Help:Searching
Two search boxesTwo search boxes
On the left toolbar present when viewing any page in Proteopedia are two search boxes. The first is the standard wiki search box, similar to what you find in Wikipedia. The second is a Google search box that uses Google to search Proteopedia. 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 boxDisadvantages of the wiki search box
Common failings of the wiki search box are trouble handling plural queries (searching for "dogs" might not return matches for "dog") as well as trouble with captialization queries (searching for "Dog" might not return matches for "dog").
Disadvantages of the Google search boxDisadvantages of the Google search box
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.
"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.
More powerful searchingMore powerful searching
Searching in Proteopedia works in the same way as does searching in Wikipedia, with the addition of some special operators to enhance "full text search".
| * | The asterisk serves as the truncation (or wildcard) operator. |
| + | A leading plus sign indicates that this word must be present in every page returned. |
| - | A leading minus sign indicates that this word must not be present in any page returned. |
| " | Double quotes at the beginning and end of a phrase, matches only pages that contain the complete phrase, as it was typed. |
| By default (when neither + nor - is specified) the word is optional, but the pages that contain it are rated higher. |
Additional informationAdditional information
For additional information, please see:
- Wikipedia: Look It Up. A quick overview.
- Wikipedia: Searching. A detailed explanation.