop Words]]). | ||
===Advantages of the wiki search box=== | ===Advantages of the wiki search box=== | ||
Searching for the singular finds the plural, and vice versa. Searching for the lower case term finds the capitalized term. Examples: | Searching for the '''singular''' finds the '''plural''', and ''vice versa''. Searching for the '''lower case''' term finds the '''capitalized''' term, and ''vice versa''. Examples: | ||
* Searching for '''enzyme''' (singular, not capitalized) finds [[Glycolysis Enzymes]] (plural, capitalized), a page where the singular does not occur. It also finds pages where only the plural (never the singular) term occurs in the text (and neither term in the title), e.g. [[Ouabain]]. | * Searching for '''enzyme''' (singular, not capitalized) finds [[Glycolysis Enzymes]] (plural, capitalized), a page where the singular does not occur. It also finds pages where only the plural (never the singular) term occurs in the text (and neither term in the title), e.g. [[Ouabain]]. | ||
* Searching for '''enzymes''' (plural, not capitalized) finds [[Insulin-Degrading Enzyme]] (singular, capitalized), an article in which the singular term does not occur. It also finds pages where only the singular (never the plural) term occurs in the text, but does not highlight the singular term in red under the page title, e.g. [[Butyrylcholinesterase]]. | * Searching for '''enzymes''' (plural, not capitalized) finds [[Insulin-Degrading Enzyme]] (singular, capitalized), an article in which the singular term does not occur. It also finds pages where only the singular (never the plural) term occurs in the text, but does not highlight the singular term in red under the page title, e.g. [[Butyrylcholinesterase]]. | ||
* Searching for '''Enzyme''' (capitalized) matches the article title [[SUMO conjugating enzyme Ubc9]] (not capitalized), and the text in the page [[Tripeptidyl peptidase]], which contains only the uncapitalized term. | |||
* Searching for '''CASP''' (all upper case) matches '''casp''' in [[3af5]], and '''Casp''' in [[2vsp]]. | |||
* Searching for '''casp''' (all lower case) matches the article title [[CASP]] as well as CASP, Casp, and casp in page text. | |||
You can put double quotes around a phrase to restrict hits to the phrase, rather than getting hits to all pages that include any word in the phrase. See more tips [[#More powerful searching|below]]. | You can put double quotes around a '''phrase''' to restrict hits to the phrase, rather than getting hits to all pages that include any word in the phrase. See more tips [[#More powerful searching|below]]. | ||
You can | You can '''exclude [[Proteopedia:Namespaces|namespaces]]''' that you specify. For example, the automatically-generated ''Category:'' pages may flood your search results, but you can exclude those. See the namespace checkboxes at the bottom of the results from any search. Also, when logged in, you can set your default namespaces for wiki searches in ''my preferences'' (see link at the top of every page to ''my preferences''). | ||
Redirects are excluded from searches by default, and this cannot be changed in ''my preferences''. However, the very last checkbox at the bottom of the search results page is ''List redirects''. Check it and run the search again (using the button near the checkboxes) to see redirects. | '''Redirects''' are excluded from searches by default, and this cannot be changed in ''my preferences''. However, the very last checkbox at the bottom of the search results page is ''List redirects''. Check it and run the search again (using the button near the checkboxes) to see redirects. | ||
<blockquote>What is a redirect? If you enter CRABP in the wiki search box and click ''Go'', you will be redirected and arrive at the page [[Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein]]. Beneath the title, you will see ''Redirected from [http://www.proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=CRABP&redirect=no CRABP]''. Click on [http://www.proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=CRABP&redirect=no CRABP] to see the page titled CRABP that redirects to [[Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein]]. | <blockquote>What is a redirect? If you enter CRABP in the wiki search box and click ''Go'', you will be redirected and arrive at the page [[Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein]]. Beneath the title, you will see ''Redirected from [http://www.proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=CRABP&redirect=no CRABP]''. Click on [http://www.proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=CRABP&redirect=no CRABP] to see the page titled CRABP that redirects to [[Cellular retinoic acid-binding protein]]. | ||
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
===Disadvantages of the Google search | ===Disadvantages of the Google search=== | ||
Recently created pages will not appear when searching using the Google search box because Google needs time to find and index new pages. Additionally, it is impossible to restrict your search to particular namespaces like you can with the wiki search. | Recently created pages will not appear when searching using the Google search box because Google needs time to find and index new pages. Additionally, it is impossible to restrict your search to particular namespaces like you can with the wiki search. | ||
===Advantages of the Google search | ===Advantages of the Google search=== | ||
Three-character length words, such as '''MHC''', are found by Google but are not found by the wiki search box. | Three-character length words, such as '''MHC''', are found by Google but are not found by the wiki search box. | ||
=="Go" versus "Search"== | =="Go" versus "Search"== | ||
In the wiki search box, using the button "Go" will take you directly to a page whose title exactly matches your search query, if it exists. Using the button "Search" will instead perform a search using your search query and take you to a page displaying the results. | In the wiki search box, using the button "Go" will take you directly to a page whose title exactly matches your search query, if it exists. Using the button "Search" will instead perform a search using your search query and take you to a page displaying the results. | ||
==Titles vs. Page Text== | |||
Search results are divided into two sections: | |||
*''Article title matches'' | |||
*''Page text matches'' | |||
This makes it easy to find articles that have your search term in their titles. | |||
==Titles Alphabetically== | |||
You can display a list of article (page) titles that begin with a specified character or characters by using the [[Special:Prefixindex]] search mechanism. | |||
*Searching for "a" lists all page titles beginning with the letter A. | |||
*searching for "alpha" lists all page titles beginning with those characters. | |||
Titles in ''italics'' are redirects to other pages. If you click a redirect, you will go to a page with a different title. Underneath the title you will see "Redirected from ...". Redirects provide alternative titles that users might look for, guiding them to the relevant page. | |||
Note that this mechanism searches '''only one namespace''' at a time. You may need to search several [[Proteopedia:Namespaces|namespaces]]. | |||
A similar mechanism is offered by [[Special:Allpages]]. | |||
==Excluding PDB code-titled pages== | |||
The ''Page text matches'' section of your search results will usually be mostly pages that are title with a 4-character [[PDB code]]. These are automatically-generated "seeded" pages, and are the most numerous pages in Protopedia. | |||
It is easy to restrict your search results to pages created by humans (which are never titled with a PDB code). At the very bottom of your search results are a group of checkboxes. Notice the line | |||
<br> | |||
:'''Include only [ ] Seeded (Automatic) pages - [ ] only Human created pages''' | |||
By checking "only human created pages" you will eliminate all the PDB code-titled pages in your results. | |||
==More powerful searching== | ==More powerful searching== | ||