Difference between revisions of "Help:Searching"
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Under the search box, there are two buttons. | Under the search box, there are two buttons. | ||
| − | * Click the '''Go''' button or press '''Enter''' to go directly to the article whose title matches what you've typed, if it exists. (If not, you'll get a list of the best matches, in effect | + | * Click the '''Go''' button or press '''Enter''' to go directly to the article whose title matches what you've typed, if it exists. (If not, you'll get a list of the best matches, in effect as if you'd pressed the Search button - next.) |
* Click the '''Search''' button to search for all instances of the search terms you've typed. (For example, you may want to see all articles containing the word 'pronoun' rather than go straight to the '[[pronoun]]' article; or indeed, the '[[article]]' article.) | * Click the '''Search''' button to search for all instances of the search terms you've typed. (For example, you may want to see all articles containing the word 'pronoun' rather than go straight to the '[[pronoun]]' article; or indeed, the '[[article]]' article.) | ||
| − | The search results shows articles whose titles contain the search words, followed by articles whose text contains them. | + | The search results shows articles whose titles contain the search words ("'''page title matches'''"), followed by articles whose text contains them ("'''Page text matches'''"). |
== What to search for == | == What to search for == | ||
| − | An article | + | An article has a '''title''' as a dictionary has a headword. For example, the page about nouns is '[[noun]]'; '[[malapropism]]' will tell you what the word means; and '[[-ing]]' will guide you to [[Participle]]: the technical name in grammar for the commonest use of '-ing' is 'the present participle'. (This site also links to '[[verbal noun]]', the other main use of the suffix '-ing'.) If you enter a different form of the word, the search results will usually get you there: the results for '''correspondence''' include '''co-respondent - correspondent''', an article which will help you with the spelling and meaning of correspondence. Guidance about some words is mentioned in an article with a completely different title: such a link should be shown in the '''Page text matches'''. |
Some articles are about several words - these usually clarify common confusions or spelling errors. Such articles can be reached by searching for any of the individual words. You'll find help on the difference between [[Flaunt - flout|flaunt and flout]] whether you search for 'flaunt' or 'flout'. | Some articles are about several words - these usually clarify common confusions or spelling errors. Such articles can be reached by searching for any of the individual words. You'll find help on the difference between [[Flaunt - flout|flaunt and flout]] whether you search for 'flaunt' or 'flout'. | ||
| + | |||
| + | There are also articles on more general topics, such as [[etymology]] or the spelling pattern [[-eign]]. Some such articles contain advice on particular examples of the phenomenon described in the general articles: a search for 'deign', for example, will take you to the '-eign' page. | ||
== Limitations == | == Limitations == | ||
Revision as of 13:39, 6 August 2007
The search box appears down the left hand side of every page. You can type in a single word you want help on or several words to search for.
You may want a quick answer to an immediate question, perhaps as a result of proof-reading an assignment, or a question about a particular word - perhaps one that has been marked as wrong. First, type the word itself in the search box.
Under the search box, there are two buttons.
- Click the Go button or press Enter to go directly to the article whose title matches what you've typed, if it exists. (If not, you'll get a list of the best matches, in effect as if you'd pressed the Search button - next.)
- Click the Search button to search for all instances of the search terms you've typed. (For example, you may want to see all articles containing the word 'pronoun' rather than go straight to the 'pronoun' article; or indeed, the 'article' article.)
The search results shows articles whose titles contain the search words ("page title matches"), followed by articles whose text contains them ("Page text matches").
What to search for
An article has a title as a dictionary has a headword. For example, the page about nouns is 'noun'; 'malapropism' will tell you what the word means; and '-ing' will guide you to Participle: the technical name in grammar for the commonest use of '-ing' is 'the present participle'. (This site also links to 'verbal noun', the other main use of the suffix '-ing'.) If you enter a different form of the word, the search results will usually get you there: the results for correspondence include co-respondent - correspondent, an article which will help you with the spelling and meaning of correspondence. Guidance about some words is mentioned in an article with a completely different title: such a link should be shown in the Page text matches.
Some articles are about several words - these usually clarify common confusions or spelling errors. Such articles can be reached by searching for any of the individual words. You'll find help on the difference between flaunt and flout whether you search for 'flaunt' or 'flout'.
There are also articles on more general topics, such as etymology or the spelling pattern -eign. Some such articles contain advice on particular examples of the phenomenon described in the general articles: a search for 'deign', for example, will take you to the '-eign' page.
Limitations
The search engine deliberately ignores common words that occur very frequently. These include short words and words like "have" or "from".
However, these short or common words are often precisely the ones that readers may be interested in! (There's a lot to be said about 'and' or 'its'.)
Because articles exist with precisely these titles, you can jump straight to them with the Go button. However, using the Search button will give no results.
More help
See Help:Contents.
