Problem searching for string of words in item descriptions

[Guest]

I sell back issues of magazines. A lot of my buyers are looking for substantive content on their favorite performer.

 

Example: I have 500 magazines that contain photos of Joe Blow. But, I only have 25 magazines that contain an actual Interview with Joe Blow.

 

As things stand, buyers can type in "Joe Blow" in quotation marks and pull up all 500 items that contain Joe Blow.

 

But, if they type in "Interview with Joe Blow" they get zero search results. And I actually do have 25 magazines with the string of words Interview with Joe Blow in them.

 

Buyers are stuck having to view all 500 items...one at a time...to find which ones have actual interviews with him and which do not. My website is getting bigger by the day...nearly 2800 items now...and searching is fast becoming a nightmare.

 

Is there some trick to searching for strings of words? All searches are conducted via Advanced Search (within product descriptions) but...I cannot figure out how to pull up only the 25 items that have Interview with Joe Blow. All I can do is pull up EVERYTHING that has Joe Blow in it or nothing at all.

 

I always thought that placing quotation marks around your keywords would result in that exact string of words being returned in search. It works great with an actor's name....it even works great with an actor that uses their middle name, such as Joe Programmer Blow...so, why won't it work when searching for Interview with Joe Blow?

 

Or, does anyone know of some trick to use when searching for that string of words? Please help!

 

Andrea

[germ]

I searched for this:

 

interview and scott bryce

 

And it narrowed things down a bit...

:blush:

 

Any help at all?

:unsure:

[Guest]

Hi Jim: No, I'm sorry to say it doesn't work.

 

I searched for actor "Steve Burton" and came up with 723 items he's in.

 

Then I searched for Interview and Steve Burton and came up with 740...it must be picking up all instances of the word interview and Steve...but that's about it.

 

I've been googling a lot today trying to find something I can do and I keep running into websites that have something cool for their users to select when searching....something called exact phrase. When selected, their search engine only returns results for the exact string of words they typed in. Doesn't appear to matter how long their search phrases are, either. A lot of periodical databases are using it for visitors that are trying to locate a document they may not know the name of. It's really neat.

 

I wish I knew how to employ something like that in advanced_search.php.

 

Let me give you an odd example of what I'm seeing. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar. If I type in just her last name only...I get 333 results. If I type in her entire name...I get 330, so...it's close. Not perfect (maybe I accidentallly misspelled her first or middle name in the listings), but....it's close.

 

The part that doesn't make sense to me is how I type in "Interview with Steve" and leave off his last name and I still get zero search results. Why will it pick up accurate search results for a 3-word name like hers but not pick up Interview with Steve? Ugh.

 

I appreciate you taking a look, Jim!

 

Andrea

[germ]

Yeah...

:blink:

 

I've been trying different search terms on your site, and nothing seems to do the trick.

 

It proabably has to do with the way the MYSQL query is written.

 

Unfortunately, you could write all I know about MYSQL on the head of a pin, and still have room for Tolstoys "War and Peace", so I aint much help there!

:lol:

[Guest]

Actually, I think I may have just found the problem.

 

I took a string of words that is not boldfaced in my listings and typed them in the searchbox.

 

"Soap Scoops for Another"

 

and it pulled up every listing that phrase is in.

 

The PROBLEM....I think, lol...is the boldface I'm applying to the actor's names.

 

It will not pull up the listings that say Interview with Steve Burton because I always put the names of the actors in boldface.

 

Interview with Steve Burton

 

That's my theory. Whaddya think? Would <b> tags before the actor's name cause some interference with the search results? And, to be perfectly honest...I never close them immediately afterward. I mean...I don't close them after the name is typed. I close them before the next sentence where I don't want boldface. I'm going to go edit a listing and close the <b> tag after a name and see if that's it. I'll post back in a minute...

[Guest]

Well, that didn't fix it. I closed the <b> tag immediately after the actor's name and searched for Interview with Steve and it still won't come up.

 

I have to think that's it, though.

 

When I search for a string of words that is not bolded...search results will be generated.

 

How can I work around that, Jim? Something to tell the search engine to ignore html or....what?

[germ]

Now, You may be on to something here....

:thumbsup:

 

Go here:

 

http://www.soapoperaworld.com/advanced_search.html

 

In the search box, copy /paste this:

 

Interview with Y&R newcomer <b>Siena Goines<b>

 

Then check the "Search In Product Descriptions" box, then click "Search".

[Guest]

Oh, my. But...that must be a fluke because....

 

Go to Advanced Search and type in Interview with <b>Steve Burton<b>

 

Then click on the first result. There is no interview with Steve Burton.

 

There are instances of Interview with and Steve Burton is mentioned as being photographed in the magazine, but...no Interview with Steve Burton.

 

????