As others have mentioned, it looks like the search is not filtering out "premium" content. When I search for "floating disk", I get a link to Tenser's Floating Disk, even though that's not part of the basic content.
Also, I searched originally for "floating disc", but got no results at all. I think it'd be great if it could find "Floating Disk" from that.
We chose to go ahead and allow the premium content to be returned in the results since we are showing only small snippets of text in the results. Clicking through to the actual items will result in a 403 Forbidden until the content is unlocked.
In regards to the "disc" vs. "disk", I'll be working on the nGram and Stemmers this weekend to make the query a little more lenient.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. It will really help use fine-tune the system!
Will there be a way in the future to be able to filter out content that we don't have access to, or maybe an icon on each result saying that you don't have access to this content rather than only finding out when you click though?
Having an icon on the result to indicate that this result is an item that you haven't unlocked sounds like a pretty good idea, rather than having to click it to find out.
Having an icon on the result to indicate that this result is an item that you haven't unlocked sounds like a pretty good idea, rather than having to click it to find out.
I like this. I think it might be nice to have some type of filter to show results only for content you have access to.
If there's some way to add certain words to the list of commonly mistyped words, "poision" for "poison" should probably be on it.
Would it be possible to grey out the text on the filter buttons for the ones that aren't selected. I notice that the active filters have a brighter color and a ring around them which is awesome. I think if the text was black only for those active and a lighter gray for those that weren't, it would help the active filters stand out even more.
Having an icon on the result to indicate that this result is an item that you haven't unlocked sounds like a pretty good idea, rather than having to click it to find out.
I like this. I think it might be nice to have some type of filter to show results only for content you have access to.
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I agree with these suggestions. Especially the filter option. Not only does this save pointless clicks, but down the road if you add features that allow, say, a DM to lock races not approved for the campaign, or even hide monster or magic item stats for a player (assuming the player agrees to give the DM that control).
For fun I searched for "rouge" and was amused and simultaneously dismayed by all of the places this was found in the forums. :) Sadly, "rogue" was not in the suggested terms.
Most of the time I am going to want to search all categories except for the forums.
Is there a way to add the option to toggle off one of the filters for the global search when all categories are currently enabled? (As opposed to toggling on the filter for one of the categories, which I still want to also be an option.) Maybe a smaller "x" or "-" symbol in the corner of each category?
Alternatively maybe an "Official Content" filter button? Not sure offhand what the cleanest UI would be for this yet, but it certainly isn't clicking all of the non-forum categories on one by one.
Most of the time I am going to want to search all categories except for the forums.
Is there a way to add the option to toggle off one of the filters for the global search when all categories are currently enabled? (As opposed to toggling on the filter for one of the categories, which I still want to also be an option.) Maybe a smaller "x" or "-" symbol in the corner of each category?
Alternatively maybe an "Official Content" filter button? Not sure offhand what the cleanest UI would be for this yet, but it certainly isn't clicking all of the non-forum categories on one by one.
You can select the icons on the top in which you want to narrow your search. Here an example
Most of the time I am going to want to search all categories except for the forums.
Is there a way to add the option to toggle off one of the filters for the global search when all categories are currently enabled? (As opposed to toggling on the filter for one of the categories, which I still want to also be an option.) Maybe a smaller "x" or "-" symbol in the corner of each category?
Alternatively maybe an "Official Content" filter button? Not sure offhand what the cleanest UI would be for this yet, but it certainly isn't clicking all of the non-forum categories on one by one.
You can select the icons on the top in which you want to narrow your search. Here an example
It is not that you cannot already do that filter. It is about the amount of clicks needed to do so: Instead of having to do five clicks to select all the bubbles except the forum one, why not have the option to just deselect the forum bubble from all?
Thus my recommendation: Remove the "all" bubble and make "select all" and "deselect all" two clickable options that select/deselect all the bubbles. Given that all bubbles selected is the default, removing the forum is then one click, selecting a single category is then two clicks (up from now one), and to select a single different category is also two clicks (as it is now). As an added bonus, the "deselect all" option does not have to do another search query, since it would return empty anyway.
PLEASE separate the forum search. The last thing I need at the table is useful search results lost in forum spam. Please leave forum search separated in the forum section of the site.
I'll stop in and say that we appreciate the feedback regarding global search. We are actively discussing how best to act on all the suggestions - more to come in the next few weeks.
I just realized that the filter selection is not saved between searches. That needs to change. It is especially frustrating to see the forum results every time.
Also, while a new search is loading, the filter bubbles cannot be clicked. This means I have to wait for the search to finish to select additional filters if I wasn't fast enough to select them before the search began.
And another thing that frustrates me a bit is that the page jumps to the top after a search finishes. Especially with the fact that a click on a filter bubble does not always register until the search is finished, if I wasn't on top of the page when clicking the bubbles, the bubbles change position after the search finishes - and the place on screen I was fanatically clicking to do another filter might now lead me to the item list.
Wouldn't it be possible to load the search results via AJAX request and just patch them into the already loaded page (like you already do with the "Top result")? There should really be no need to reload the whole page every time. My browser console tells me, that an empty search result is 6.0 KB in size. That size is purely overhead! An AJAX request should have required only a few bytes to return an empty result.
I know that a change to an AJAX based search might not be feasible, but I think it would solve all of the problems I mentioned in this post.
I wanted to post one voice in favor of keeping forum searches in by default. I realize that defaults should cater to the majority, and that the majority of posters in this thread seem to prefer that it be excluded by default, but I wonder how representative they are of the community at large. I, for one, would prefer forum searches to be included in the default search, since when I'm looking for something, I'm often not sure what it is exactly, and the forum results could help me realize how to search for it better, since users are often confused in the same way.
[...] when I'm looking for something, I'm often not sure what it is exactly, and the forum results could help me realize how to search for it better, since users are often confused in the same way.
This is certainly a valid use case for the search but you should also consider how often this will be the case. I would argue that the majority of the time people will be looking for a specific spell, monster, ability, item, action, etc. and the current system makes doing so needlessly tedious to sift through forum results in order to find what you actually wanted. I feel that anyone that wants to receive forum results aren't in the middle of playing a game and don't benefit as much from instantaneous information and instead can just go to the forums and search from there (or press the forum filter on the global search that would be toggled off by default).
Do you think that a system like that would be acceptable to people that primarily want forum information?
No offense to the posters on any forum, but they tend to be low quality material that is not worth including in the general search scope of a paid product.
That said, I wouldn't mind having them included, but they definitely should be listed after all the possible compendium results instead of mixed in.
[...] when I'm looking for something, I'm often not sure what it is exactly, and the forum results could help me realize how to search for it better, since users are often confused in the same way.
[...] I would argue that the majority of the time people will be looking for a specific spell, monster, ability, item, action, etc. and the current system makes doing so needlessly tedious to sift through forum results in order to find what you actually wanted. I feel that anyone that wants to receive forum results aren't in the middle of playing a game and don't benefit as much from instantaneous information and instead can just go to the forums and search from there (or press the forum filter on the global search that would be toggled off by default).
Do you think that a system like that would be acceptable to people that primarily want forum information?
First, I don't think that people should interrupt games by searching for rules at all. If you don't know it and can't find it in the books within literally 5 seconds, make something up and look it up afterwards. Searching for, reading and analyzing rules is not fun. When you're at the table, you're there to have fun. That's rule zero in my house rule collection below.
Second, I often search for rule interactions that are better analyzed in fora than in rulebooks. If the forum here is not as good as EnWorld's, Giant in the Playground's, or reddit, maybe we should start encouraging folks to "like" helpful posts. For example, learning that the champion archetype is not considered as fun as the other archetype is about as useful as the linking the archetype itself. I say that for two reasons: first, one information invites exploring the other more carefully, and second, one might see how others have fixed this with their houserules.
I wouldn't be opposed to weighing the forum information more lightly, especially if the searched terms are identical or almost identical to an entry heading. But I would be opposed to hiding then my default, as xamu is suggesting above.
Hey so I noticed two things searching Bugbear on the Global Search.
First result was a Bugbear Races page that went to a 403 (which was awesome by the way, loved the little extras being put into this)
With the Top Result from the forums (Today's Monster of the Day!) The sidebar that shows a snippet of the Top Result is not formatting properly with symbols in the body. This is what is shown: Today’s monster is the Bugbear (bold italics I added for effect)
Also, not sure if it changed since people were complaining but I love the way it's setup now. Do not auto filter anything, please. Let the user decide what they want to filter after showing all results. I'm sure Forum results will be mostly useless to me, however, it's not like they're going to jump out of the screen and kill me. With everything being shown before the Forum results I'm not sure what people are complaining about. It's not like they have to read them... Unless they have some sort of OCD lol
Ok, so how about allowing this control from user settings? Have some base settings that can be controlled by user, such as forum search ability, with then the ability to override on a case basis on the search screen?
Simple. Some people want forum search as default, others want it off by default. By making it a user control panel setting, you give people the CHOICE to toggle it how they like, as opposed to enforcing a single view.
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Having an icon on the result to indicate that this result is an item that you haven't unlocked sounds like a pretty good idea, rather than having to click it to find out.
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For fun I searched for "rouge" and was amused and simultaneously dismayed by all of the places this was found in the forums. :) Sadly, "rogue" was not in the suggested terms.
Most of the time I am going to want to search all categories except for the forums.
Is there a way to add the option to toggle off one of the filters for the global search when all categories are currently enabled? (As opposed to toggling on the filter for one of the categories, which I still want to also be an option.) Maybe a smaller "x" or "-" symbol in the corner of each category?
Alternatively maybe an "Official Content" filter button? Not sure offhand what the cleanest UI would be for this yet, but it certainly isn't clicking all of the non-forum categories on one by one.
I would add weight to text in headings when indexing, so a rogue's Sneak Attack would be prominent when searching that term.
PLEASE separate the forum search. The last thing I need at the table is useful search results lost in forum spam. Please leave forum search separated in the forum section of the site.
I'll stop in and say that we appreciate the feedback regarding global search. We are actively discussing how best to act on all the suggestions - more to come in the next few weeks.
Thanks!
I just realized that the filter selection is not saved between searches. That needs to change. It is especially frustrating to see the forum results every time.
Also, while a new search is loading, the filter bubbles cannot be clicked. This means I have to wait for the search to finish to select additional filters if I wasn't fast enough to select them before the search began.
And another thing that frustrates me a bit is that the page jumps to the top after a search finishes. Especially with the fact that a click on a filter bubble does not always register until the search is finished, if I wasn't on top of the page when clicking the bubbles, the bubbles change position after the search finishes - and the place on screen I was fanatically clicking to do another filter might now lead me to the item list.
Wouldn't it be possible to load the search results via AJAX request and just patch them into the already loaded page (like you already do with the "Top result")? There should really be no need to reload the whole page every time. My browser console tells me, that an empty search result is 6.0 KB in size. That size is purely overhead! An AJAX request should have required only a few bytes to return an empty result.
I know that a change to an AJAX based search might not be feasible, but I think it would solve all of the problems I mentioned in this post.
I wanted to post one voice in favor of keeping forum searches in by default. I realize that defaults should cater to the majority, and that the majority of posters in this thread seem to prefer that it be excluded by default, but I wonder how representative they are of the community at large. I, for one, would prefer forum searches to be included in the default search, since when I'm looking for something, I'm often not sure what it is exactly, and the forum results could help me realize how to search for it better, since users are often confused in the same way.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
No offense to the posters on any forum, but they tend to be low quality material that is not worth including in the general search scope of a paid product.
That said, I wouldn't mind having them included, but they definitely should be listed after all the possible compendium results instead of mixed in.
I wouldn't be opposed to weighing the forum information more lightly, especially if the searched terms are identical or almost identical to an entry heading. But I would be opposed to hiding then my default, as xamu is suggesting above.
My 5e Houserule Considerations. Please comment freely.
Hey so I noticed two things searching Bugbear on the Global Search.
Also, not sure if it changed since people were complaining but I love the way it's setup now. Do not auto filter anything, please. Let the user decide what they want to filter after showing all results. I'm sure Forum results will be mostly useless to me, however, it's not like they're going to jump out of the screen and kill me. With everything being shown before the Forum results I'm not sure what people are complaining about. It's not like they have to read them... Unless they have some sort of OCD lol
Here's the link for what I searched: https://www.dndbeyond.com/search?q=Bugbear&f=forums&c=forums
Ok, so how about allowing this control from user settings? Have some base settings that can be controlled by user, such as forum search ability, with then the ability to override on a case basis on the search screen?
- Stu
#6321 on Discord.
For what purpose? What advantage would that give people?
Simple. Some people want forum search as default, others want it off by default. By making it a user control panel setting, you give people the CHOICE to toggle it how they like, as opposed to enforcing a single view.
- Stu
#6321 on Discord.