 | Scope of the search engine The search engine covers the entire site:
except SITE FAQ & E-MAIL RULES - this has its own search engine; you must be in that section to use it
except a few other items given in the table at the bottom of the page
opt to search partitions - via a drop-down menu you can search just certain site sections e.g. CREW. partition contents
Here are illustrated details on how to use the Entire Site search engine.
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| The hotkey feature takes you to a search query box from most pages - press the  button on your keyboard. Details/Exceptions. (Most pages have the feature.) |
| Using capital letters is irrelevant (as Seven would say) because the search query box is not case-sensitive. The ranked results will come only from a total match on the words and phrases which you supply. |
| Type words correctly. Common errors (with corrections). |
| How To Search: Type words into the entry box that you want to search for, then click [Engage].
- Any Word:
- Just type one or more words to find any of the words. [ Find ANY ] is the usual default.
- All Words:
- Type more than one word and select [ Find ALL ] from the drop-down menu to find all of the words.
Or you can use Booleans (see below).
- Exact Phrase: "..."
- You can search for exact phrases by surrounding them in double quotes. Or you can just type the words and select [ Find EXACT phrase ] from the drop-down menu. Punctuation must be the same to be found between words, for example "Janeway, Kathryn"
- Boolean Operators: + -
- Use + in front of each word or a quoted phrase that you require.
Use - in front of each word that you want to exclude.
- Boolean Expressions: AND OR NOT ( )
- Use AND, OR, NOT, (, and ) to form a Boolean expression. AND requires, OR allows, NOT excludes.
Use double quotes to protect the words "and", "or", or "not" in a phrase.
Examples:
| Query |
Gets the documents with |
| warp core |
'warp' or 'core' or both |
| "warp core" |
the phrase 'warp core' |
| +warp +core |
'warp' and 'core' |
| +warp -core |
'warp' but not 'core' |
| +starship -"Voyager" |
'starship' but not 'Voyager' |
| (Federation OR starship) AND NOT Voyager |
'Federation' or 'starship', and without 'Voyager' |
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| If an initial search yields nothing, or not as much as you'd hope, try adding a connected word to your query. The ranked results will come from a total match on the words and phrases which you supply, so try to think of several specific terms for your topic. It may help to include important plurals and derived words, like [address addresses contact contacting information] |
| If searching "Seven of Nine" also search "Seven" (I refer to her as "Seven" more often than "Seven of Nine"; "Seven" and "Seven of Nine" is the most frequent query.) |
| Number of search results returned per search PicoSearch returns a pre-set (generous) maximum number of mentions per page, otherwise searches could be overwhelmingly long. Some common words occur thousands of times on site. Refine your search - add extra word(s), you can use Boolean expressions (see above), and do not forget you can use punctuation too. |
| Searching within results You can search within results by clicking the checkbox beside "within results". Or go to the page and use my on-page word-searcher/your brower's on-page searcher (more). |
| Know the episode name but not the episode number? As episodes are usually quoted with their number, in the format [#32 Meld], search episode name] i.e. omitting the first bracket, e.g. search Meld] should find "[Meld]" and also "[#32 Meld]". |
| Can't find a word but think it is on site? See the exclusions below and Troubleshooting.
Try searching again. I once found searching "st dvd" produced "not found" but I knew it existed so I tried again a few seconds later and it found 74 documents. |
| You can't search the following, where (as elsewhere on site) capital letters denote major sections accessible from the Bridge:
| Pages in frames format which have no red notice‡ at the top of the page | Usually you can search the relevant index page in which I have also seeded keywords for search engines. ‡The red notice at the top of certain frames pages includes a link to the frameset. This means that if you go to the page from a search engine you can easily restore the page to view it as it was intended, to include full navigation. |
| ANAGRAMS | In addition, access anagram quizzes at QUIZ INDEX. |
| VOYCABULARY | Has own various search features. Frames format. |
| THE STARFLEET SURVIVAL GUIDE | You can search keywords which, along with subsection headings, are on the searchable index page. Frames format. |
| Individual quizzes, puzzles, and games | The various index pages can be searched but not individual puzzles etc. |
| Flash movies | In FLASH MOVIES INDEX, and sorted by episode in SHIP'S LOGS: EPISODE GUIDES. In SHIP'S LOGS: EPISODE GUIDES try search "pop-up", though that will find all instances of "pop-up" not just re Flash movies. FLASH MOVIE INDEX is frames format and cannot be searched. |
| SHIP'S TWIGS | Has episode list you can search. Frames format. |
| SITE FAQ & E-MAIL RULES | This section has its own search engine - you need to be in that section to use it. |
| Help pages. | Access these from the relevant pages. |
| Light-hearted items. | Access via the Bridge's Navigation Array - SECTION 13: LIGHT-HEARTED. |
| E-card pages. | Card and customisation choices are available when you choose to send one (access via the Bridge). My e-cards webhost cannot be searched. |
| Pop-up windows. | These, and any relevant text (which is searchable), are indicated by the text that invokes them. Pop-up windows tend to contain content like Flash movies or a Kb-large image - neither have searchable text anyway - and are done like that to enable you to surf while you download. |
| Programming code. | You cannot use search engines to search it but you can go to most pages and view the source code by invoking your browser's view source command. |
| Image filenames. | All save a tiny fraction are text-labelled or described in nearby narrative, and the text can be searched. |
| Sound filenames. | Most are in SOUNDS & VOICES. Episode clips are sorted in episode and Season order in SOUNDS: Audio Clips From Episodes. All soundfiles appear in the appropriate entry of SHIP'S LOGS: EPISODE GUIDES. |
| Seasonal pages e.g. Christmas | These cannot be searched in or out of season. Most or all are moved or even removed out of season, as part of the continual webspace optimisation process because, for regular sections such as Christmas, content varies from year to year. |
| External links/sites. | These are given on relevant pages and many in OFFSITE LINKS. External links (as distinct from external websites) are searchable if they are not excluded from the search engine e.g. because they are in frames format. The OFFSITE LINKS pages can be searched using your browser's on-page search facility. External sites can be found via internet search engines. |
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