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Original poster

New "Improved" search, more whinging.

10 replies

SoupDragon · 23/05/2022 14:16

On the "update" page you say this: We have upgraded our general Search function in the new platform so that it’s faster, returns more relevant results etc.

if it is returning "more relevant results" why do I get this rubbish when searching for the word "worms"? The results are completely and utterly irrelevant. This is not an isolated thing.

New "Improved" search, more whinging.
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MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 23/05/2022 15:15

Hi @SoupDragon the search function currently only searches thread titles and opening posts. I can see you've applied your username as a filter so I would expect that you haven't ever posted a title or opening post including the term 'worms' and this is showing the closest matches. If you think this is wrong then we can investigate further?

You may have posted replies including the term 'worms' but these aren't currently indexed in our search function. We are working on this at the moment though.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow and @Andromachehadabadday - the filters are applied automatically to your search so you don't have to press search again. We are releasing a change to the mobile version so that there is an 'apply filters' button which will hopefully make it more clear in that instance.

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 23/05/2022 15:58

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow we're releasing a change for this tomorrow - there will be a button 'apply filters' so hopefully it'll be clearer

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 23/05/2022 17:08

We are working on an advanced search feature that will search all posts so you'll have that functionality back soon.

The reason it's returned things like 'worst' and 'works' in this case is that we allow a typo tolerance, so if you typed 'womrs' we would still return 'worms'. We can look at tweaking this though so that cases like this don't return irrelevant results.

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 25/05/2022 08:48

Hi, we're discussing the feedback regarding the typo tolerance so I'll update you once we've made a decision on that.

@kitchens4ever I'm afraid I can't understand what's happening from your description - are you able to share a screenshot of the issue? Then we can take a look at that. We are working on making the website more accessible but unfortunately, we can't make all the changes at once so it's an ongoing thing. We recently released a lot of changes to make the website more accessible for users who use screen readers for example.

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 25/05/2022 22:09

@kitchens4ever apologies I didn’t understand that from your explanation but we are aware of the issue with small images and we’re currently trying to fix it.

On accessibility - the site is designed to meet Level AA Conformance as a minimum. It's been tested against various screen readers and assistive technologies using the WAVE accessibility tool. These are the type of things we took into consideration:

  • Used proper headings, h1, h2 etc
  • Utilised aria labelling where necessary (pop ups, dropdowns, hidden content etc)
  • Ensure colour contrasting meets AA requirements
  • Used image alternative text
  • Ensured all buttons/links have text labels
  • Removed tables from content
  • Layout is simple and consistent
  • Ensured all text is legible (style, size)
  • Ensured forms have labelling and highlighting where necessary
However it's clear that for some the site isn’t working as well as before and we're keen to make improvements.

Apart from the small images which is a problem we are trying to fix - what are the differences that have made the site less accessible for you?

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 26/05/2022 10:10

@kitchens4ever we're taking note of everything that's being reported about accessibility and we are looking into the issues raised.

Can I ask if you're using an iPad? The column width is the same as it was on the old website on desktop and mobile and never ran the width of the screen, but there are some issues with formatting on iPads which we are aware of and we're planning to fix.

We have a lot of feedback already about accessibility which we are taking on board and we are also running a lot of accessibility tests.

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 27/05/2022 16:12

@kitchens4ever the width is the same but the post layout is slightly different. We’re collecting all the feedback about the design and we’re discussing it.

@ShirleyPhallus @Johnnysgirl it will include a field to search for a user.

There were some changes made to the current search to make it easier to filter this week. The advanced search function is in progress.

MNHQ

KatyMumsnet · 30/05/2022 15:04

@kitchens4ever as I said before we are reviewing and discussing all the issues that are raised but it's not possible to revert back

@Wigeon glad to hear you're finding the change to the date filter useful! When we rebuilt the search function we focused on the main website search rather than advanced search features, which is why you can only see threads users have started right now. We are working on the advanced search features now and you will be able to search users' replies.

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 16/06/2022 10:36

Hi all

We are working on search so please bear with us - we've got some testers, too which should make it much better.

MNHQ

LilyMumsnet · 16/06/2022 13:03

Hi all

We're building an advanced search function which is a big job. Changing queries and indexing more content in the back end of search is complicated and it's not possible to revert back to the old version.

We understand your frustration, but we're moving as fast as we can on it. It is a priority for us and it is in development!

Watch this thread for updates

Tap "Watch" to get all the latest updates

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