The Site Search
Updating the Search Function of the site is an area that the CMS Development Team are constantly working on to make improvements that will aid both Admins and your Site Users
The CMS search is powered by an algorithm run against the Database Content rather than the Site Display Content itself, this means Modules/Plugins placed in regions (left/right-hand columns or top/bottom areas) are not searched against. The search looks only at the Title/Summary/Body; the search uses a weighted system giving a higher rank for an Exact Search Term Match.
Single words are weighted lowest, and when 4 words are used within the Search Bar the 'Near' function is engaged to then search for Single Words ‘Near’ each other which are given a weighting between highest and lowest.
The Search logic also looks for alternative word forms, If the word is a verb, alternative tenses are used. If the word is a noun, the singular, plural, and possessive forms are used to detect matches. Noise words such as and, or, if, and when, (there are over 100 words) are ignored. Weight is not just based on the above it also considers the number of times those words are found in Title/Summary/Body
This can mean that when you search on a specific term E.g. Flu – Your page named 'Flu' may not appear at the top of the Search Results that are brought back.
Weighting & Ranking:
If Page 1 is named ‘Flu’ but then this term is NOT then listed anywhere within the Body of the page and Page 2 is named ‘Flu Jab’, but also has the term ‘Flu’ mentioned several times within the Body of the page, then Page 2 would rank higher than Page 1 within the site search.
Near Words:
If a Single Word such as 'Health' is Searched on, this would then bring back Results for Multiple other 'Near Terms' Such as; Healthy, Health Care, Health Board, Health in Wales, Health Care Centre, Health Care Provider, Healthy Eating, etc, etc
Searching by Area:
We have now (Sept 2021) added Extra Functionality to the Site Search in the form of a new filter in order to further define searching within a specific area of the site. A Drop-down filter will now appear on the left-hand side of the Search Bar, users will then see a dropdown list of all Titles (Areas) that are displayed on the Top-Level Navigation Bar (Blue Bar). When a user selects one of these any search the user runs will only be run against that specific area.
E.g. If a user were to select to Search for a specific Hospital by name within the 'News' area, then only results of Hospitals within the News Items would be brought back. Alternatively, If a user were to select to Search for a specific Hospital by name within the 'All' or 'Hospitals and Clinics' areas then the Hospital pages would be brought back in the Search Results.
Search Phrases:
We have now (August 2023) made an update to the Site Search, this will mean that when a user enters a specific search phrase, if there are any content items/pages which have a Title that matches the Search Phrase then that page/item will now appear at the top of the search results list. So that users can search for and find the content page they want more easily and reliably.
Search Phrase: Maternity Services
