520941 - Remove last search term from sidebar query

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(support.mozilla.org :: Search, defect, P4)

Description

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

Attachment: Screenshot

(Initially targetting 1.5 for this, since it's related to search.)

Although we set a cookie named "fsearch" with the value of the last-entered term on the little "Search the Knowledge Base" search box, we don't appear to read it and populate said box with the search term.

This is broken even on production, too.

STR:

1. Load http://support-stage.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/
2. Type "firefox crashes" and click the orange search arrow
3. Look at the "Search the Knowledge Base" textfield on the resulting page (http://support-stage.mozilla.org/tiki-newsearch.php?where=all&locale=en-US&q=firefox+crashes&sa=)

Expected:

"firefox crashes" should appear in the search box

Actual:

Search box is empty

Comment 1

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

Litmus testcase up at: https://litmus.mozilla.org/show_test.cgi?id=9572

Comment 2

[Paul Craciunoiu [:paulc]]

We discussed this in bug 517269
See bug 517269 comment 6 (David's comment). Correct me if I misunderstood, but I believe we're removing this functionality.

Comment 3

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

(In reply to comment #2)
> We discussed this in bug 517269
> See bug 517269 comment 6 (David's comment). Correct me if I misunderstood, but
> I believe we're removing this functionality.

He makes an exception for the search-results page, "I don't see the point of remembering the value of the search box for any pages BUT the search results page."

The resulting URL given in step 3 (http://support-stage.mozilla.org/tiki-newsearch.php?where=all&locale=en-US&q=firefox+crashes&sa) is just that, no?

Comment 4

[Paul Craciunoiu [:paulc]]

From David's comment, I understood that we want the search box to contain a value "on the search results page" -- which is NOT for the Forum and KB (bigger) search boxes?
:)

David, can you clarify it for us?

Comment 5

[David Tenser [:djst]]

That's right - the search box should only contain the results on the search results page, which is the URL Stephen refers to (tiki-newsearch.php) in comment 3.

Essentially, if you search for something, the search box in the resulting page includes the string you searched for, but if you navigate to other pages or go to the start page again, it shouldn't remember the string (unless you went back to the start page by hitting the Back button of the browser, in which case the text will be remembered anyway).

However, from an implementation point of view, I don't really understand why we need a cookie to prefill the search results page, since the searched string is part of the form submission (and even the URL). Can't we just ditch the cookie and just show the string on tiki-newsearch.php anyway?

Comment 6

[James Socol [:jsocol, :james]]

We don't need a cookie, from an implementation point of view. We should stop setting it at all.

From a usability point of view, I think we should add a search form to the top and bottom of the results, pre-populated with the last search term, and not pre-populate the search box in the sidebar. That makes the search more familiar (see most search engines) and makes refining searches more intuitive.

The sidebar search, being on every page, seems disconnected from the "current" search, and doesn't need to match.

Comment 7

[Paul Craciunoiu [:paulc]]

Is this wontfix or invalid?

Comment 8

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

(In reply to comment #7)
> Is this wontfix or invalid?

If we're going to implement the solution proposed in comment 6, we could either morph this bug or file anew; I don't care either way, really.

Comment 9

[Paul Craciunoiu [:paulc]]

I say we close this. There's already a bug about adding a search box to the search page (relating to comment 6).

Comment 10

[James Socol [:jsocol, :james]]

Morphed. We don't need to do this via a cookie and we don't need it in the sidebar.

Comment 11

[Paul Craciunoiu [:paulc]]

I thought I had already removed the cookie? I can check tomorrow.

Comment 12

[James Socol [:jsocol, :james]]

Fixed by bug 527959 comment 4.

Comment 13

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

Verified FIXED; don't see any more "fsearch" cookies.

Comment 14

[James Socol [:jsocol, :james]]

Fixed on prod.

Comment 15

[Stephen Donner [:stephend] Not actively reading bugmail]

(In reply to comment #14)
> Fixed on prod.

Verified; searched, and still no more fsearch cookie(s).