New Search Functionality

Hello All,

I’ve recently, with the help of AI, added some enhanced search functionality to the Sitewide Search page.

Use the search box to quickly find images across titles, descriptions, and tags. The search works the same in the site-wide gallery search and in per-gallery filtering.

Basics

• Spaces mean OR: typing multiple words returns items that match any of them.
• +term means required (AND): the item must match every +term you include.
• -term means excluded (NOT): the item must not match the term.
• Quotes keep phrases together and allow literal leading + or -.

What is searched

• Image title
• Tags

Matching rules

• Case-insensitive: “Tank” matches “tank”.
• Partial matches: terms match as substrings (tank matches tanker).
• Phrases: quoted phrases must appear as-is (dry lake matches only that phrase in order).

Operators and examples

• OR (default, space-separated terms)
  • tank tree
    • Returns items containing tank or tree (or both).
• AND (required terms with +)
  • +tank +tree
    • Returns items that contain both tank and tree.
• Combine required, optional, and excluded
  • +tank tree -desert
    • Must contain tank, may contain tree, and must not contain desert.
• Phrases
  • “dry lake”
    • Matches the exact phrase dry lake.
• Literal + or – at the start
  • “+C++”
    • Matches the literal string +C++ (quotes prevent + from being treated as an operator).
  • “A-10”
    • Matches A-10 (quoted to keep the hyphen with the number).
• Exclude only (negative-only search)
  • -desert
    • Returns everything except items containing desert.

Special Characters

• Leading + or – are treated as operators unless inside quotes or escaped with a backslash.
  • Example: “+mage” searches for the literal +mage without quotes.
  • or – inside a word is treated literally (e.g., A-10, C++). Quotes are recommended for reliability.

Tips

• Start broad (OR): type a few terms separated by spaces.
• Require terms with + to narrow results.
• Use – to quickly remove unwanted themes.
• Quote multi-word phrases or terms starting with + or -.
• If in doubt, quoting is safest for special characters.

Quick reference

• OR: tank tree
• AND: +tank +tree
• NOT: -desert
• Phrase: “dry lake”
• Literal leading +: “+C++”
• Literal hyphenated: “A-10”

Applies to

• Site-wide gallery search
• Per-gallery “Search” filter

As always, let me know if you have any questions or feedback.