search

When Drupal does a content search, it optionally weighs the results using up to four scoring factors. These scoring factors include keyword relevancy, recency of the content, number of comments, and (if statistics module is enabled), the number of page views. Site administrators can adjust the relative weighting of these scoring factors from the example.com/admin/settings/search administration page. Setting any scoring factor to zero disables it.

In this article, which applies primarily to Drupal 6 but is relevant for Drupal 5 as well, I explore how useful these scoring factors really are, and whether they help Drupal search live up to the high standards that are set by leaders like Google and Yahoo!. This article is part of a series of search related articles in preparation for the Minnesota Search Sprint.

Continuing the great and growing tradition of bringing people together in small groups to attack focused problems, a search related code sprint has been planned. From May 9 to 11, in the headquarters of the University of Minnesota Libraries, a small but dedicated group of Drupal coders will be melding minds to bring forth the next generation of Drupal search.

Why Search?

Drupal has a great search module. The search index it builds powers search on Drupal.org and thousands of other sites. It is a critical piece of the Drupal project and fundamental to countless sites built on Drupal. Being able to effectively search for issues and solutions is a cornerstone of keeping the Drupal.org community happy and productive, so investing in making search even better is akin to investing in Drupal’s overall success.