March 17, 2010
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Site-Level Search is Here!
Now you can search within specific blogs on Xanga!
I just used it to find a reaaaaally old post from my own site – these were serious times
Here’s how it works:- Optional Search Bar for Your Site – help your readers find their favorite posts from your blog!
- Look & Feel - if you’re using the old “Look & feel” system, you’ve always had the option to add a search bar, but it now includes an option for your readers to search “this site”.
- Xanga Themes – if you’re using Xanga Themes, we’ve added a new search module option for you! Just click to edit your theme >> then click “Add New Modules” >> and then click the new “search” module.
- Search Your Own Site – obviously, this feature is handy for finding your own posts too…
- Everyone can search through at least the last two years of public posts (provided you are included in search results)
- Premium users can search through a full index of all your posts (from the time you joined), including both public and private posts (of course, only you will have access to the search results linking to your private posts)… and your search results are themed, on a new search page hosted on your own site!
Up next: adding search boxes to your private pages for easier access to search. This little project involves some other enhancements to the private pages, which we’ll be writing more about shortly. But in the meantime, please try out the new site-level search options and let us know what you think!
You can search my site here: http://marc.xanga.com/search/?q=props. If you want to try search out without installing search in your theme, just change that url to use your ownusername.
Marc
Comments (91)
Excellent
That’s great!
Wonderful! This will save me so much time. Keep up the good work!
Happy feelings abound!
Great!
YEAH!
Awesome! It was a chore before. :0)
YES, YES, OH YESSSS!!
thank you!
I can’t search my own site because I have friends lock on?
Oohh.. nice!
And the Xanga Team makes another home run! *Excitement, cheers*
I’m so excited, I wanna go punch someone in the face!
Xanga… I love you!
Added it in!
Thank you.
~V
How long does it take for new content to show up in the search results? I had my daughters at the end of Jaunary, and if I search their names, they don’t come up.
Woot!
Yay, thanks!
How come the module is locked into certain positions? And, since I know the likely answer – why didn’t you just allow us to use the code from Google ourselves, and we could have had this years ago?
Awesome. W/ NikBv’s help, I’d added a google search recently to my site; this new one seems to work well on my site w/ look & feel. Will go and try it on my other sites (w/ themes). Thanks, Xanga team!
@SeeBeeWrite - I just posted something within the last hour, and that post is already showing up in my search results. Don’t know why yours is not.
@SeeBeeWrite - it should happen almost right away… I can find that post from January in search results: http://search.xanga.com/searchsite.aspx?q=Adelaide%20and%20Lydia… where did you try the search?
THIS. IS. AWESOME!!!!
Definitely one of the best additions (even IF it’s been done on other sites; that it’s now on Xanga is a very welcome thing). KUDOS!!!
@marc - It’s working now.
Looks absolutely great…well done…always wanted this feature!!
cool beans
Funny, I know the Xanga team is online, because they’re rec’ing this post & responding to other people AFTER my comment. But there’s no answer regarding my questions. Perhaps there is something that they don’t want to tell us?
Love, love. I’ve been waiting for this option for years. Really. This is why I find it so difficult to leave Xanga. You guys are great.
ahh…another new fingled fangled thingie ma hoppie for me to try…lol..Smile
Awesome
love it.
@radicalramblings - Your question was harder than the other one, so I was doing research into it.
“How come the module is locked into certain positions?”
The HTML structure of the search module is totally different from our regular modules, so it turned out to be a lot easier to program it to appear in certain locations. We chose the top of the main content area, the top of the first side, and the second slot in the second side.
If there’s enough interest in having more flexibility around search module placement, we’d be open to doing the extra programming work!
“why didn’t you just allow us to use the code from Google ourselves, and we could have had this years ago?”
I don’t think Google Site Search would work too well on your site, because of your signin lock…
“Funny, I know the Xanga team is online, because they’re rec’ing this post & responding to other people AFTER my comment. But there’s no answer regarding my questions. Perhaps there is something that they don’t want to tell us?”
Sigh, I don’t think I know how to make you happy. I just spent a bunch of this time researching this, and came back to see your comment.
Thank you Xanga Team! http://bohemianlamb.xanga.com/723726197/dear-xanga-team/
Nice.
Put it on my site, works Freakishly fantastic!! Just in time, as I’m migrating old posts to new sites…very good.
You guys are THE VERY BEST and I can say that because I know you and I believe it.
Neat!
It’s so easy, even I managed to add it without screwing up my theme! Thank you, Xanga Team!
Bravo! Thanks!(Can we get some new minis now?)
rules
For some reason this won’t work for me. Is there anything I need to do besides allow searches or whatever?
@ForeverLove_xx - The search module is showing up for me… and searches seem to be working?
http://foreverlove-xx.xanga.com/
EDIT: Ah you have Friends Lock on, so your posts are not in the public index… and you can only search your private index if you’re premium (due to technical reasons for now). So due to how those two things interact, Friends Lock + no Premium = no Site Search results.
Thank you so much! You guys, ROCK!
yay!
@john - I had it on for a few weeks and I just turned it off. When will I be able to search my site without premium then??
w00t. about time
does this include dates of posts because i really miss the calendar feature we had. and when are you guys going to get with it and get some kind of mobile applications?
sweeeet
yes, yes, yes
So I can search “boobs” on my own site?
How can I be included in the search result?
Secondly, can premium user search for protected posts?
Definitely easier than trying to find specific subjects in tags.
LOVE!
it doesn’t work for me
@nbmrockon - Hi! Hmm, looks like it might be what John explained in an earlier comment… “Looks like you have Friends Lock on, so your posts
are not in the public index… and you can only search your private
index if you’re premium (due to technical reasons for now). So due to
how those two things interact, Friends Lock + no Premium = no Site Search results. “
@maths_king2000 - Hi! Friends Locked sites aren’t included in the public search index. But yes, if you are premium you should be able to search all the posts on your own site – including private and protected posts.
I just wait and run across mine by accident. The days that I don’t recognize that accident are those days that I just simply don’t open anything on Xanga. So, do I think Xanga sucks? . . . Well, yeah, sorta . . .
This will be very helpful!
@marc - but i didn’t have friend’s lock on… would it be search engines lock? or anything else?
I love you. Please marry me.
=]] *goes off to celebrate*
@nbmrockon - ahhh, i see now. It’s because your site is rated “c”. Public search results show content rated “b” or lower by default (users can tweak this setting when they are doing searches).
If your site doesn’t require a “c” rating (looks like you rated yourself at that level), then go here and adjust your site rating down to A or B, then you should start seeing your results more easily:
http://www.xanga.com/private/editxangasafebrowse.aspx
@john - I find it very funny that (a) google offers a search engine that you can get money for using, that has fully customizable results pages, etc. just like the new one you have given us and (b) the new module is locked into certain positions…gasp…just like the google adsense modules. Maybe if you (the xanga team, not you personally) had a history of being honest and upfront with users, it wouldn’t always seem like I’m picking on you.
I always wanted a feature like this, but IT DOESN’T WORK FOR ME! Anything I type in, nothing shows up! I guess I’ll just wait until the kinks are worked out…
@monkeytreehugger - looks like you’ve locked your site with Footprints Lock… Footprints Lock has the same impact as Friends Lock (it hides your site from the public search index – you can read a bit more about it here)
@john - I appreciate what you do for us, john!
I’m confused…it lets me search, but it says it can’t find any of my search terms on my site (and I know for a fact that I have used these words before)..
I have said yes to include me in “users search” as well as “weblog ….search”. I said no to “footprints lock” and “friends lock”. however, i have yes for “signin lock”. does this make a difference?
@JusteToiEtMoi - I just tried a few terms from posts on your site and they seemed to show up in results… do you have an example of any specific terms that aren’t working? Thanks! (p.s. if you are signin-locked, then you need to be signed in to see search results from your site)
Ugh, I’ve been wanting something like this for so many years but this doesn’t help at all… All my posts are protected (and I have 5+ years worth of posts) so this is no help whatsoever. : And I got excited for a minute there.
Also, there’s one thing in this I don’t understand… Can people with premium see a snippet of your private entries or whatever when they search? They just can’t see the full entry? That seems like an invasion of privacy, if so… I was confused about that bit:
“Premium users can search through a full index of all your posts (from the time you joined), including
both public and private posts
(of course, only you will have access to the search results linking to
your private posts)… and your search results are themed, on a new
search page hosted on your own site!”
@SarahScannell - if you are a premium user you can search through your *own* private and protected entries (along with all your public entries). Your visitors (including other premium users) cannot see any results related to your private or protected entries – no snippets in search results, no links to those entries, nothing. Visitors who search your site will see results pertaining only to your public entries.
@marc - Okay… What if my friend who is on my protected list had premium and wanted to search my site? I don’t have any public entries so if otherwise it’d be pretty useless.
@marc - Hi there
I actually tried it earlier this morning and it started working. Maybe it just needed some time or something? haha, I just never got around to coming back and editing my post. Thanks so much! ♥
@SarahScannell - hmm, the search index treats “protected” posts the same as it treats “private” posts, so when using search nobody would be able to see protected posts except you. Sorry it wouldn’t be helpful for your visitors, but it might still help you find your own old posts.
Cool beans.
(wiping tears of joy) Thank you so much. (sniffling) I’ve been here for a long time and it gets so hard sometimes to find things I’ve posted that are marked private (for reference). I’m so darn happy now.
You guys should work on delivering higher quality video next…
What was the hold up? ;D
awesome feature, thanks
Finally !!!
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
@john - It doesn’t work!
I do have Friends Lock on, but I *am* a premium member. Please help.
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I’m loving these new changes! Thanks!
Sounds like it could be beneficial.
the search feature isn’t working at all on my site…which is weird because i searched a word i knew would be in my newest post.
Search bars are very useful for setting all the options I want to have access, it has a lot of advantages for example I’m an old man and sometimes I need to buy some Cheap Viagra on line so I have the pharmacy I frequent on the bar.
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