View source for Help talk:Searching/Archive 6

{{talkarchive}}

== Spaces ==

I think I'd better say clearly that recent changes I made actually change what users are recommended to do. The document essentially said "spaces are optional in most cases, but in a few instances ''must not'' be present" (e.g., in, ''Insource:''). I think that is confusing. There is no reason to type spaces if they're not needed, so I've changed this to say essentially "don't use spaces if they're not needed, but they're usually (not always) ignored if you do". Full details were, and are continued to be, supplied; it's just the recommended use that's changed. I've also removed some unnecessary spaces from examples. I've already done this, and nobody seems to be objecting, but I thought I'd better point it out. Best wishes, [[User:Pol098|Pol098]] ([[User talk:Pol098|talk]]) 19:00, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

== Edit Request ==

{{edit semi-protected|answered=yes}}
{{redirect|WP:S|the Sandbox|WP:SB}}
:[[File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format.<!-- Template:ESp --> - <span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS">[[User:Mlpearc|<span style="color:#800000">'''Mlpearc'''</span>]] <small>([[User talk:Mlpearc|<span style="color:#FFD700">'''open channel'''</span>]])</small></span> 05:12, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

== Exclude all subpages from search ==

{{hatnote|Crossposted from [[WP:HD#Exclude all subpages from search|WP:HD]].}}

Is it possible to exclude all subpages from a Wikipedia search? [[Help:Searching]] gives only a way to ''restrict'' your search to subpages. I want to search the WP namespace ''without'' sifting through a thousand results for [[WP:Articles for deletion/Foo]] and the like. Is this possible? —[[Special:Contributions/67.14.236.50|67.14.236.50]] ([[User talk:67.14.236.50|talk]]) 00:42, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

== Searching for *two* quoted strings in quotes? ==

If what I search for in the search box is
*"Alpha Beta" Gamma
that works fine as does
*Alpha "Gamma Delta"
But if I search for 
*"Alpha Beta" "Gamma Delta"
The first hits are for things like the article on quotation marks. This occurs regardless of the contents of the strings inside the quotation marks. Ideas?[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 16:06, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

== [[WP:Request a query]] ==

Pursuant to the discussion at [[WP:VPT#GA reviews]], I suggested and {{noping|Edgars2007}} followed up on the creation of a page to [[WP:Request a query]] based on the success of the [[:d:WD:Request a query|similarly named page at Wikidata]]. Just wanted to let the kinds of persons who follow the page here know about it, in case someone comes along and find their search insufficient. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 17:38, 14 January 2017 (UTC)

== Considering adding the following at the end of section 'From any web page' ==

In you use the Chrome browser with Windows then you can add a setting to the browser's context menu that enables you to use google to make a restricted search of wikipedia from any webpage for words that you highlight in the page.

* From any page, highlight a word (using either mouse or keyboard gestures).
* Now, either right-click or Shift+F10.
* Select menu item 'Context Menu Search' with either mouse-click or arrow keys then Enter.
* Select menu item 'Options', at the bottom.
* See a form entitled 'Add more Search Engines manually'
* In the 'Display name' field enter en.wikipedia (or a name for this item of your choice).
* In the 'Link' field entered exactly https://www.google.ca/search?q=site%3Aen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2F+%s
* Now click on 'Add new option'
* See a form entitled 'Manage Context Menu Items'
* Click on 'Save new config'
* Close the tab (Mouse gesture or Ctrl-F4).
 
Now, whenever you want to search for a word or series of words in any page from within Chrome simply highlight the search item, right-click on it, select 'Context Menu Search' and select 'en.wikipedia'.

'''My questions'''

* Any objections?
* A better place for the inclusion of this, assuming it's unavailable elsewhere? <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:SewerCat|SewerCat]] ([[User talk:SewerCat#top|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/SewerCat|contribs]]) </small>
:[[Help:Searching]] might say some external search engines like Google can search the English Wikipedia by placing <code>site:en.wikipedia.org</code> in the search box. I think Chrome instructions for a shortcut to this is too detailed. https://www.google.ca is Google Canada. Please use https://www.google.com if you make instructions anywhere. [[Help:Searching from a web browser]] seems better suited for browser details. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 20:49, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

::{{reply to|PrimeHunter}} I appreciate your thoughts! I was aware of the fact that Google can be an option in the search box but I find this much easier to use and I thought that others might too. Missed the Google Canada entirely. Can you given me some general rule for reducing the level of detail. I agree about where this should go. [[User:SewerCat|SewerCat]] ([[User talk:SewerCat|talk]]) 14:25, 14 May 2017 (UTC)

== New search results feature ==

In the ongoing effort to improve the discoverability of all the world's knowledge, the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Discovery#Search Discovery] team is proposing an enhancement to the search results page on Wikipedia ([https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:Search Special:Search]). The goal of this feature is to display related content for each individual search result returned from query, so that even when the search result itself isn't maybe entirely useful, perhaps its related content would be. We would like your early feedback on this new feature—more information can be found on [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Cross-wiki_Search_Result_Improvements/explore_similar MediaWiki] about the explore similar functionality and testing can be done in your own browser, using step by step [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Cross-wiki_Search_Result_Improvements/self-guided_testing self-guided testing] instructions. [[User:DTankersley (WMF)|DTankersley (WMF)]] ([[User talk:DTankersley (WMF)|talk]]) 21:00, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

== Improving the search ==
When searching for "[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=500&offset=0&profile=default&search=Robert+Phillip+Hanssen&searchToken=3nqt6he5fkxnw01b9hkgi8x4a Robert Phillip Hanssen]" (double L), the page [[Robert Hanssen]] (full name:Robert Philip Hanssen - single L) does not even appear in the list of results. When searching on Google, the first result is [[Robert Hanssen]]. Maybe searches like this can be improved. — [[User:Ark25|'''<span style="background:#0070F0;color:#ffffff">&nbsp;Ark25&nbsp;</span>''']] ([[User_talk:Ark25|talk]]) 16:35, 14 January 2017 (UTC)
:If you click on Robert Phillip Hanssen in the search result box it will offer you [[Robert Philip Hanssen]] as a pop up, which will redirect you to [[Robert Hanssen]]. For those not aware of that, I have created a redirect from [[Robert Phillip Hanssen]] to [[Robert Hanssen]]. On the whole, though, I agree that a search for Robert Phillip Hanssen should be offering up Robert Hanssen much more readily. '''[[User:SilkTork|<span style="color:purple; font-family: Segoe Script">SilkTork</span>]]''' '''[[User talk:SilkTork|<sup style="color:#347C2C;">✔Tea time</sup>]]''' 22:14, 3 June 2017 (UTC)

== Can someone write my Biography or Can I myself ? ==

I want Wikipedia to know about me and create a page about myself. [[User:Yatin Mehndiratta|Yatin Mehndiratta]] ([[User talk:Yatin Mehndiratta|talk]]) 08:43, 4 July 2017 (UTC)
:[[User:Yatin Mehndiratta|Yatin Mehndiratta]], no. That is what personal websites, personal blogs, and social media are for. [[User:Softlavender|Softlavender]] ([[User talk:Softlavender|talk]]) 11:17, 4 July 2017 (UTC)

== Problems with search on English Wiktionary ==

See [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Grease_pit/2017/July#Search_oddity]. Basically, if a page has a multi-word title, and you search for an ''exact'' one of the words in that title, you'd expect to find that page in the search results, but it is rarely even on the first results page. Instead you get lots of irrelevant stuff that isn't spelled the same way. Is this a bug? What can we do? [[User:Equinox|Equinox]] [[User_talk:Equinox|◑]] 21:23, 12 July 2017 (UTC)
:Per [[Help:Searching#Stemming]], search <code>"hordeic"</code> in quotation marks to only get exact matches. Per [[Help:Searching#Parameters]], search <code>intitle:hordeic</code> to only get results from titles. They can be combined with <code>intitle:"hordeic"</code>. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 00:12, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

== Recent ==

Hi, Sorry for sounding stupid but how does one search for the most recent results ?,<br>
{{code|-recent}} and {{code|prefer-recent}} doesn't work  for me? (IE when I search "{{xt|"London" -recent}}" or "{{xt|"London" prefer-recent}}"  I still get jumbled results), Thanks, –[[User:Davey2010|<span style="color: blue;">'''Davey'''</span><span style="color: orange;">'''2010'''</span>]]<sup>[[User talk:Davey2010|<span style="color: navy;">'''Talk'''</span>]]</sup> 21:28, 12 June 2017 (UTC)
:See [[:mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Prefer-recent]]. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 22:36, 12 June 2017 (UTC)
::{{u|PrimeHunter}} thanks so much!, –[[User:Davey2010|<span style="color: blue;">'''Davey'''</span><span style="color: orange;">'''2010'''</span>]]<sup>[[User talk:Davey2010|<span style="color: navy;">'''Talk'''</span>]]</sup> 01:58, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

== Question about incategory (or category related) search ==

This is after I asked [[User talk:Cpiral#Question about incategory search|this question and got an answer here]]. However I either didn't ask the question correctly, or I simply haven't been able to use the answer to get to where I need. I want to search for <u>all  articles</u> (not categories) that have been assigned: 1. any category whose title includes the <u>term</u> "Scorsese", boolean-'''AND''' 2. any category whose title includes the <u>term</u> "comedy". I tried advanced search by checking only the box for Category but this is for category results, and there is no single category that includes both these terms. I checked also the Article box, but I got many unwanted results. Then I tried various combinations with filters and boolean operators but I can't seem to get what I need. Any further clues? Thank you. [[User:Hoverfish|Hoverfish]] <small>[[User talk:Hoverfish|Talk]]</small> 22:36, 18 July 2017 (UTC)
: You could do this with a regex <code>insource</code> search in the article namespace. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 01:56, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
:You might also try [[WP:Petscan]] or [[WP:RAQ]]. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 12:17, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
::Thank you very much Izno. I also use PetScan and I see what you mean with insource + regex, I hadn't thought about it but I will try it next. My main concern however is not so much for editors tasks but for a way to make such searches more approachable to the layman. I will check RAQ and see if I can find some way to encapsulate such querries. For WP Films it's only a certain number of main-film-genre-terms that have been diffused in too many subcategories to be usefull in searches. Thanks again for the tips. [[User:Hoverfish|Hoverfish]] <small>[[User talk:Hoverfish|Talk]]</small> 14:00, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

== Semi-protected edit request on 8 September 2017 ==

{{edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
 [[User:Hitech waterproofing|Hitech waterproofing]] ([[User talk:Hitech waterproofing|talk]]) 09:40, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
:[[File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format.<!-- Template:ESp -->  <span style="background-color: purple">[[User:Flow234|<span style="color: Pink">Flow 234 (Nina)</span>]] [[User talk:Flow234|<span style="color: pink">talk</span>]]</span> 10:50, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

== "Sister projects" should be changed to "similar projects" ==

...or something that is likewise non-genderized. This turns up to the right on the search page where the suggestions are offered. It sounds off and awkward and inappropriate. Like something from the ministry of feminist information, like some kind of female only endeavour. Please stop this double standard. If you have to say "humanity" or "humankind" instead of "man" or "men" then it's only fair to stop this "sister" nonsense too. Gender bias free language should apply all around. Thanks. [[User:Alialiac|Alialiac]] ([[User talk:Alialiac|talk]]) 17:32, 7 October 2017 (UTC)

== Searching within (or exclusively without) reference contents... ==

Is there any way to limit a search to specifically text within a <nowiki><ref></ref></nowiki> pair or specifically to everything that isn't inside them? I know regex, and I'm sure that a sufficiently complicated insource regex could do it, but I'd rather not, if there was any other way.[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 15:49, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
:Insource is the only way besides resorting to a database scan... which would probably also require regex. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 17:15, 3 November 2017 (UTC)
:That said, if you know the text internal to the reference, you can also search for that instead. (Unless you're looking for template parameters or something?) --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 17:16, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

== Semi-protected edit request on 6 January 2018 ==

{{edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
Remove the dash from the last list item of {{article section|Syntax}}. None of the other entries begin with a dash. [[Special:Contributions/67.14.236.50|67.14.236.50]] ([[User talk:67.14.236.50|talk]]) 08:00, 6 January 2018 (UTC)
:[[File:Yes check.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Done'''<!-- Template:ESp --> [[User:DRAGON BOOSTER|<span style="color:blue;size=2">DRAGON BOOSTER</span>]][[User talk:DRAGON BOOSTER|<span style="color:#33dd44;size=2">  ★</span>]] 09:27, 6 January 2018 (UTC)

== searchToken ==

In case anyone has been wondering about the <code>&searchToken=''something''</code> at the end of the URL for a search result, I asked about it at [[mw:Topic:U6qksj26m8tgx2ul|mw:Help talk:CirrusSearch]], and the summary is:
:{{talkquote|text=When publishing or saving a search link, there is no benefit in including the <code>&searchToken=''something''</code> at the end of the URL, so it's better left off.}}
--[[User:Pipetricker|Pipetricker]] ([[User talk:Pipetricker|talk]]) 15:23, 1 February 2018 (UTC)

== Add link for search on Wikidata ==
RFC here, please join -> [[MediaWiki_talk:Wdsearch.js#Add_link_to_search]]. --'''[[User:Superchilum|<span style="color:#209090;">Superchilum</span>]]'''<sup>([[User talk:Superchilum|talk to me!]])</sup> 10:51, 28 February 2018 (UTC)

== Explain links ==
Page should have a section on how to make <nowiki>{{search link|etc}}</nowiki> links. -[[User:Inowen|Inowen]] ([[User talk:Inowen|talk]]) 22:36, 13 March 2018 (UTC)
:The page has three links to {{tl|search link}}. It's just a template at the English Wikipedia and not a part of the search feature. I don't think [[Help:Searching]] should explain how the template works. It's documented on the template page. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 22:48, 13 March 2018 (UTC)

== Confusion ==

{{ping|cpiral}} I am confused by [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Searching&oldid=prev&diff=836844911 this edit]. No, WP does not require Javascript. However, the placement of the emdashes indicates that you believe the "default" is Vector without Javascript. This is not the case for the majority of people. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 13:35, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
:You're right.  The mdash phrase was a compact way of referring to multiple kinds of defaults: default behavior (when JavaScript is off) and default skin (Vector).  I will improve it. &mdash; [[User:Cpiral|<span style="color:#00C000;">Cp</span><span style="color:#80C000;">i</span><span style="color:#C08000;">r</span><span style="color:#C00000;">al</span>]]&sect;[[User talk:Cpiral|<span style="color:#2820F0;">Cpiral</span>]] 17:58, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

== Should Qwika be removed? ==

As I look at the [http://www.qwika.com/ Qwika] search page, it is showing "Updated Crime Data!" with a date of "Thu 31 Mar 11", which I take to mean that their crime data information was last updated 7.5 years ago. If the rest of the search engine is that old, perhaps the Qwika section should be removed from the Help:Searching page. [[User:Teblick|Eddie Blick]] ([[User talk:Teblick|talk]]) 01:05, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
:Yes, {{u|Teblick}}, it doesn't look updated. I didn't see a link on [[Help:Searching]]. Did you see the reference on [[Wikipedia:External search engines]]? I have removed it there. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 01:35, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
::Thank you, {{u|Izno}}. Yes, it was the External search engines page. I had both pages open and  typed the wrong title in my comment. Thanks for catching my error. [[User:Teblick|Eddie Blick]] ([[User talk:Teblick|talk]]) 01:54, 28 August 2018 (UTC)

== Semi-protected edit request on 11 December 2018 ==

{{edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
Change the title of {{article section|Exclusion character (prefixed hyphen)}} to {{xt|Prefixed hyphen character for exclusion}} or similar for consistency with preceding subheadings. [[Special:Contributions/96.8.24.95|96.8.24.95]] ([[User talk:96.8.24.95|talk]]) 04:42, 11 December 2018 (UTC)
:{{Done}}, thank you. -- [[User:John of Reading|John of Reading]] ([[User talk:John of Reading|talk]]) 07:28, 11 December 2018 (UTC)

== To do list ==

Main revamp is complete. I'll be back to work on this page some more. Though feel free to jump in and improve the page. The more the merrier.  Below is a task list of work needed on the page. Feel free to add to it.  &nbsp; &nbsp; &mdash; ''[[User talk:The Transhumanist|The&nbsp;Transhumanist]]''&nbsp;  &nbsp;  08:16, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

* Place content from overview section {{done}}
* Identify the search engine {{done}} covered in the section "Under the hood"
* Integrate merge section under search box {{done}}
* Integrate merge section under search results page {{done}}
* The section [[Help:Searching#Understanding search results]] needs a heavy editing. {{done}}
* Integrate the list items under Search string syntax {{done}}
* Check Allpages for subpages of Help:Searching {{done}} see below
* Gather missing information, from: {{done}}
** [[Help:Advanced search]] {{done}} (merged - it was a content fork)
** [[Help:Searching/Draft]] {{done}} (merged - most of it was transcluded, the rest was a content fork)
* Gather links about searching for the see also section {{done}}
* More redirect support {{done}}
** Section redirect support. {{done}}
* Redirect maintenance {{done}}
** Check all redirects leading to the page, and correct if needed {{done}}
* Shortcut support for sections {{done}}
* List the shortcuts in shortcuts directory {{done}}
* Integrate boolean list item into section prose {{done}}
* The section [[Help:Searching#Refining results]] needs a heavy editing.
* The lead needs refining, and section linkification.
* Namespace and sister project prefixes should be covered, or at least a link to the help pages should be provided.
* A full proofread is needed.
* Check these facts (include them if they verify as accurate)
** Each parameter has ''search indexing'' and ''page ranking'' prerequisites
** A regular expression search is not an indexed search, and so in order to pre-establish its reasonable ''search domain'', a regular expression search requires an accompanying search term that ''is'' an indexed-search ''filter''
** Every search box and [[template:internal search templates common doc|search link]] and [[wp:inputbox#Box types|inputbox]] has the same search engine and same search results page, ''[[Special:Search]]''.
** It also offers one-button modification of the ''search domain'', and through user preferences, the Wikipedia Search results page can run the search on other search engines, and go to their search results page.
** When presenting results, the internal search understands and will link to relevant sections of a page
** The ordering of the list of search results is determined by the page ranking software, but you can make adjustments to it. [How?]
** For articles, a message box may show up beside a listing, indicating that it has a [[WP:SISTER|sister page on another project]], such as a [[Wiktionary]] entry that defines the title of a Wikipedia article.
* Track down the bug in regular search box pertaining to subpageof: parameter
* Gather missing information, from:
** [[MW:]], such as from:
*** [[mw:Help:CirrusSearch]]
** around WP, such as from:
*** [[Help:Searching from a web browser]]
*** [[Help:Searching/Features]]
*** [[Help:Searching/feedback]]
*** [[Help:Searching/Regex]]
*** [[Help:Searching/Regex/Sandboxing]]

==Search without folding==
How do I search for article titles containing the word "Strasse"? I tried intitle:Strasse and intitle:"Strasse" and intitle:/Strasse/; they all returned titles with "Straße". -- [[User:Michael Bednarek|Michael Bednarek]] ([[User talk:Michael Bednarek|talk]]) 01:24, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
:I don't think our search function can do it for titles. It can do exact match searches and other regex searches with <code>insource:</code> but not <code>intitle:</code> (requested in [[phab:T156474]]). You can use https://tools.wmflabs.org/grep/ for that. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 02:11, 29 January 2018 (UTC)
::[[User:Michael Bednarek|Michael]], this has now been fixed, so [[H:INTITLE|<code>intitle:</code>]] supports regular expressions, so <code>{{search link|intitle:/Strasse/}}</code> won't find "Straße" anymore. <small>(But neither [[H:INTITLE|Help:Searching#intitle:]] nor [[:mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Regex on titles|mw:Help:CirrusSearch]] has [[phabricator:T191340|yet been]] updated to document it.)</small> --[[User:Pipetricker|Pipetricker]] ([[User talk:Pipetricker|talk]] 09:18, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
::::It is now documented. --[[User:Pipetricker|Pipetricker]] ([[User talk:Pipetricker|talk]]) 17 February 2019
:::You can use <code>{{search link|intitle:Strasse intitle:/Strasse/}}</code> to only find whole words. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 10:56, 15 May 2018 (UTC)
::::Good point. And it also limits the [[Help:Searching/Regex#Regular expressions|expensive regex search]]. --[[User:Pipetricker|Pipetricker]] ([[User talk:Pipetricker|talk]]) 12:49, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

== Getting to advanced search faster ==

Has anyone already done a JS script that adds some way to get directly to Advanced Search without first having to do a search?  I almost never use the search box to just search for something, unless I"m in "reader mode" and am not working as an editor.  My usual routine is to enter something like <kbd>asdfjasodfijasdofj</kbd> in the search box and search on it, then get into advanced mode, then pick my namespaces, then replace the search string with what I'm actually looking for. Rather inefficient. Hoping there's a "widget" of some kind that puts advance search as a clickable icon or something next to the default search box, in the site-wide top menu. <span style="white-space:nowrap;font-family:'Trebuchet MS'"> — [[User:SMcCandlish|'''SMcCandlish''']] [[User talk:SMcCandlish|☏]] [[Special:Contributions/SMcCandlish|¢]] 😼 </span> 21:48, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
:Your method can start with an empty search. You can place the below in {{yourjs}} to get a [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?profile=advanced Search] link to the left of "Log out". [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 23:14, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
<syntaxhighlight lang=js>
$.when( mw.loader.using( ['mediawiki.util'] ), $.ready ).done( function() {
  mw.util.addPortletLink(
    'p-personal',
    mw.util.getUrl('Special:Search') + '?profile=advanced',
    'Search',
    'pt-Search',
    'Go to advanced search',
    null,
    '#pt-logout'
  );
});
</syntaxhighlight>

== How to ask "is infobox parameter coordinates" controlled by wikidata values? ==

I asked [[Wikipedia:Help_desk/Archives/2018 August 9#Wikidata_and_duplicate_display_of_geophysical_coordinates|this question]] (more or less) over at the WP:Helpdesk, where is has been greeted with '???!?!?' so far. It ''is'' an unusual search request!

[[Tsing Yi North Bridge]] used to show geophysical coordinates displayed twice.  For reference, [[Special:PermanentLink/849705022|Tsing Yi South Bridge]] still does. The coordinates were coming from both an embedded
::<nowiki>{{Coord|22|21|36.5|N|114|6|36.7|E|display=title|type:landmark}}</nowiki>
and from [https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q846782 Wikidata].

So the question is: how could I search for articles where the <nowiki>{{Coord}}</nowiki> template is used '''and''' where now Wikidata is enabled for the articles '''and''' has coordinates values? I can't see the ability to ask questions about Wikidata and a particular article.

I'd really hate to check every page that uses the <nowiki>{{Coord}}</nowiki> template, cuz I think it said 1.1 million? [[User:Shenme|Shenme]] ([[User talk:Shenme|talk]]) 03:00, 11 August 2018 (UTC)

== How do I "ask" for an article to be created?<span id="How_Do_I_&quot;Ask&quot;"></span> ==
<!-- id is for links to a former heading which was changed -->

{{quote|text=''The page "{{plain link|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Universal_welfare&action=edit&redlink=1|name=<span style="color:#ba0000">Universal welfare</span>}}" does not exist. You can '''[[Wikipedia:Articles for creation|ask for it to be created]]''', but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered.''}}

I clicked the "ask for it to be created" and it just sends me to "[[Wikipedia:Articles for creation]]" I don't see an "ask" function there.
<!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[Special:Contributions/69.206.181.191|69.206.181.191]] ([[User talk:69.206.181.191#top|talk]]) 06:35, 5 April 2019 (UTC)</small>
:Neither do I. I think [[Wikipedia:Requested articles]], which has the heading "How to request an article", would be a more suitable link in ''[[MediaWiki:Searchmenu-new-nocreate|that message]]''. --[[User:Pipetricker|Pipetricker]] ([[User talk:Pipetricker|talk]]) 11:22, 5 April 2019 (UTC)
::[[Wikipedia:Articles for creation#Creating a draft]] says: "If you have an idea for the title of an article, but no content for the article itself, please make a request at [[Wikipedia:Requested articles]]". But it's not prominent, and there is no apparent reason to read the section if you don't want to create a draft. [[MediaWiki:Searchmenu-new-nocreate]] added the link in 2011 when [[Wikipedia:Articles for creation]] linked [[Wikipedia:Requested articles]] in the opening paragraph.[//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation&oldid=424347945] [[Wikipedia:Requested articles]] does seem like a more logical target for [[MediaWiki:Searchmenu-new-nocreate]]. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 12:36, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

== [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 April 12#Wikipedia:WILDCARD|RfD notifications 12 April 2019]] ==

=== Wikipedia:RESULTS listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ===
[[File:Information.svg|30px|left]]
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect [[Wikipedia:RESULTS]]. Please participate in [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 April 12#Wikipedia:RESULTS|the redirect discussion]] if you wish to do so. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:UnitedStatesian|UnitedStatesian]] ([[User talk:UnitedStatesian|talk]]) 13:06, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

=== Wikipedia:LOPS listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ===
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An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect [[Wikipedia:LOPS]]. Please participate in [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 April 12#Wikipedia:LOPS|the redirect discussion]] if you wish to do so. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:UnitedStatesian|UnitedStatesian]] ([[User talk:UnitedStatesian|talk]]) 13:13, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

=== Wikipedia:WILDCARDS listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ===
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An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect [[Wikipedia:WILDCARDS]]. Please participate in [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 April 12#Wikipedia:WILDCARDS|the redirect discussion]] if you wish to do so. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:UnitedStatesian|UnitedStatesian]] ([[User talk:UnitedStatesian|talk]]) 13:22, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

=== Wikipedia:Regex listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ===
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An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect [[Wikipedia:Regex]]. Please participate in [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 April 12#Wikipedia:Regex|the redirect discussion]] if you wish to do so. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:UnitedStatesian|UnitedStatesian]] ([[User talk:UnitedStatesian|talk]]) 13:23, 12 April 2019 (UTC)

== H:S listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ==
[[File:Information.svg|30px|left]]
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect [[H:S]]. Please participate in [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 May 14#H:S|the redirect discussion]] if you wish to do so. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:UnitedStatesian|UnitedStatesian]] ([[User talk:UnitedStatesian|talk]]) 16:46, 14 May 2019 (UTC)

== regex look behind /look ahead example? ==

I want to find all instances of "Phi Alpha" on Wikipedia that are not part of "Alpha Phi Alpha" or "Phi Alpha Theta". But I can't get the look ahead or look behind syntax to work. Does Cirrus Search do look ahead/look behind examples? I know to pair whatever I can do in insource with simply searching for "Phi Alpha" in order to have it finish at all.[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 19:32, 8 July 2019 (UTC)
:{{Re|Naraht}} The built-in search supports only a limited subset of the regular expression syntax. [[H:INSOURCE]] links to [[mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Regular expression searches]], which tries to explain what is supported, and that links to a  [http://lucene.apache.org/core/4_8_1/core/org/apache/lucene/util/automaton/RegExp.html formal definition of the supported syntax]. There's nothing about look aheads/look behinds. -- [[User:John of Reading|John of Reading]] ([[User talk:John of Reading|talk]]) 20:52, 8 July 2019 (UTC)
::{{U|John of Reading}} Thank You.[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 08:38, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

== Please review proposed updates to boolean/logical operator documentation ==

As discussed in more detail in Phabricator ticket [[Phab:T228925|T228925]], it turns out that parentheses and the boolean operators <code>AND</code> and <code>OR</code> do not actually work as advertised in the documentation. The short term plan is to update the documentation to reflect current reality, and the long term plan is to fix reality to reflect the currently aspirational documentation. Here's the first draft of the update to go in the Help:Searching [[Help:Searching#Logical%20operators|Logical operators]] section:
:The search engine supports ''limited'' boolean logic in searches. Logical <code>NOT</code> (negation) can be indicated by a "<code>-</code>" (minus sign) or a "<code>!</code>" (exclamation point) character prefixed to a search term, or by the <code>NOT</code> keyword.
:Parentheses <code>(…)</code> are ignored by the search engine and have no effect.
:The operators <code>AND</code> and <code>OR</code> are used by the search engine, but '''do not have the expected boolean logical meaning''' and should be used with great care. See the [[mw:User:TJones_(WMF)/Drafts/Logical_operators_in_on-wiki_search|additional documentation]] for an in-depth explanation.
I've also written a draft of the longer explanation (~1200 words) of the use of [[mw:User:TJones_(WMF)/Drafts/Logical_operators_in_on-wiki_search|Logical operators in on-wiki search]]. '''Feedback is much appreciated!''' I still need to review the rest of the Help:Searching page and mw:Help:CirrusSearch page to see if any other changes are needed there. [[User:TJones (WMF)|TJones (WMF)]] ([[User talk:TJones (WMF)|talk]]) 15:29, 30 July 2019 (UTC)

== ^ and $ in intitle regular expressions ==

I would expect <code>{{search link|intitle:/^Europe/}}</code> to show pages with titles starting with "Europe", but instead there are no results. Is the lack of support for <code>^</code> and <code>$</code> in regular expressions a known limitation? Is there a workaround? [[User:Falsifian|falsifian]] ([[User talk:Falsifian|talk]]) 17:50, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
:I would recommend instead using {{search link|prefix:Europe}}. I don't know if this is a deliberate limitation, but that method is supported. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 17:41, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
::Thanks. I don't see support for suffixes ({{search link|suffix:Europe}} seems to just search for "suffix") or for regular expressions in a prefix ({{search link|prefix:/Europe/}} returns no results), so I am still interested in a general answer. I might file a bug on Phabricator. For some context: a friend and I are planning to build a tool to support move request discussions (especially ones invoking [[WP:CONSISTENCY]]) by showing what kinds of title are in common use, or to find more titles for a multi-rm. For example, <code>intitle:/Award$/</code> vs. <code>intitle:/Awards$/</code> would have been relevant to [[Talk:Golden_Globe_Awards#Requested_move|this discussion]]. [[User:Falsifian|falsifian]] ([[User talk:Falsifian|talk]]) 18:10, 18 August 2019 (UTC)
:::I think the answer regarding suffixes (and I'd guess prefixes) is [[:phab:T90090]], though I think that comment was made before regex was implemented for title searching. There may also be some related chatter in [[:phab:T12808]]. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 18:20, 18 August 2019 (UTC)

== Category intersection example has no results ==

The second example given in section [[Help:Searching#incategory:|incategory:]] ({{search link|incategory:"Suspension bridges in the United States" incategory:Bridges_in_New_York_City}}) has no results, probably because all of the relevant articles are in subcategories of [[:Category:Suspension bridges in the United States]].  Replacing the first incategory: with deepcat: appears to give the desired result.  Should this be replaced with another example?  ([[user:cathartid|cathartid]] - [[user talk:cathartid|talk]]) 01:33, 15 September 2019 (UTC)
== Deepcat ==

The [[H:DEEPCAT|deepcat example]] ({{search link|deepcat:"musicals"}}) seems to be off. For some reason, if the category's first letter is not capitalized, the search doesn't seem to search in the subcategories. First see [[:Category:Musicals]] and then compare these searches: {{search link|deepcat:"musicals"}} vs. {{search link|deepcat:"Musicals"}}. The latter search also gives the following warning: "''A warning has occurred while searching: Deep category query returned too many categories''". Maybe we should change the example search and category to a smaller category with correct capitalization, for example to {{search link|deepcat:"Musicals by topic"}}? [[Special:Contributions/85.76.139.129|85.76.139.129]] ([[User talk:85.76.139.129|talk]]) 19:58, 12 July 2019 (UTC)
:Reported as [[phab:T228633]] —[[User:TheDJ|Th<span style="color: green">e</span>DJ]] ([[User talk:TheDJ|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/TheDJ|contribs]]) 10:09, 22 July 2019 (UTC)
:looks like this capitalisation issue will be fixed after next week. —[[User:TheDJ|Th<span style="color: green">e</span>DJ]] ([[User talk:TheDJ|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/TheDJ|contribs]]) 08:04, 28 August 2019 (UTC)

Yes [[User:Cya37|Cya37]] ([[User talk:Cya37|talk]]) 18:43, 16 November 2020 (UTC)

== questions ==

It says above, that this is not the place to ask questions.  Where is it, then, that we ask questions about how "search" works, or more specifically, how it doesn't work?  I have some queries that are not getting the desired and expected results.  Thanks. [[User:Gah4|Gah4]] ([[User talk:Gah4|talk]]) 02:35, 17 October 2019 (UTC)

:OK, I figured out the answer without so much help from this page. I am searching for something with a # in it. It seems that I need insource:/.../ to get a regular expression, and \# inside the regular expression to match the #. <!-- Template:Unsigned --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding [[Wikipedia:Signatures|unsigned]] comment added by [[User:Gah4|Gah4]] ([[User talk:Gah4#top|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Gah4|contribs]]) 02:42, 17 October 2019 (UTC)</small>
::Yup. You should prefer to search for some other text though as well, since regex insource searches are expensive. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 04:18, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
:::It seems that it wouldn't match the # without it. And I didn't do it so many times. If it should match the #, then maybe it needs fixing. [[User:Gah4|Gah4]] ([[User talk:Gah4|talk]]) 08:28, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
::::It's common for search features to ignore punctuation characters, also in quoted strings. Google does this. Izno meant a double search like at [[:mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Regular expression searches]] where another part of the search reduces the number of possible pages so the regex part only has to be applied to those pages. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 10:40, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
:::::It is common, but the documentation says that inside quotes that they should match.  The actual search is:  insource:/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation\#/ so no metacharacters, and I believe fast enough. The similar search with double quotes instead of / doesn't work. Thanks. [[User:Gah4|Gah4]] ([[User talk:Gah4|talk]]) 19:41, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
::::::{{search link|insource:"List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation#"}} ignores punctuation so it also finds pages with spaces instead of underscores, and it finds pages with or without the punctuation character '#'. I don't know the implementation of regex searches without metacharacters but I think you should do the double search {{search link|insource:"List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation#" insource:/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation\#/}}. The '#' is ignored in the first part and may be omitted there. <code>insource:/.../</code> makes exact character matches so you only find cases with underscores. If you also want spaces then you can for example do {{search link|insource:"List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation#" insource:/affiliation\#/}}. This gives 14 results instead of 1. It's optional to use spaces or underscores in the first part. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 21:44, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
:::::::After I did the above search, I did the same with blanks instead of underscores. I hope there aren't ones with mixed blanks and underscores. With quotes instead of /, it ignores both # and \#.  I haven't tried any double search like you show. Tradition of GNU grep is to do a Boyer-Moore search on the longest fixed string before doing the regexp match. I suspect others now do that, too. Is there a place, other than here, where we should ask these questions? And thanks for answering them here. [[User:Gah4|Gah4]] ([[User talk:Gah4|talk]]) 01:36, 18 October 2019 (UTC)
::::::::Answering here is fine, though you could also ask at [[WP:Help desk]] or [[WP:VPT]].
::::::::So, since you still don't seem sure of yourself: The # (like most punctuation) is not matched inside quotation marks because it is considered grayspace (at [[:mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Words, phrases, and modifiers]]: {{tq|Spacing between words, phrases, parameters, and input to parameters, can include generous instances of whitespace and greyspace characters. "Greyspace characters" are all the non-alphanumeric characters ~!@#$%^&()_+-={}|[]\:";'<>?,./. A mixed string of greyspace characters and whitespace characters, is "greyspace", and is treated as one big word boundary. Greyspace is how indexes are made and queries are interpreted.}}). See also [[Help:Searching#Search string syntax]].
::::::::For caps insensitivity in a regex, you can do /i e.g. <code>insource:/search_term/i</code> as the slow route and <code>[Aa]</code> where desired for the faster route. You can't get the same for spaces versus underscores unfortunately, so you should use a group <code>( |_)</code> or search on another term of interest such as <code>affiliation</code>, above. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 03:17, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

== Semi-protected edit request on 4 January 2020 ==

{{edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
 [[User:Menenaviation|Menenaviation]] ([[User talk:Menenaviation|talk]]) 11:25, 4 January 2020 (UTC) i want a editing account to publish my articles which will perform well in your website
please help me to get the editing account.   
thank you.
: [[File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable source]] if appropriate.<!-- Template:ESp -->. For information about user access levels, see [[Wikipedia:User access levels]]. [[User:Majavah|Majavah]] <sup>([[User talk:Majavah|t]]/[[Special:Contribs/Majavah|c]])</sup> 13:16, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

== Feature request: Provide a list with the resulting articles ==
I am searching for the articles that contain the string "Vales" in the title - [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?cirrusUserTesting=glent_m0&sort=relevance&search=intitle%3A%2FVales%2F&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&advancedSearch-current=%7B%7D&ns0=1 intitle:/Vales/]. The search tool finds 76 items.

My request is to provide a list with the titles of the articles found, like this:
* [[Vanessa Williams]] (redirect from [[Valessa Williams]])
* [[Middle-earth]] (redirect from [[Vales of Anduin]])
* [[List of minor planet discoverers]] (redirect from [[Jan Vales]])
* [[Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska]]
* [[Vale tudo]] (redirect from [[Vales Tudo]])
* [[Valescourt]]
* [[Saint-Raphaël, Var]] (redirect from [[Valescure]])
* [[Fronteira dos Vales]]
* [[Valestan]]
..

I think it would be really useful for the users. It can help them in many ways. For example to introduce the list in a text file and to further refine the search, using a text editor, or for using a robot for changing text in the respective articles (for example [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=500&offset=0&ns0=1&search=insource%3A%2FNeam%C5%A3+County%2F&advancedSearch-current={} there are 237 articles containing the string "Neamţ County"] and a robot should change the text into "Neamț County" - from [[T-cedilla]] to [[T-comma]]). Thank you. — [[User:Ark25|'''<span style="background:#0070F0;color:#ffffff">&nbsp;Ark25&nbsp;</span>''']] ([[User_talk:Ark25|talk]]) 21:44, 29 March 2020 (UTC)
:{{ping|Ark25}} I would also like this. [[Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser]] has the feature and can also make lists in many other ways: [[Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/User manual#Make list]].  I have a crude version by placing this in [[Special:MyPage/monobook.css]]:
<syntaxhighlight lang="css">
.searchresult {display: none;}
.mw-search-result-data {display: none;}
</syntaxhighlight>
:It hides the other lines on search results pages. If you use Vector normally then you can change a search page to display in MonoBook by adding <code>&useskin=monobook</code> to the url. If you have MonoBook then place it in [[Special:MyPage/vector.css]] and add <code>&useskin=vector</code> to the url. You can also manually apply the above css to a viewed browser window with a feature in most browsers. You can also add this to {{yourjs}}:
<syntaxhighlight lang="javascript">
$( document ).ready( function() {
if ( mw.config.get( 'wgCanonicalSpecialPageName' ) === 'Search'){
  mw.util.addPortletLink(
    'p-tb',
    location.href.replace( location.hash, '' ) + ( location.search ? '&' : '?' ) + 'useskin=monobook',
    'MonoBook',
    't-monobook',
    'Repeat the search in MonoBook'
  );
}
});
</syntaxhighlight>
:On search pages it makes a "MonoBook" link under "Tools" to repeat the search in MonoBook. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 23:34, 29 March 2020 (UTC)

:: {{Ping|PrimeHunter}} These scripts are really great! I forgot to mention that I am not using AutoWikiBrowser; many of the users who would benefit from this feature won't have the time and patience to use AWB. 
::* Do you have any link to some documentation that explains how to ''manually apply the above css to a viewed browser window'' ? I'm just curious.
:: Thank you! — [[User:Ark25|'''<span style="background:#0070F0;color:#ffffff">&nbsp;Ark25&nbsp;</span>''']] ([[User_talk:Ark25|talk]]) 00:32, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
:::{{ping|Ark25}} It depends on the browser. In Firefox I right-click somewhere on the page, click Inspect Element, click Edit CSS, and copy the css code to the top. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 00:42, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

== Escape characters ==
Is it possible to escape certain characters in the searchbox? I would like to search for [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?cirrusUserTesting=control&sort=relevance&search=intite%3A%2F%2C+Ohio%2F&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&advancedSearch-current=%7B%7D&ns0=1 intite:/, Ohio/] but it will ignore the comma character (,) so is it possible to escape this character? Like writing "\," instead of "," . Thank you. — [[User:Ark25|'''<span style="background:#0070F0;color:#ffffff">&nbsp;Ark25&nbsp;</span>''']] ([[User_talk:Ark25|talk]]) 21:05, 30 March 2020 (UTC)
:{{ping|Ark25}} You are missing "l" in intitle so it makes a normal content search and not a regex title search. The correct {{search link|intitle:/, Ohio/}} does not ignore the comma. Backslash "\" is the escape character in regex searches but it's not needed for a comma. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 21:18, 30 March 2020 (UTC)

== articletopic ==

The central help page now has [[mw:Help:CirrusSearch#Articletopic|a section]] about the <code>articletopic:</code> search keyword which has been added a few weeks ago. Maybe worth adding here as well. --[[User:Tgr (WMF)|Tgr (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Tgr (WMF)|talk]]) 19:28, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

== Let's Eliminate or Document Limitations re. aliases and Pseudo-namespaces / pseudoaliases. ==

Search, and this page, are a nightmare when it comes to pseudo-namespaces.  Let's Eliminate or Document Limitations re. aliases and Pseudo-namespaces / pseudoaliases!

In the [[H:PARAM]] Parameters section, it's written under

 namespace name:

 ...Namespace aliases, like "WP" for "Wikipedia", are accepted.

However, a search for <code>T:dubious</code> or <code>H:PARAM</code> fails.  


[[Help:Searching#Namespaces]] is similarly unhelpful.

<code>pseudo</code> doesn't appear even once on this entire help page!

===Solution options===

Didn't the WMF fund the current search system?  Perhaps adding support for Pseudo-namespaces ([[Wikipedia:Shortcut#Pseudo-namespaces]], [[WP:PNS]], [[WP:Namespace#Subject_namespaces]] sometimes called simply ''-and erroneously-'' namespaces!) would be easier than documenting all the shortcomings.   '''Certainly seems feasible for a quick hack to make https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=T%3Adubious and the like much better.'''--[[Special:Contributions/50.201.195.170|50.201.195.170]] ([[User talk:50.201.195.170|talk]]) 23:33, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
:Not using pseudo-namespaces is actually preferred. :) --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 23:35, 3 January 2021 (UTC)
::I claim most users would prefer if a search for T:dubious or H:PARAM didn't fail / did bring up template:dubious and H:PARAM.  You would prefer otherwise?  Why?  Why would anyone prefer they not work as suggested.  And who else do you claim to speak for?--[[Special:Contributions/50.201.195.170|50.201.195.170]] ([[User talk:50.201.195.170|talk]]) 19:10, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

:Search knows nothing about the idea of pseudo-namespaces, and I assume that also applies to most readers. [[Help:Searching]] is mostly for readers while pseudo-namespaces are mostly for editors. Mentioning pseudo-namespaces in [[Help:Searching]] might cause more confusion than it solves. [[Wikipedia:Namespace#Pseudo-namespaces]] says: "Pseudo-namespaces are not in any way recognised by the wiki software; they are purely a community custom. Titles in pseudo-namespaces actually belong technically in the main (article) namespace and are treated as such by the software: they are case-sensitive and appear in search results restricted to the main namespace." Pseudo-namespaces are merely a custom to make a limited number of mainspace redirects to other namespaces on names starting with certain strings like CAT:, H:, MOS:, P:, T:. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 09:16, 4 January 2021 (UTC)
::Yes, we don't want to confuse readers... and [[H:Searching]], which readers certainly do use, is itself in a pseudo-namespace.  (Do recognize it is mostly for them.)  You're quoting from a page I linked to.  Aware of all that.  So, what's your suggested solution?  You are posting in the "Solution options" section...
::I claim most editors would prefer if a search for T:dubious or H:PARAM didn't fail / did bring up template:dubious and Help:PARAM, and most readers won't do such searches.  Agree?  
::Or maybe X/Y problem: How does one get to, say, the template dubious fastest?--[[Special:Contributions/50.201.195.170|50.201.195.170]] ([[User talk:50.201.195.170|talk]]) 19:10, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
:::Creating a "Solution options" subsection from the start was odd, especially without signing the main section. I'm not going to create a "Comments" subsection to address your posts (and I clicked edit at the main heading). [[H:SEARCHING]] got 10 page views in 2020 and [[Help:Searching]] got 240,568.[https://pageviews.toolforge.org/?project=en.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&redirects=0&start=2020-01-01&end=2020-12-31&pages=Help:Searching|H:SEARCHING] Help is a real namespace. I'm not sure what you want by "adding support for Pseudo-namespaces" if isn't to actually make them namespace aliases like WP. That could be done with [[:mw:Manual:$wgNamespaceAliases]] but it would require developer support. T: for Template would make things a little easier for me but I can live with typing a few more characters. Most people would probably prefer T for Talk if it was a real alias. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 22:05, 6 January 2021 (UTC)
::::Most people would probably prefer if _t worked where _talk did?  Isn't that more in line? True, T: for Template: would make things a little easier for me too. What what do you think it ([[H:SEARCHING]] got 10 page views) shows?  Besides, I asked about H:PARAM, but you searched for H:SEARCHING.  I see over 1400 page views for it alone: https://pageviews.toolforge.org/?project=en.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&redirects=0&start=2020-01-01&end=2020-12-31&pages=H:PARAM|H:PARAMETER.  AND THAT'S JUST FOR TWO OF THE TWENTY-SEVEN shortcuts.  What would be more relevant would be a search of search history, or a poll, but really, I would think being in our own shoes would work.  I '''did''' describe I want by "adding support for Pseudo-namespaces".  See "hack", now '''bolded''', above.   While "to actually make them namespace aliases" (and have the existing content align with that) would be how many orders of magnitude more work, do you think? --[[Special:Contributions/50.201.195.170|50.201.195.170]] ([[User talk:50.201.195.170|talk]]) 04:43, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

== Safari search? ==

The section on Safari search doesn't seem to work any more. Is there a new way to search Wikipedia easily within the address bar of Safari? Cheers. '''[[User:Wikidea|<span style="color: red;">Wik</span>]][[User:Wikidea|<span style="color: gold;">idea</span>]]''' 10:54, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

Desert [[User:Cya37|Cya37]] ([[User talk:Cya37|talk]]) 16:30, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

== Making search easier through good page management ==

Are there any best practices or policies I can refer to on how Wikipedia makes content easier to find using search? I’m thinking particularly about how pages are organised and structured.

For example, are there any best practices on how articles are titled, when a page redirect or disambiguation page should be used, how categories should be structured etc.

I administer an instance of mediawiki, and the biggest criticism I hear is that nobody can find anything with search. Although we’re not using CirrusSearch, I largely put it down to a content structure that wasn’t well thought out and is governed poorly. [[User:Dshinks|Dshinks]] ([[User talk:Dshinks|talk]]) 20:06, 29 October 2020 (UTC)
:{{ping|Dshinks}} Honestly, the core MediaWiki search function is not great, and there's probably not a lot you can do about it... That said for your examples, [[WP:DAB]] for disambigs (particularly [[WP:ONEOTHER]]), [[WP:CAT]] for cats (ideally acyclic graph, hopefully not categories with few members), [[WP:AT]] and the linked naming conventions for titling. --[[User:Izno|Izno]] ([[User talk:Izno|talk]]) 02:55, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

@Izno, thanks very much for those - that’s exactly what I was looking for! [[User:Dshinks|Dshinks]] ([[User talk:Dshinks|talk]]) 21:31, 31 October 2020 (UTC)

This might help:<br></br> {{center|{{big|'''How to search Wikipedia with Google/Bing'''}}}}

To limit Google or Bing searches to the English Wikipedia, include this in your search string: '''site:en.wikipedia.org'''.

You can even do a Google search of Wikipedia from Wikipedia's own search box! For example, to use Google to search for pages with "geology" in the title, type this into WP's search box:  <var>google:geology+site:en.wikipedia.org</var>

This link does the same thing:  <var>[[google:geology+site:en.wikipedia.org]]</var>.

Another way is to use Google's or Bing's advanced settings. (To get there from Google's or Bing's search page, click on the gear icon).

{{totd nav|August 11}}
{{stack|float=right
|1=Read more:
|2='''[[Help:Searching#External search engines|Using external search engines]]'''{{spaces|2}}
}}{{clear}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Wikipedia Tip of the day|Yearless-08-11]]
</noinclude>
<span style="font-family: Blackadder ITC; background-color: maroon; padding: 2px 3px 1px 3px;">[[User:Qwerfjkl|<span style="color: greenyellow">Qwerfjkl</span>]] [[User talk:Qwerfjkl|<span style="color: yellow">talk</span>]]</span> 22:15, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

== A light novel of the same name, also written by Shinkai, was published a month prior the film's premiere. Your Name premiered at the 2016 Anime Expo ==

{{edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
 [[Special:Contributions/96.4.175.92|96.4.175.92]] ([[User talk:96.4.175.92|talk]]) 17:15, 10 May 2021 (UTC)
:[[File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable source]] if appropriate.<!-- Template:ESp --> [[User:Run n Fly|Run n Fly]] ([[User talk:Run n Fly|talk]]) 17:22, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

== Deepcategory don't work with hidden category ==

[https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=deepcategory%3A%22%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B8+%D0%92%D0%9E+%D0%B8+%D0%93%D0%95%D0%9E%22&title=%D0%A1%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F%3A%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 Search]. [[:ru:Категория:Статьи ВО и ГЕО|Category]]. [[Special:Contributions/194.50.14.172|194.50.14.172]] ([[User talk:194.50.14.172|talk]]) 23:45, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
:It appears to work for me. What makes you say it doesn't work? Be specific as in "I expect X but see Y". [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 09:11, 3 June 2021 (UTC)
:: Today it's work! Thanks. [[Special:Contributions/194.50.14.172|194.50.14.172]] ([[User talk:194.50.14.172|talk]]) 19:20, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

== Upper and lower case greek letters in Regex ==

If I'm looking for a string which can contain Capital and Lower case greek letters, do I need to split them the way that I do in English or not. In other words, is the equivalent of the latin alphabet <code>[A-Za-z]</code>
*<code>[Α-Ωα-ω]</code>
*<code>[Α-ω]</code>
?[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 02:48, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

== Search with trailing space ==

I wish to search all articles (and exclude redirects) that start with ''Dr'' without the dot after it.

I found the option of searching by excluding redirects using [[Special:PrefixIndex]]. However there, I cannot enclose the search term with quotes. If it was allowed, I only had to enter "Dr " with a space. Without quotes, on giving Dr followed by a space, the search seems to be removing the trailing space, and returns all entries that start with "Dr". Note that I had asked the same question in July at [[WT:Special:PrefixIndex]] and not got a response. <span style="font-family:Segoe Script">[[User:Jay| Jay]]</span> [[User talk:Jay|(''talk'')]] 05:34, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
:{{ping|Jay}} I don't know a general solution. [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:PrefixIndex&from=DrZ&prefix=Dr&hideredirects=1 This] hack works in your specific case. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 11:25, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
::Yes, this works. Thanks! I see the "DrZ" in the URL. How do I do it? <span style="font-family:Segoe Script">[[User:Jay| Jay]]</span> [[User talk:Jay|(''talk'')]] 19:27, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
:::{{ping|Jay}} I added "Z" manually after seeing that "Dr" didn't work. A space is usually sorted before any other character but PrefixIndex apparently sorts space somewhere between "Z" and "a". [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 20:12, 23 October 2021 (UTC)

== searching for strings ==

"String" can have different meanings. For example, if I wish to search for placenames that include the string "borough" it's not clear from this information page how to do this, especially if one wants to make the results easier to navigate by excluding all occurrences of the word "borough". It'd be great if such a search could be executed by typing something like *borough -borough in the search box but it doesn't work. [[User:Dadge|Dadge]] ([[User talk:Dadge|talk]]) 04:07, 10 May 2020 (UTC)

:My 'searching for strings' box has stopped working.  For example I typed in France on an article about Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and it doesn't come up with a single instance of the term although it's used multiple times.  Any ideas how to get this very handy tool back? [[User:7dmd7|7dmd7]] ([[User talk:7dmd7|talk]]) 01:40, 9 December 2021 (UTC)
:{{ping|7dmd7}} It sounds like a feature of your browser or device, not Wikipedia. Is it there and does it work at other websites? Some search features have an option to specify case sensitive search. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 02:15, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

== Statistics for the search terms used? ==

Is there any meta- or external source where we can get some statistics on the search terms used within Wikipedia?   I know this is possible to do with Google, e.g. using [[https://trends.google.com/trends/ Google Trends], and I know it's possible to see the page views via the Stats links on the page histories.  But is there something that shows search term usage within Wikipedia? [[User:Chumpih|Chumpih.]] ([[User talk:Chumpih|talk]]) 10:26, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

== Range of Hebrew letters? ==

I can regex a range of Greek Letters without a problem. for example <nowiki>insource:/\('''[Α-Ω]+'''/</nowiki> however, I am unable to figure out how to do the equivalent for Hebrew. None of the possibilities seem to work, replacing the A with an א and Z with ת nor doing it the other way around (so that the window thinks it is a single string reading RTL, nor even flipping the <nowiki>[ and ]</nowiki> seem to work, could someone please help me figure out the way to do a search for a parentheses, three quotes and a string of Hebrew letters?[[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 14:17, 25 August 2021 (UTC)

:{{u|Naraht}} please ask your search related question over at [[WP:VPT]]. This talk page is only for improving the documentation/text of [[Help:Searching]] ~ 🦝 [[User:Shushugah|Shushugah]]&nbsp;(he/him&nbsp;•&nbsp;[[User talk:Shushugah|talk]]) 19:21, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

== Force cache purge? ==

I've been doing some maintenance using this [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=500&offset=0&ns0=1&sort=last_edit_desc&sort=last_edit_desc&search=insource%3A%22citation+needed%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed%7Cdate%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed%7Creason%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed+span%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed+lead%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed+paragraph%22+-insource%3A%22citation+needed+section%22 whopper] of a query; although it has some false positives, it's quite good at finding instances where someone just typed "citation needed" instead of using {{tl|citation needed}}. Anyway, I made a huge AWB run and edited a bunch of the pages manually to fix the formatting. Yet if I run the search, I'll still see previews (with the misformatted original source text) for a bunch of articles I ''know'' I just fixed. I'm not entirely sure on how the search cache is built -- so this may be a completely impossible task -- but is there any way to tell the search engine that I demand a search of current article text, and not the cached search results from a couple hours ago? '''[[User:JPxG|jp]]'''×'''[[User talk:JPxG|g]]''' 05:58, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

:{{u|JPxG}} please ask your search related question over at [[WP:VPT]]. This talk page is only for improving the documentation/text of [[Help:Searching]] ~ 🦝 [[User:Shushugah|Shushugah]]&nbsp;(he/him&nbsp;•&nbsp;[[User talk:Shushugah|talk]]) 19:21, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

== "Wikipedia:S" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] ==
[[File:Information.svg|30px]]
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect [[:Wikipedia:S]] and has thus listed it [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|for discussion]]. This discussion will occur at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 March 21#Wikipedia:S]] until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. <!-- from Template:RFDNote --> [[User:SmokeyJoe|SmokeyJoe]] ([[User talk:SmokeyJoe|talk]]) 02:27, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

:{{u|SmokeyJoe}} please ask your search related question over at [[WP:VPT]]. This talk page is only for improving the documentation/text of [[Help:Searching]] ~ 🦝 [[User:Shushugah|Shushugah]]&nbsp;(he/him&nbsp;•&nbsp;[[User talk:Shushugah|talk]]) 19:21, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

== Searching for a string *outside* a reference? ==

Any suggestions for searching for a string only outside of a reference? [[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 17:31, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
:{{u|Naraht}} please ask your search related question over at [[WP:VPT]]. This talk page is only for improving the documentation/text of [[Help:Searching]] ~ 🦝 [[User:Shushugah|Shushugah]]&nbsp;(he/him&nbsp;•&nbsp;[[User talk:Shushugah|talk]]) 19:21, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

== Medicago rigidula proposed edit ==

A proposed edit to the Medicago rigidula Wikipedia page under the Scientific classification. Division/phylum: Tracheophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Order: Fabales, Family: Leguminosae/Fabaceae.
[[User:Crystali18|Crystali18]] ([[User talk:Crystali18|talk]]) 20:32, 12 April 2022 (UTC)

<s>:Copied to [[Talk:Medicago rigidula]] with a [[:Template:help me|help-me template]]. [[User:HLHJ|HLHJ]] ([[User talk:HLHJ|talk]]) 21:19, 3 September 2022 (UTC)</s>
:Copying was reverted. Posted to talk page instead. [[User:HLHJ|HLHJ]] ([[User talk:HLHJ|talk]]) 20:44, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

== Semi-protected edit request on 15 December 2022 carebears pinball carebears cheers bears pbs kids watching 1998 ==

{{Edit semi-protected|Help:Searching|answered=yes}}
pbskidscarebearsfamily

pinballfunding
watching
watchingvhscarebearsfamily1998dvdbluraydiscbookreadcolormakingpinba
lpinkrainbownextpinballwatching1998
cheersbearspbskids
watchingstorybook
storycolor
nortecolorwatching1998
drawline
watching
makercrayoncoloredainchlirdrawcheersbearslovely
watching
arbook
artcolor
keybook
yoyoy
book
story
watching1998 [[Special:Contributions/2601:481:8600:C9C0:29F8:EB18:E08A:14EB|2601:481:8600:C9C0:29F8:EB18:E08A:14EB]] ([[User talk:2601:481:8600:C9C0:29F8:EB18:E08A:14EB|talk]]) 15:53, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
:[[File:Red question icon with gradient background.svg|20px|link=|alt=]] '''Not done:''' it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a [[WP:EDITXY|"change X to Y" format]] and provide a [[Wikipedia:Reliable sources|reliable source]] if appropriate.<!-- Template:ESp --> [[User:RealAspects|RealAspects]] ([[User talk:RealAspects|talk]]) 15:57, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

== Regex error when using valid regex ==

The regex [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=insource%3A%2F%5C%3C+%2Afont+%2Bclass+%2A%5C%3D+%2A%28%5C%22%7C%5C%27%7C%29%28%5B%5E%22%5D%2B%3F%29%3B%2A%28%5C%22%7C%5C%27%7C%29+%2A%28color%7Cface%7Csize%29%2F&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns1=1&ns2=1&ns3=1&ns4=1&ns5=1&ns6=1&ns7=1&ns8=1&ns9=1&ns10=1&ns11=1&ns12=1&ns13=1&ns14=1&ns15=1&ns100=1&ns101=1&ns118=1&ns119=1&ns710=1&ns711=1&ns828=1&ns829=1&ns2300=1&ns2301=1&ns2302=1&ns2303=1 <nowiki>\< *font +class *\= *(\"|\'|)([^"]+?);*(\"|\'|) *(color|face|size)</nowiki>] does not work in search even though it is valid; there are no unclosed parentheses. Am I doing anything wrong here? [[User:Sheep8144402|<span style="background:#000;color:#0c0;">Sheep</span>]] ([[User talk:Sheep8144402|talk]] &bull; [[Special:Contributions/Sheep8144402|he/him]]) 15:52, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
:{{ping|Sheep8144402}} I reduced it until it didn't give an error. <code>a|</code> with empty after the pipe is apparently disallowed. You can use <code>a?</code> for something allowed to be empty. [[User:PrimeHunter|PrimeHunter]] ([[User talk:PrimeHunter|talk]]) 18:13, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

== Iffy search suggestion ranking after page move ==

After [[Macintosh]] was moved to [[Mac (computer)]], page views [https://pageviews.wmcloud.org/?project=en.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&redirects=0&start=2022-01&end=2022-12&pages=Mac_(computer)|Macintosh dropped abruptly] by about 50%. 

I believe search suggestions could have something to do with it. When I type "Mac" in the search box, [[Mac (computer)]] is the 10th suggestion. As I type more letters ("Macin", "Macint"), it disappears, replaced by articles for specific Macintosh models that receive far lower page views than the main article. The main article only appears again when I finish typing the full term ("Macintosh"), due to the redirect at [[Macintosh]].

Could anything be done about this, short of moving the article back? Could the [[Macintosh]] redirect be treated as a normal page in the backend, so it shows up in search suggestions without needing an exact match? [[User:DFlhb|DFlhb]] ([[User talk:DFlhb|talk]]) 02:39, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

== Unforgiving in namespace names ==

It occurs to me that the search is more strict in namespace name (prefix) than in title. Given a random typo (my favourite one): {{not a typo|Tempalte}}, compare as namespace and as article title:
::[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=tempalte&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns1=1&ns4=1&ns5=1&ns10=1&ns11=1&ns828=1&ns829=1 as title]
::[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=tempalte%3AReligious+building&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns1=1&ns4=1&ns5=1&ns10=1&ns11=1&ns828=1&ns829=1 as prefix] (does not search for improved prefix then)
:logged in url's; search history influence not known. -[[User:DePiep|DePiep]] ([[User talk:DePiep|talk]]) 06:42, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

== Adding to found items ==

I wanted to find 'SS Andrea Dora' but left off the 'SS', so it wasn't found. How could I help it find it? [[User:HuPi|HuPi]] ([[User talk:HuPi|talk]]) 22:51, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Correction: I should have written 'Andrea Doria', when the search would have succeeded. [[User:HuPi|HuPi]] ([[User talk:HuPi|talk]]) 23:01, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

== Autocomplete option word order ==

The autocomplete search results are different to search results, in that autocomplete for searches word order matter, but not for search results. Is there an option for autocomplete so that it gives me the same results as search results, including results with different word order? [[User:HudecEmil|HudecEmil]] ([[User talk:HudecEmil|talk]]) 07:27, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

== Searching redirects ==

Is there a way to search redirects?  Insource and Intitle seem to exclude redirects.  I don't see anything in the docs about this. [[User:Dicklyon|Dicklyon]] ([[User talk:Dicklyon|talk]]) 00:23, 19 May 2023 (UTC)
:{{reply to|Dicklyon}} You can use [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=insource%3A%2F%5C%23REDIRECT+%2F+Wikipedia&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 insource] to search for pages that include <code>#REDIRECT</code>. [[User:Jarble|Jarble]] ([[User talk:Jarble|talk]]) 16:15, 11 September 2023 (UTC)

== Wildcards ==

Is there a reason why wildcard characters can't be used at the beginning of a search string? In other words, is there a way to search for articles whose titles ''end'' in a particular set of characters? Let's say, for example, I want to find every town whose name ends in "-borough". [[User:Zacwill|Zacwill]] ([[User talk:Zacwill|talk]]) 21:58, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

:I don't have an answer for the first question, but I have for the second one: Unfortunately, MediaWiki's search engine doesn't support the [[regex]] metacharacters <code>^</code> and <code>$</code> that are normally used to mark the start and end position of a string. But if you're familiar with [[WP:PetScan|PetScan]] and have a category, search string, pages that use a certain template or anything like that in mind, there's "Regexp filter" in the "Output" tab that you can use to find {{tq|articles whose titles end in a particular set of characters}} by using <code>^</code> and <code>$</code> in PetScan's "Regexp filter": <code>^.*Example$</code> (replace "Example" with your regex search string in that search string). For example, [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26188266 articles in "Category:Boroughs" whose name ends in "borough"] or [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26188279 articles found with the search string "intitle:/borough/" whose name ends in "borough"]. --[[User:JAAqqO|JAAqqO]] ([[User talk:JAAqqO|talk]]) 22:48, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

::That's very helpful, thank you. One more question: can I use this method to search Wikipedias besides the English Wikipedia? [[User:Zacwill|Zacwill]] ([[User talk:Zacwill|talk]]) 23:15, 17 October 2023 (UTC)
:::Never mind, I think I've figured it out. Thanks again! [[User:Zacwill|Zacwill]] ([[User talk:Zacwill|talk]]) 23:18, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

== Are Wikidata queries supported? ==
This page doesn't mention Wikidata search queries. Does Wikipedia support queries using <code>wbstatement</code>, like [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=haswbstatement%3AP31%3DQ5&title=Special:MediaSearch&go=Go&type=image Wikimedia Commons?] [[User:Jarble|Jarble]] ([[User talk:Jarble|talk]]) 19:51, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

== Searching for quote marks ==

Is there a way to search for strings that include quote marks? —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 22:32, 25 December 2023 (UTC)

:<code>insource:/\“/</code> [[user:ltbdl|ltb]][[user:ltbdl/d|<span style="color:orange">d</span>]][[user:ltbdl|l]] ([[user talk:ltbdl|talk]]) 02:02, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
::Thank you. That helps a lot. But <code>intitle:/\"/ -incategory:"Articles with quotation marks in the title"</code> finds both article titles and redirects. I don't want the redirects. —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 03:44, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
:::maybe <code>-insource:/\#REDIRECT/</code>? [[user:ltbdl|ltb]][[user:ltbdl/d|<span style="color:orange">d</span>]][[user:ltbdl|l]] ([[user talk:ltbdl|talk]]) 04:33, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
::::I tried that already. It didn't work. —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 04:37, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
:::<s>In fact I think maybe that ''only'' finds redirects.</s> I tried <code>intitle:/\«/</code> and it didn't find the article at {{-r|«O»}}, but it found a few redirects. Or maybe the problem has something to do with the timeout error I received. It says to "Try simplifying your regular expression to get complete results", but it is hard to conceive of a simpler regular expression than that. —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 04:49, 26 December 2023 (UTC)
::::Just found this in the Help page: "[[phab:T204089]] – why you can't specifically include or exclude redirects from your search results". —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 02:49, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

:::::There's always PetScan that can filter out redirects from searches: use the <code>Redirects</code> field in the <code>Page properties</code> tab and the <code>Search</code> field in the <code>Other sources</code> tab. For example, [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26686504 here's a PetScan search] for articles that 1) use the template {{T|Infobox film}}, 2) aren't redirects, 3) aren't in the [[:Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title]] and 4) match the title regexp filter <code>^.*("|“|”|«|»).*$</code>.<br />"{{Tq|Try simplifying your regular expression to get complete results}}" – yeah, if you don't have a category, search string, pages that use a certain template or anything ''restrictive'' like that in mind (like the template "Infobox film" in my PetScan search), then—because of the limits of PetScan and MediaWiki's search engine—your best bet is to [[WP:DUMP|download the database]] and then use a tool like [[WP:AWB]] for searching. For example, based on the datadump <code>enwiki-latest-pages-articles-multistream.xml.bz2 02-Dec-2023 03:27</code>, I [[User:JAAqqO/quotation marks in titles|made a list]] that lists about 2,400 articles that, ''as of 2 December 2023'', 1) have “, ”, ", « or » in their titles, 2) aren't in the category [[:Category:Articles with quotation marks in the title]] and 3) aren't redirects. And [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26686871 here's a PetScan search] that updates that list automatically. --[[User:JAAqqO|JAAqqO]] ([[User talk:JAAqqO|talk]]) 17:37, 27 December 2023 (UTC)
::::::That's very helpful; I'll study it. Thank you. —⁠ ⁠[[User:BarrelProof|BarrelProof]] ([[User talk:BarrelProof|talk]]) 00:50, 28 December 2023 (UTC)

== Unable to ID articles.  Unable to search for text in the actual final pages. ==

[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=insource%3A%2F%5C%3Cspan+style%3D%5C%22border%3Athin+solid+black%3B%5C%22%5C%3EWARNING%5C%3C%5C%2Fspan%5C%3E%2F&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1&ns1=1&ns2=1&ns3=1&ns4=1&ns5=1&ns6=1&ns7=1&ns8=1&ns9=1&ns10=1&ns11=1&ns12=1&ns13=1&ns14=1&ns15=1&ns100=1&ns101=1&ns118=1&ns119=1&ns710=1&ns711=1&ns828=1&ns829=1&ns2300=1&ns2301=1&ns2302=1&ns2303=1 this search] for <nowiki>insource:/\<span style=\"border:thin solid black;\"\>WARNING\<\/span\>/</nowiki> is failing.<br>
I'm trying to find which of the pages linked to from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:RudolfoMD/sandbox2 do not display the boxed warning.   I want all of them to display it.  They all should, but some of the wikidata entries haven't been updated (I don't understand why; I'm an OpenRefine beginner.)  It seems like search searches the wikitext, not the resulting HTML pages.  Any ideas on how to do what I want - at the high medium or low level?   (It seems that this is, de facto, a place where folks are asking questions about search problems and getting answers, so I'm going ahead.) [[User:RudolfoMD|RudolfoMD]] ([[User talk:RudolfoMD|talk]]) 05:52, 27 December 2023 (UTC)

:So, are you looking for articles that don't show the input "Legal status: US: WARNING" in {{T|Infobox drug}} from the property {{Prop|P3493}}? If so, here are PetScan searches for the articles that are:
:*1) linked from [[User:RudolfoMD/sandbox2]] and 2) don't have {{Q|Q879952}} set on Wikidata: [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26686245]
:*1) linked from [[User:RudolfoMD/sandbox2]] and 2) don't have {{T|Infobox drug}}: [https://petscan.wmflabs.org/?psid=26686309]
:--[[User:JAAqqO|JAAqqO]] ([[User talk:JAAqqO|talk]]) 16:32, 27 December 2023 (UTC)
::Thanks!  I lost my initial comment thanking you.  I was able to improve the situation somewhat using your searches.  Both were useful!  (how odd that an IP deleted this section!) [[User:RudolfoMD|RudolfoMD]] ([[User talk:RudolfoMD|talk]]) 06:07, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

== Searching for strings only inside/outside refs? ==

Is there any way to limit a search to only inside or only outside of refs in an article? Inside seems like it *might* be possible using regex, outside, I don't really see how... [[User:Naraht|Naraht]] ([[User talk:Naraht|talk]]) 14:28, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

:Try these:
:Inside ([https://w.wiki/9Sk5 example search]):
:<code>insource:"{{green|'''Hello'''}}" insource:/\<ref(>| name[^>\/]+>)[^<]*{{green|'''Hello'''}}/</code>
:Outside ([https://w.wiki/9Sk3 example search]):
:<code>{{green|'''Hello'''}} {{green|'''insource:/\[https?:\/\/[^ ]+ Hello/'''}} -insource:/\<ref(>| name[^>\/]+>)[^<]*{{green|'''Hello'''}}/</code>
:Just change the example word and regex in {{green|green}}. The <code>insource:"Hello"</code> or just simply <code>Hello</code> in the beginning of these search strings is used to restrict the search, so the search wouldn't time out and then give only partial results.
:There's also a problem with that outside search: if a page has what you're searching for but ''also'' has the same matching search string inside a ref tag, the page won't be included in the search results.
:--[[User:JAAqqO|JAAqqO]] ([[User talk:JAAqqO|talk]]) 19:47, 12 March 2024 (UTC)