Nya Linden

Hi all - The Search team is continuing to make changes throughout the beta test period, however you should be seeing things stabilize more as we get closer to completion. We are still adding features and making some tweaks now, but the major updates are done. That said, we will continue to fix things after the beta period, including any relevance issues that are found. That is just part of the normal maintenance process. If you have specific issues with relevance that you think are a bug, please do file them in jira under Web with a component of Search. We're keeping an eye on the beta feedback as well. Thanks! - Nya

Thanks Cerise! We're looking at more improvements all the time, and appreciate the appreciation. - Nya

Hi all -  On July 27th, Search will be moving all web-based searching to the updated backend engine that has been in use in the ongoing Search beta.  Any viewers or clients that point to http://search.secondlife.com will begin receiving results from the new system. The functionality will remain the same, however the results rankings will be different, as the new backend has updated algorithms for relevance. Change details:   Viewer 1 - All and Groups tabs will be moved to the new backend search engine.  They will look the same, but the results will be ranked differently. Other tabs will not be affected. Viewer 2 - Search will be moved to the new beta Search UI and backend in all versions of Viewer 2 Web searches will be moved to the new backend search engine - including Classifieds, Events, and Groups. Any products using http://search.secondlife.com will begin receiving results from from the new backend. The http://search-beta.secondlife.com url will still be live, and will be running the same version as search.secondlife.com for now.   If you run into any issues, please use the feedback link at the top of the Search beta page, or file a jira in the Web project with a component of Search. Thank you! - Nya

Hi Rhys - The maturity ratings and rules haven't changed at all in new Search, but I believe people are noticing them more because we are showing the icons more prominently (as many Residents requested). Profiles and all other search results are rated based on a combination of text content, stated maturity, and region maturity. If you have a question about a specific word or parcel that seems to be rated incorrectly, the best thing to do is to file a Jira in the Web project and set the component to Search. Tell us the word, or the listing you believe is being rated incorrectly and we'll look into it. That's the most reliable way to get something to us. I don't see anything wrong with Dick Van-Dyke, so more details there would be useful. Thanks, - Nya

Thanks for the heads up on this! We have fixed this issue and you should see it live by the end of the day. Nice catch. - Nya

Hi again! The new search system is based around connecting sellers and buyers, and making it easier for people to find exactly what they are looking for. As I mentioned before, we are improving this all the time throughout the beta period, and in fact, we have made some updates to Classifieds already based on comments in here. You will see more changes coming out next week as well. That said, we've found that when people are confronted with ads that are just a bunch of keywords, they are less likely to click on them. We really encourage advertisers to use human-friendly language, as it will raise the likelihood that when people see your ad, they will actually teleport there. Whether you want to use a single ad with a high price or many cheaper ads, keyword stuffing ends up working against you in the long run. We're working on making this system better and we have many things in progress that should help. Please do send feedback using the link at the top of the search beta page if you have specific issues. We're keeping a close eye on that during this beta process. Thanks! - Nya

Hi Lilly - Search uses dozens of rules to determine relevance, and as we are still in beta, these are being updated according to feedback from our Residents. The most important thing to do is to make sure your Classified is written in human-readable sentences and contains actual descriptions of what you sell. I recommend reading through this article about how to create listings: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Guidelines-for-creating-search-listings/ta-p/803947#Section_.5.6 Thanks! - Nya

Hiya! There are two areas where Classifieds results are returned in Search - on every result page on the right, under Paid Classifieds, and on the Classifieds tab. Under Paid Classifieds, results are still shown in the order of price paid - this is the order that is shown on every search result page. However, when searching on the Classifieds tab itself, we are ordering the main results by how relevant they are to the search query, to make it easier for residents to find exactly what they are looking for. That said, new Search is in Beta and we are adding features all the time. We will be adding additional sorting options for the Classifieds tab soon! Thanks, - Nya