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NG Search Test - Feedback Plz!

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:20:19

We're running a test for the next few days where out internal search has been replaced by a Google site search of Newgrounds. Try searching for some things you'd like to find on NG and let me know if you get the results you are looking for and if you prefer this to our regular search!

I can't emphasize enough how important your feedback on this is right now so PLEASE, GIVE FEEDBACK!

Long-term it would be nice to have skinned Google results, but the free version of their API is too limiting and the paid version gets EXPENSIVE for the amount of searches NG generates. Another option would be to set up a completely new search system on NG, maybe using some of the open source options out there. Before we do any of that, we figured we'd see how this does.

Today is Throwback Thursday, the following content is from this week in NG history! I'll start with games this week since there are a lot of good ones. Movies will be in the replies to this thread.

Games

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:20:25

Movies

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:20:33

More Movies

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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StickmanMarkinson
Member since: Dec. 25, 2008
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:30:45

Well I would like to say that using the new NG search (by using the search engine from Google) is good for usernames to be honest.

SM/AMA/FAQs (Now both are ready, well sort of) My shortcuts

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Radaketor
Member since: Dec. 31, 2013
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Member Level 33 Movie Buff

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:31:28

I could see myself getting used to this new one and it seems to search what i ask it to, but i think the old search bar was better, i could choose if i wanted to search a forum topic, a game, art, movies, audio and it seemed to work pretty well.

"Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody."

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:32:55

At 9/18/14 12:30 PM, LordMartin-Mac wrote: Well I would like to say that using the new NG search (by using the search engine from Google) is good for usernames to be honest.

Yeah usernames are a biggie. There are other areas that previously wouldn't come up, for example I can type "video game parodies" and the Video Game Parodies collection is the first result. I can type "dubstep" and the Dubstep category of the Audio Portal comes right up. Previously, a newcomer to the site would have struggled if they used our search to find things like that.

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:33:23

At 9/18/14 12:31 PM, Radaketor wrote: I could see myself getting used to this new one and it seems to search what i ask it to, but i think the old search bar was better, i could choose if i wanted to search a forum topic, a game, art, movies, audio and it seemed to work pretty well.

Try searching for some forum topics with this one and let me know if they come right up!

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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Megacharlie
Member since: Dec. 3, 2013
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:35:38

uh it just goes to google then i have to type in the search again.

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RB
Member since: Mar. 17, 2014
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:36:15

Well, i searched some stuff and i got a pretty good result, but when i searched myself, i couldn't find anything. Maybe it's because of my name, when i search google changes it on comics. I think that the google site search has some advantages, but the ng search is great if you want to find movies and games.

till we overdose

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Radaketor
Member since: Dec. 31, 2013
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Member Level 33 Movie Buff

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:37:00

At 9/18/14 12:33 PM, TomFulp wrote: Try searching for some forum topics with this one and let me know if they come right up!

I searched some key words from certain topics and the threads i was searching for were the first ones that came up.

"Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody."

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:38:32

At 9/18/14 12:35 PM, megacharlie159 wrote: uh it just goes to google then i have to type in the search again.

Weird it should pass through as an NG specific search with NG results. Anyone else experiencing this?

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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RB
Member since: Mar. 17, 2014
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:39:14

So i searched some stuff on google and got a pretty good result, but when i searched my name, i couldn't find anything because when i search "comicd" google changes it onto comics. I think that the google site search if you want to find users and stuff, but the ng search is way better if you want to find movies and games.

Also, first!

till we overdose

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deathwish9
Member since: Apr. 21, 2012
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:39:23

To be honest, I don't really use the search that often. But anyway, about the Google search. It seems to work fine,and the first link was what I was looking for(I used 'club a seal' as a test search, due to me forgetting where it was on the site). I don't know about anyone else, but I think that the Google search will work out in the long run.

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Radaketor
Member since: Dec. 31, 2013
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:39:38

At 9/18/14 12:36 PM, ComicD wrote:

Searched for your username and this came up.

NG Search Test - Feedback Plz!

"Till one day, that lion gets up and tears the shit out of everybody."

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:39:58

At 9/18/14 12:36 PM, ComicD wrote: Well, i searched some stuff and i got a pretty good result, but when i searched myself, i couldn't find anything. Maybe it's because of my name, when i search google changes it on comics. I think that the google site search has some advantages, but the ng search is great if you want to find movies and games.

When I type "comicd" your account is the first result. Above it Google asks if I meant to search for comics, but it doesn't auto-correct to comics... This could be a case of A/B results where you get one version and I get another. Or maybe Google already course-corrected itself and realized comicd is a thing...

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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EKublai
Member since: Dec. 13, 2003
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:41:58

Can you do an "I'm feeling lucky" button because it seems to work pretty well.

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TomFulp
Member since: Dec. 15, 1999
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:44:58

At 9/18/14 12:41 PM, EKublai wrote: Can you do an "I'm feeling lucky" button because it seems to work pretty well.

I was thinking about that too... Hate to have TWO buttons though since we're ultimately working to reduce stuff in the header. Would be interesting to just default to that, but then you'd lose a lot of good results. I wonder if Google has a policy about bypassing their results page that way...

Working on Nightmare Cops!

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LunacyEcho
Member since: Aug. 29, 2012
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:48:16

Not sure if this is something that could happen to other people or is just my computer acting up, but when I type something into the search bar and press "Search", it redirects me to www.google.com. :(

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RB
Member since: Mar. 17, 2014
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 12:48:30

At 9/18/14 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote:
At 9/18/14 12:36 PM, ComicD wrote:

Maybe, it should be so, i think, there's no other explenation.

till we overdose

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genevrarose
Member since: Oct. 11, 2011
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:03:35

I get redirected to Google.com. Using a Mac OS X 10.9.4, Safari.

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Viper
Member since: Jun. 18, 2010
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Supporter Level 60 Musician

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:06:56

Holy mother of submissions batman!
Also gonna throw these games out there since I'm fond of em and think they should get more exposure:

At 9/18/14 12:20 PM, TomFulp wrote:

We're running a test for the next few days where out internal search has been replaced by a Google site search of Newgrounds. Try searching for some things you'd like to find on NG and let me know if you get the results you are looking for and if you prefer this to our regular search!

I can't emphasize enough how important your feedback on this is right now so PLEASE, GIVE FEEDBACK!

It works well. But I feel that its mostly useful for searching for users. So while I can see this as being really useful, having the previous search plus the ability to do a user search where you could search for a specific username or a word that'd be in said username and it'd give you a list of users whose name included said word would be better.

Formally known as Viper50

When you get into one of these groups theres only a couple of ways you can get out. One is death. The other is mental institution.

Last.fm Youtube

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DamnedByFate
Member since: Jan. 14, 2008
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:16:23

At 9/18/14 12:38 PM, TomFulp wrote:
At 9/18/14 12:35 PM, megacharlie159 wrote: uh it just goes to google then i have to type in the search again.
Weird it should pass through as an NG specific search with NG results. Anyone else experiencing this?

Same problem right here. No matter what I type in, it jumps to Google's homepage when I hit the Search button. I was already blaming it on my old-as-fuck PC, but apparently I'm not alone on this.

Also, I see the search button below the bar, when it should probably show up next to it.

And finally, I hate to tell you this, but I've managed to boycott Google for a year by now. Please don't ruin it for me.

Teacher, goth, communist, cynic, alcoholic, master swordsman, king of shitpoasts.

It's better to die together than to live alone.

Sig by Decky

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FateModified
Member since: Oct. 22, 2013
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:20:55

When I use the search now, it leaves NewGrounds' site and goes to www.google.com. I'm using Mac OSX 10.9.4 with Safari 10.7.6 web browser.

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Luis
Member since: Apr. 23, 2000
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:26:54

I think its tough because for things art, movies and collections , i kind of like having the thumbnails to accompany the search results, i tend to not know exactly what i want. I do see it useful for usernames and for really short usernames or what not.

Is there a way to have the search results move to the images tab results by default when you have art in the search term/wildcard? Maybe that makes a mess of things in itself. What happens to tags moving forward? I tend to like searching for art by tags, especially with stuff like madness collections or things that are a family of images and not something im particularly searching for?

None

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EKublai
Member since: Dec. 13, 2003
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:29:16

At 9/18/14 12:44 PM, TomFulp wrote:
At 9/18/14 12:41 PM, EKublai wrote: Can you do an "I'm feeling lucky" button because it seems to work pretty well.
I was thinking about that too... Hate to have TWO buttons though since we're ultimately working to reduce stuff in the header. Would be interesting to just default to that, but then you'd lose a lot of good results. I wonder if Google has a policy about bypassing their results page that way...

That's fair. I never use I'm feeling lucky for that discovery reason. It's especially important with NG and it doesn't really fit with this vanilla google search. I feel like I'm getting a lot of results that are just offshoots to the most popular item.
When I see a mass of NG results on a search, I look for: Score and picture, then other results. Barely bother with the description because they're almost never written well.
I'd like to continue to see those icons, for sure. They sidetrack me from what I thought I wanted to see or make me want to go back to the result page after I watch the thing my friend told me about. This was especially true when I was new to the site and saw all these Zelda and Lord of the Rings parodies or even tributes to those parodies.

I'm not sure what "skinning" the google results would actually look like.

As it is, it the search results feel redundant and not context sensitive. Like if I typed in "The World is Saved", the first two results should probably be, "The World is Saved", "EKublai userpage", but if I typed "Numa Numa", after the original and Gman250's page, I would much rather be bombarded with all those parodies and scroll through than be interrupted by blog post results that mention it.

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Luwano
Member since: Nov. 3, 2004
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Supporter Level 46 Art Lover

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:37:38

At 9/18/14 12:38 PM, TomFulp wrote:
At 9/18/14 12:35 PM, megacharlie159 wrote: uh it just goes to google then i have to type in the search again.
Weird it should pass through as an NG specific search with NG results. Anyone else experiencing this?

Yes I got the same. It just took me to google. Using iOS 7 Safari browser. And from what I learned as apple user, it's probably an iOS exclusive problem. Or isn't it?

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Draego
Member since: May. 28, 2002
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:40:23

Don't like this as is. I don't find it any more useful than just running a google search myself. If I wanted to google results within Newgrounds I know how to add those search parameters. I preferred it as it was where search results that actually pull up games/videos within Newgrounds. Please change back!

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datcrazyblackboy
Member since: Dec. 20, 2013
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Member Level 23 Reader

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:42:29

I think its pretty neat, at first I was like what?? lol I thought my computer was messing up but its a nice added touch to partner with Google for the search engine :)I like the way it even has the ratings beside the movies.

CRAZYBLACKBOY

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deletedTAMyStudios
Member since: Apr. 20, 2006
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Member Level 11 Game Developer

Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:47:30

Hey, dude.
Is there any way you guys could be convinced to update the NG search functionality? I've had some frustrations with it.
$elling Point ($$$)
$$$$
Good search, rather than buttons/UI, is the #1 piece of functionality I see requested these days. I write web applications for a living, and I am surprised to find out how much even our smaller clients value search.
$$$$
As a use case scenario, a game I played recently was "Return to Tolagal".
- Searching for the exact title gives exactly one result, which isn't too bad of thing, and it's at least what I wanted.
- Searching for "Return to" gives me the following list of games:
1) Mastermind: WC
2) Abobo's Big Adventure
3) Cave of No Return
4) endeaver
5) cantankerousTANK
6) Sik Trix BMX
7) Tattoo Artist
8) Music Catch 2
9) Gamma Bros
10) Return of the Squid
11) Dark's Return
12) Return of Papulatus
13) Chronotron
14) REDDER
15) Paradox Embrace
16) Fragger
17) Return Of The Snowmen
18) Seedling
19) Return to Tolagal

===================

You remember that email, Tom? Well, a Google search for "Return To" gives "Return to Tolagal" as the FIRST result.

Searching for "The Hippo Song" gives "Noodles on my Back" (What I wanted) as the THIRD result.

Searching for artists, ex: "Oney" gives me their profiles, just as I expect.

Already, much better than what I think is a really crappy NG search bar :)

But I do wonder sometimes why using a monster like Google is necessary for giving decent search results. Ffs, I can't say I'm impressed that you couldn't even search for artists in the typical NG search, or that even a simple typo (bad because movies are often named "artistically" aka purposely misspelled) would omit what you're looking for from search results.

If I had searched for "return ot" in the usual NG search, I'd never find what I want.

Whereas a simple multi-threaded word-by-word search and a scoring system for results based on a prioritization filter could do the job. Of course, it'd also be computationally expensive! So maybe something statistical that does indexing is really what you want :) I won't judge.

I'm just passionate about the idea of this place having a decent search engine.
And it just doesn't have one.

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Megacharlie
Member since: Dec. 3, 2013
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Response to NG Search Test - Feedback Plz! 2014-09-18 13:52:21

I am on a mac but i think its doing this for everyone.

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