611915 - Exact title search does not rank higher than partial search

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 694099

(addons.mozilla.org Graveyard :: Search, enhancement, P5)

Description

[KitchM]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101027 Firefox/3.6.12
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.2.12) Gecko/20101027 Firefox/3.6.12

Search function is not trustworthy since existing add-ons do not show up in results.  Even exact wording will not return the add-on.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Type in "YouTube Download" in search bar
2.Activate search
3.See results
Actual Results:  
Did not get the result requested.

Expected Results:  
Should have seen that add-on as the first one in list.

See attached screenshots.

Comment 1

[KitchM]

Attachment: Search results

This is the normal search.

Comment 2

[KitchM]

Attachment: Shows add-on

The add-on does exist with actual name.

Comment 3

[krupa raj[:krupa]]

In your screenshot, the search is sorted by "popularity". There the add-ons are sorted based on number of downloads. "Youtube Download" is listed on the second page as expected. 

See https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?sort=weeklydownloads&pp=20&pid=1&lver=any&q=YouTube+Download&cat=all&page=2


If you sort by keyword match, then the add-on is listed on the first page.
See  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search/?pp=20&pid=1&cat=all&q=YouTube+Download&lver=any&page=1

Comment 4

[KitchM]

I probably should have been a little more clear.  I used the name in quotation marks.  Anytime a search is done with quotation marks, the search must be specific.  The search engine failed anyway.

Comment 5

[Wil Clouser [:clouserw]]

Krupa is correct.  If you request an ordering, that's what you'll get, regardless of quotation marks.  -> invalid

Comment 6

[KitchM]

So, with regard to the quotation issue, you are making the claim that Mozilla's search function does not work as standard search engines such as Google or Ask.  I must say that this would certainly not be expected, and further, that Mozilla has nothing to gain by confusing the user or forcing them to do things in a manner which is not normal or expected.

I did not request an "ordering", as you say.  I would also point out that even the advanced search does not give a choice of no sort, which in and of itself is another flaw.

There is no doubt that these flaws need correction immediately.

Comment 7

[Dave Dash [:davedash, :dd] (assign all bugs to mbrandt)]

We've experimented with exact search before - we may look into this again.

Comment 8

[KitchM]

I'd certainly hope so.  If a user is looking for the details of a particular add-on, and he knows the name of it, it should come up first and foremost.  That it does not, clearly indicates a search engine and/or database flaw.  No exception.

I can tell you that this sort of failure is frightening in the computer industry.  When information cannot be retrieved, what good is a database?  How can the user trust the security of their data?  Where did the info go, and can it be recovered?

It is a foundational problem, and very straight-forward.

Comment 9

[krupa raj[:krupa]]

sounds similar to bug 517575

Comment 10

[KitchM]

Right you are; very similar.  These both show that there is a database and/or search engine flaw.  Serious stuff indeed.

Comment 11

[Dave Dash [:davedash, :dd] (assign all bugs to mbrandt)]

At the moment there's no non-hacky way to do this, and I'd like to limit the hacks in sphinx.conf.

Comment 12

[KitchM]

How about implementing a new search engine function to replace the existing?  Can that be done?  Or perhaps more appropriately, is Mozilla willing to do so?

Comment 13

[Dave Dash [:davedash, :dd] (assign all bugs to mbrandt)]

We're replacing things with ElasticSearch... this will be done, but it will take some time.

Comment 14

[KitchM]

Thanks for the update.  All we users appreciate it.

Comment 15

[Wil Clouser [:clouserw]]

forward duping for a straightforward bug