SOTT search function logic

[Foxx]

In using the SOTT search function, it seems to use OR as the implied logical operator between words (aka "return results that include ANY of the worlds") instead of AND ("return results that include ALL of the words"), which is more commonly the default search method and, I think, returns better results (narrowing instead of broadening).  Is there a reason OR is used by default instead of AND?  Would it be possible to use AND instead?

[Muxel]

Use quotation marks " " to get AND? That should work, I think.

[Gandalf]

Just for your info, you can read in pushing the ? sign at the left of the search function :

Sott.net SuperSearch Help
SOTT SuperSearch 3
Sott.net gives you over 8 years of news articles from around the world, editorials, and commentary right at your fingertips!

Many of the news articles in our database have long since been scrubbed from the net. Now this excellent research tool is even better...

    NEW! 3-letter words are now fully searchable, and results for standard searches are returned based on relevance. In short, the Sott SuperSearch will help you find what you're looking for faster than ever!

Standard usage:

Just type in the word or phrase you're looking for!

SuperSearch will by default look for a match of your search term in the article Title, Author, and Summary fields.

SuperSearch will first show articles with all the words, and also include articles that contain only some of the words you entered.

If you include double quotes around your search term, SuperSearch will only show articles with all the words you typed in.

You can now also search for terms like "CIA" and "UFO" without a problem!

Most of the time, a standard search will give you the articles you need.

For Customized Search Results:

    Use the special search terms (like "intitle:") to limit your searches
    Put a + before each word you are searching for

You can fine tune your search by specifying fields in which to search. Fine tuning can speed up your search if you're looking for specific content. To fine tune your search, just include one or more of the following terms in the search box before the word or phrase for which you want to search:

    intitle: -- searches in title of article only
    inauthor: -- searches in author field only
    insource: -- searches in source field only
    insummary: -- searches in summary field only
    intext: -- searches in main text field only
    incomment: -- searches in comment field only

You may also search for articles that have different text in different fields by adding the word "AND" to your search. For example, if you want to search for an article that has the word "Bush" in the main text of the article and the word "evil" in the comment field of the article, just type:

intext: Bush AND incomment: evil

Note:

    The AND must be capitalized!
    A search on multiple fields like the above example will be automatically "optimized" to minimize the performance impact on the database. As such, you may not obtain the search results you expect due to this optimization. Try your search first with only one field!

If you want to search for more than one word, add a + (plus sign) before each of the words:

    intitle: +Bush +Rice

This finds all articles that have "Bush" and "Rice" in the title.

You can also exclude certain words by using a - (minus sign) as follows:

    insummary: +Bush +Neocons -Rice

The above search string will find all articles with the words "Bush" and "Neocons", but without the word "Rice in the summary field".

If you want to search for a specific phrase, simply place the phrase within quotes:

    intitle: "Bush fires Rice"

Or:

    inauthor: Knight-Jadczyk AND incomment: "take that to the bank"

Happy Searching!

[Muxel]

Oh. Well eheheheheheheheheheheheh I didn't know that. Eheheheheheheheheheheheheh.

[Foxx]

Ah, ok, that helps.  Thanks for the clarification!