Comments on: Solving bad IA using enterprise search (Reverse Advanced Search) http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/ Men have become the tools of their tools. - Henry David Thoreau Fri, 21 Nov 2008 08:54:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: Jacob Singh http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-164 Jacob Singh Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:38:50 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-164 Hi Peach, I've evaluated both and while faceted search is an excellent module as well, I prefer apache solr because it is faster and it is using a best of breed technology which is emerging in a huge way. So for the time being, I think faceted search provides better integration in some ways (like views, etc) and can be more easily tweaked because it is part of drupal, however I think apache solr is a better investment for the future because it has such a large community, excellent performance and a solid features set. To address your final comment about the setup, it is not terribly difficult, but it is out of reach for many people. To solve that, I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a service providing solr hosting and hopefully at a very attractive price with a free and a free beer version as well! I'll keep you posted. Hi Peach,

I’ve evaluated both and while faceted search is an excellent module as well, I prefer apache solr because it is faster and it is using a best of breed technology which is emerging in a huge way. So for the time being, I think faceted search provides better integration in some ways (like views, etc) and can be more easily tweaked because it is part of drupal, however I think apache solr is a better investment for the future because it has such a large community, excellent performance and a solid features set.

To address your final comment about the setup, it is not terribly difficult, but it is out of reach for many people. To solve that, I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a service providing solr hosting and hopefully at a very attractive price with a free and a free beer version as well! I’ll keep you posted.

]]> By: peach - all drupal themes http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-163 peach - all drupal themes Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:47:34 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-163 Question: When you talked about faceted search I immediately remembered there was this module: http://drupal.org/project/faceted_search But the commenter linked to this: http://drupal.org/project/apachesolr Looks like the latter requires you to do/hire some server-work to install a JAVA application? While the former seems to do the same without requiring the SOLR package. Is this solr going to add more functionality over the plain drupal module? or is it more a performance upgrade. Question: When you talked about faceted search I immediately remembered there was this module:
http://drupal.org/project/faceted_search

But the commenter linked to this: http://drupal.org/project/apachesolr

Looks like the latter requires you to do/hire some server-work to install a JAVA application? While the former seems to do the same without requiring the SOLR package.

Is this solr going to add more functionality over the plain drupal module? or is it more a performance upgrade.

]]> By: Jacob Singh http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-158 Jacob Singh Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:25:17 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-158 Hi Hanan, I think apachesolr would be an excellent choice for you considering you are asking people to select from so many categories. You should give it a whirl. Best, J Hi Hanan,

I think apachesolr would be an excellent choice for you considering you are asking people to select from so many categories.

You should give it a whirl.

Best,
J

]]> By: Jacob Singh http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-157 Jacob Singh Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:24:15 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-157 Hi Robert, Thanks for the comment! I'm sorry I didn't provide a direct link to the <a href="http://drupal.org/project/apachesolr" rel="nofollow"> Apache Solr Module </a> it truly is a gem and will revolutionize a lot of drupal sites IMO. Thank you for your hard work. I plan to send in a lot of patches soon as soon as I finish prototyping my new project. Best, J Hi Robert,

Thanks for the comment! I’m sorry I didn’t provide a direct link to the Apache Solr Module it truly is a gem and will revolutionize a lot of drupal sites IMO.

Thank you for your hard work. I plan to send in a lot of patches soon as soon as I finish prototyping my new project.

Best,
J

]]> By: Robert Douglass http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-156 Robert Douglass Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:41:54 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-156 Yay! I'm thrilled that you are enjoying ApacheSolr, and thank you for your contributions to the project in the form of patches. The module is already pretty cool (thanks to the underlying Solr technology), and there are so many features that can still be implemented. Range facets, spelling suggestions, synonyms, field level boosts.... the list goes on. I encourage anyone interested in search to jump on board and help us make this module sing. Yay! I’m thrilled that you are enjoying ApacheSolr, and thank you for your contributions to the project in the form of patches. The module is already pretty cool (thanks to the underlying Solr technology), and there are so many features that can still be implemented. Range facets, spelling suggestions, synonyms, field level boosts…. the list goes on. I encourage anyone interested in search to jump on board and help us make this module sing.

]]> By: peach - all drupal themes http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-155 peach - all drupal themes Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:48:04 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-155 Very interesting module! I agree about the usability problems with advanced search. Does fac. search even support the way newegg filters by pricerange? If yes than I think I've been stupid not to have installed this module on many websites already. Looking forward to your next post. Very interesting module! I agree about the usability problems with advanced search.
Does fac. search even support the way newegg filters by pricerange? If yes than I think I’ve been stupid not to have installed this module on many websites already.

Looking forward to your next post.

]]> By: Hanan Cohen http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-154 Hanan Cohen Tue, 01 Jul 2008 08:35:27 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-154 I was the webmaster of an NGO website that has a large classified section. You can see in the following link I how did the search. http://shatil.org.il/modaot/joboffer Since probably Hebrew is Greek to you, you might want to know that the columns are - Location - Main function in the job - Type of position Multiple selection is allowed. Number of results is limited to 500 I was the webmaster of an NGO website that has a large classified section. You can see in the following link I how did the search.

http://shatil.org.il/modaot/joboffer

Since probably Hebrew is Greek to you, you might want to know that the columns are
- Location
- Main function in the job
- Type of position

Multiple selection is allowed.

Number of results is limited to 500

]]> By: stephthegeek http://pajamadesign.com/2008/07/01/solving-bad-ia-using-enterprise-search-reverse-advanced-search/#comment-153 stephthegeek Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:48:05 +0000 http://pajamadesign.com/?p=30#comment-153 Man, I LOVE newegg's advanced search. I literally smile every time I use it. Chris and I have had entire conversations praising it and saying that more retailers should treat it as an example. We're shopping for an LCD TV right now and I get so irritated when browsing on any other site. I frequently go to newegg.com just to see what's out there rather than using any other search. So, um, yeah.. a big +1 here. Interfaces should let you do what you want, not have (to me, the user) no good reason to stop me from doing what I think I should be able to do. Removing criteria, adding more specific details (why oh why, bestbuy, must I only be able to filter to 30-39" TVs?? I don't want a 32"!), selecting multiple options. (PS, I totally just scored myself an awesome deal on a 15.4" WUXGA ThinkPad on ebay. Yay for obscenely high resolutions!) Man, I LOVE newegg’s advanced search. I literally smile every time I use it. Chris and I have had entire conversations praising it and saying that more retailers should treat it as an example. We’re shopping for an LCD TV right now and I get so irritated when browsing on any other site. I frequently go to newegg.com just to see what’s out there rather than using any other search. So, um, yeah.. a big +1 here.

Interfaces should let you do what you want, not have (to me, the user) no good reason to stop me from doing what I think I should be able to do. Removing criteria, adding more specific details (why oh why, bestbuy, must I only be able to filter to 30-39″ TVs?? I don’t want a 32″!), selecting multiple options.

(PS, I totally just scored myself an awesome deal on a 15.4″ WUXGA ThinkPad on ebay. Yay for obscenely high resolutions!)

]]>