Chapter 23. Using the Search Module

The Search module is the only practical way to find half the content on a busy PHP-Nuke site. Don't get me wrongthe other modules are great. But the News module, for example, lists only 10 or so stories on your home page, and selecting a specific topic or category gets you only the latest 10 or so stories. If users want to find something posted in a specific month, they can use the Stories Archive module, which lists your site's content by month, but how likely is it that users will know what month to check out?

Thus, the Search module. Figure 23.1 shows the module's main page, which is simplicity itself: Users simply enter a keyword or phrase and then decide what they want to search. The search can be restricted to specific topics or categories, or to specific authors (more on that in a bit). The search can also be restricted to a time range, from one or two weeks ago to one to three months ago. Users can also choose to search stories, comments, or reviews, or they can search for specific users. Note that you can't search journal entries or any other types of content on your sitejust stories, comments, reviews, and users (well, actually you can eventually search downloads and Web links, too, which I'll get to in a second).

Figure 23.1. The Search module.