Difference between revisions of "Linden Lab Official:Search FAQ"

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===Are you working with Google on this?===
===Are you working with Google on this?===


We are not working with Google on our Search functionality. We use Google search appliance technology to run these searches, but Google themselves aren't actually indexing Second Life; we are.
We are not working with Google on our Search functionality. We use Google Search Appliance (GSA) technology to build and rank our index, but Google themselves aren't actually indexing Second Life; we are.


===Does traffic play any role in the search rankings?===
===Does traffic play any role in the search rankings?===

Revision as of 21:32, 29 August 2010

This article answers some frequently-asked questions about search functionality in the Second Life® Viewer.

Questions about searching

How do I use the search window?

Search all.png

The Second Life search window has three top-level tabs:

  • Search - general inworld search.
  • Destination Guide - inworld locations hand-picked by Linden Lab; sorted into a wide variety of categories. See What is the Second Life Destination Guide? for more information.
  • Classfieds - enables you to search classified ads in a number of categories. See Classifieds FAQ.

The search tab has the following sub-tabs to enable you to narrow your searches:

  • All Results
  • People
  • Places
  • Events
  • Groups
  • Land Sales
  • Wiki

Check a Maturity rating to filter results to GENERAL, MODERATE, or ADULT content.

What is the difference between the All Results tab and the other tabs?

The All Results tab and Group tab use Google search appliance technology to find results based on multiple relevancy algorithms. The Classifieds, Events, Land Sales, Places, and People tabs use a more straightforward keyword search with secondary information used for ranking results, depending on the tab. To learn how to search more efficiently, see Search Guidelines.

Why don't I see the item I'm looking for?

Results on the All Results tab are ranked differently than on the other tabs, so the results are shown in a different order. It may be that the item you are looking for is ranked either higher or lower on the All tab than on other tabs.

Why am I getting an error that some search terms have been removed from my query?

There are content restrictions that affect search results in all of Search. Certain words are not allowed in search, or are only allowed if your account has been verified as adult and you have opted in to see Adult content. For more information on content restrictions, see Content restrictions. If you are unable to select the Adult checkbox, you need to verify your account as adult. To learn how to verify your account as adult, see How to become verified as an adult.

What's included in the All tab of the Search window?

  • Land parcels
  • Resident profiles
  • Groups
  • Events
  • Individual objects
  • Articles on this wiki.
KBnote.png Note: Classifieds are shown in a separate frame from the rest of the search results on the All tab.

How can I search Classifieds?

To search only classified ads, click the top level Classifieds tab. Search results are listed in descending order of the price the Resident paid for the ad.

The All Results search is basically the same as using web-based Second Life Search. If you have placed a classified ad, your information will show in searches in the All Results tab.

Is it possible to sort search results alphabetically?

Yes, in the People, Places, and Events tabs, click Name for Sorting to sort alphabetically by name. In the Land Sales tab, click Region Name for Sorting to sort alphabetically by region name.

It is not possible to sort results alphabetically in the All Results tab.

Can I use Boolean operators or other advanced search techniques?

Yes. You can use boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT in a search expression.

Additionally, you can enclose multiple words in quotes to search for an exact phrase.

Examples:

You're looking for cat avatars

  • Search: cat avatars

You're looking for live music, but not Jazz

  • Search: live music -jazz

You're looking for cats or dogs

  • Search: cats OR dogs

You're looking for a particular person named "Jane Avatar"

  • Search: "Jane Avatar"
KBtip2.png Tip: You can find more tips on how to use Boolean logic in Google's search documentation. Not all of Google's tricks work in Second Life's search; try a few combinations and find out what works best for you!

Can I filter search results by maturity rating?

To filter search results by maturity rating, check the boxes for Parcel lght G.png General, Parcel lght M.png Moderate, and Parcel lght A.png Adult in the Search window; for in-depth information on this feature, see Maturity Ratings and Inworld Search. To view Adult search results, you must first become verified as an adult.

Privacy concerns

You can specify what's included in search. For the initial population of the search, we made some assumptions for the default settings of each type of result (explained below). You can change the default after it has been set, although it may take one to three days before changes are reflected in the search results. Due to the nature of search indexing, we cannot make any guarantees about when any changes will appear.

Be aware that search results are available to the public; anyone with a web browser can view them from the proper search page. External search engines like Yahoo and Google may also pick up search results, but we are not explicitly asking search engines to crawl them at this time. It is important to remember that Linden Lab does not tie this information to your real life identity. However, if you provide real life information in any of the content types indexed by All search, it could be viewed by people via the Web as well as by anyone with a free Second Life account.

Land parcels

KBwarning.png Warning: There is a L$30 per week fee to show your parcel in search. Parcels must be at least 128 square meters in order to appear in the All Results or Places search. Do not spend L$30 to list parcels smaller than 128 square meters since they won't be listed!
Show in Search.png

By default, land parcels do not appear in search results. To make a parcel appear in search results:

  1. Right click on the parcel and select About Land or choose World > Place Profile > About Land.
  2. Select the Options tab.
  3. Check Show Place in Search.
  4. Select a Category from the drop-down list.


Groups

Group show in search.png

If you are an officer or owner of a group, you can make a group visible in search results. Under My Groups / General, select the Show in search check box.

Profiles

Profile search.png

All Resident profiles are included in search by default. You can limit the amount of information others can search in your profile by unchecking the Show me in Search results check box. When you do this, search results will show only:

  • Your avatar's name
  • Born date
  • Account type

Objects

The Show in Search option for an object is unchecked by default. To make an object visible in search:

  1. Right click on the object and select Edit.
  2. Click the General tab.
  3. Check Show in Search.

What happens when I transfer an object set to Show in search?

Objects for sale and set to show in search default back to the Show in search option unchecked for the purchaser of the object.

Objects set to show in search that are transferred to another Resident will keep the Show in search option checked. The new object owner can uncheck this option.

KBnote.png Note: For an object to be visible in Search, it must be on a parcel of land that has Show in Search checked.

Events

All events are automatically included in search. You can also search on any information within the event details.

Questions about search listings

Is search functionality available on the web?

Search results are available to the public; anyone with a Web browser can view them from the proper search page. The search results may also be picked up by other external search engines such as Yahoo and Google, although we're not explicitly asking search engines to crawl them at this time.

It's important to remember that this information is not tied to your real life identity and is the same information that anybody could see with a free Second Life account.

Are you working with Google on this?

We are not working with Google on our Search functionality. We use Google Search Appliance (GSA) technology to build and rank our index, but Google themselves aren't actually indexing Second Life; we are.

Does traffic play any role in the search rankings?

High traffic somewhat increases the relevance of search results, because we provide inbound links from traffic pages with top-10, top-20, top-1000, etc. places. The place listings do not sort strictly by traffic, however. It's only one of many factors included in the search logic.

How else is ranking determined?

It depends on the category. The Places tab is sorted in descending order by traffic, Classifieds is sorted in descending order by price, and so on.

Are inworld business owners subject to a periodic re-shuffling of search criteria?

Search is a very important tool for users and business owners, and we will constantly strive to improve that tool to meet all our Residents' needs. We will release periodic updates, new features and bug fixes that may affect the performance of particular listings in the search results. Whenever possible, we will communicate about these releases in advance on the Second Life blog.

Are objects on "private land" that are set for sale included in search?

If your parcel is set not to show in search, your objects are not listed.

If your parcel is set to show in search, your for-sale objects are listed.

Do objects with the default name "Object" affect results?

All objects with the default name of "Object" are ignored by Search.

What about things inside a vendor?

Vendor kiosks must be explicitly set to Show in Search, the same as any other object to be included in search. From the server's perspective, a vendor is just a scripted object -- it doesn't really know that the object is selling something. Likewise, it is not possible to search inside the vendor, although you could use the name and/or description of the vendor object to list keywords describing what's inside it.

Are people able to use a search result teleport link to access a private parcel?

Only if the private parcel owner has given them access. If the owner has enabled Show place in Search, the parcel search results page shows links to the parcel and to the objects on the parcel. The object links allow people to find things easier on any parcel, but they will not circumvent privacy settings.

Do searches match partial words?

No. Previously, search used to return results like "constable" if you entered "table." That no longer happens.

Do classifieds that have paid more for inclusion always appear at the top of results?

Ads shown in both the Classifieds tab and in All and Group search results are ranked by a combination of keyword relevance and price paid.

Are articles in the Second Life Knowledge Base returned in the results?

Search does return articles from this wiki; however, you can't limit searches to only Knowledge Base articles. Look for the "Knowledge Base seal of approval" that identifies KB articles.

When are search results updated?

The static HTML pages on world.secondlife.com update twice daily at 3 AM and 3 PM Pacific time. The All and Group tabs index these pages and return them as results. It may take 1-3 days for those updates to be reflected in the search results.

The rest of the tabs should show the changes almost immediately after items are created or updated, depending on query caching used to reduce database load.

Due to the nature of search indexing, we're not able to make any guarantees about when any changes will appear.