Are you familiar with Super Search?

The "auto-navigation" provided by the search box on every page is actually very useful if you know how to use it. If you enter a node's title and it is a unique title, you go directly to that page. If you enter a string which appears in more than one node title, you get a list of titles containing that string. If you enter a node id, you go directly to that node.

But, if you are really searching for information, Super Search is super sexy.

Update: I should mention the PerlMonks FAQ too. And not just because PodMaster requested I do so... :-)

-sauoq
"My two cents aren't worth a dime.";

Right, Search bar will take you to such nodes as Best Nodes, Worst Nodes or Stats Page directly. Which makes me think, why aren't or are nodes like those listed on some navigation menu? Or they're meant to be Easter eggs?

In future, search for Mail::Mailer Mail::Mailer or Mail::Mailer aake8dkslna. Though this doesn't help everyone else who will run into that problem.

I think my preferred solution would be to have a search for "Best Nodes" take you directly to that node but note that this was because of a single, exact title match and so display a link near the "search" box that searches for all nodes with titles containing "best" and "nodes" with text something like "Or search for other nodes with similar titles".

Greetings, Good Monks.

It seems On-topic for me to follow-up this posting with my opinions, recently arrived-at, regarding the Perl Monks "Search" textfield+submit elements in the site banner.

I also had numerous confused experiences *well* into my time at Perl Monks (which, contrary to what many may think, you'll find has been considerable), because I expected something labelled "Search" to work analogously to other site-wide engine-driven searches found widely on the Net in general. I submit for consideration my personal report of how the Perl Monks site design mis-met those expectations, as nothing more than the report of one user, namely myself. So, FWIW:

The tool behind "Search" in fact only searches on strings or substrings in names of nodes, AFAIUI. This is a very simple facility (not unlike AOL's notion of "Keywords", dare I point it out -- I mean no insult by drawing any comparison between PM and AOL). IMHO, such a tool is better labelled something else, and that something might be: "Jump To". To my thinking this better conveys the impression of a quick user convenience that "Search" presently is -- is it not really there so as to allow quick movement in-between named nodes that the user is already aware of? "Search" implies inquiry into the unknown. Certainly some users may find that they are capable of getting good, quick results (esp. if they ask or read an FAQ and acquire inside knowledge of how the presently-named "Search" works) on queries into unknown areas of the Monastery by using "Search", but by and large, isn't the "Super Search" really much better for that.

I therefore submit the request that renaming of this element of the Perl Monks UI be undertaken (discussion of, that is) with the idea that it end up being labelled something like "Jump To". Thanks for reading.

Update:
PodMaster's comment below corresponds with my thinking. "Go" had also occurred to me.

    Soren/Intrepid

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I like "Jump To" better than "Search", although I think a better choice might be simply "GO".

BTW, I think your signature has some unclosed tags, you should fix those.

MJD says "you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!"

I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6.x and 5.8.x -- I take requests (README).

** The third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

I vote against this. People encourage meaningful titles so people looking for the same information can find it easily. Look up is definetly not clearer than Search.

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Whenever I look up, I either see the sky or the ceiling.