MTLookup: Testing Smart Suggestions
10/02/2005
Once in a while, my own programs analyze MTLookup's search logs. They find out, which keywords have been used most often. They also look for search phrases, which resulted in long result lists - trying to find those queries whose result lists are so long that it was difficult for you to find what you were looking for.
Today, I started with integrating a new feature into MTLookup: giving suggestions to the user, how a search query might be improved and better results be found.
Offline Analysis
Currently, this feature is in an experimental state. It is not yet a true part of MTLookup. It is run and supervised by me on demand.
Therefore, the suggestions will not appear immediately after you have done a search. Instead they are calculated independantly of your search (maybe several hours later) and presented with your next visit.
After the component for calculating the suggestions has matured, it will be integrated into the search form. Whenever a search is done, suggestions will be calculated and presented together with the result list.
Examples
Several types of sugesstions are evaluted...
- Is a keyword unknown to MTLookup? If it does not appear in any article, the user might have a typo in the search phrase. Is the keyword similar to an existing keyword? Should that keyword be suggested?
- Is a keyword used very rarely? Does MTLookup know about a synonym, which is used often?
- Did the search phrase lead to a large number of results? Should the entire search phrase be surrounded by quotes? Would this reduce the number of results in a reasonable way?
For example, suggestions such as the following might be shown.
Important message regarding your previous searches
You recently searched for pop up comments. Sometimes, searching for a quoted string is better. For example, searching for "pop up comments" results in those articles, which contain the three words next to each other.
Important message regarding your previous searches
You recently searched for mtentrysubcategories. Maybe you wanted to search for mtsubcategories instead.
Important message regarding your previous searches
You recently searched for right bar. The term bar is not used that often. Instead, sidebar is used. Moreover sometimes, searching for a quoted string is better. For example, searching for "right sidebar" results in those articles, which contain the two words next to each other.
Important message regarding your previous searches
You recently searched for expandable. As this is a rather generic keyword, you should add another keyword for further specifying what you were looking for. Maybe you were looking for expandable menu.
MTLookup
If you want to try, use MTLookup.
mgs | 10/02/2005
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