Improving the search

[user499]

I don't know why, but I really dislike the search on F95 and I think that is really sad.
Without a doubt F95 is the biggest (and in my opinion best) platform in its niche, but I think the inconvinient search is the reason, that some projects don't get the attention they need to survive.
Sure, there are lots of projects where even without an update there is a lot of discussion etc., but when you want something you have not played yet and maybe even something that is uncommon it is really hard to find.
For example : Try searching for games where you want to be submissive and ANY other fetish is included. It is almost impossible.
I think the reason for that is the tagging system. Instead of reading the Genre from the posts, the search only uses the tags that were assigned by the OP to it.
This is very inefficient and does not consider the many games where there are only a few tags (especially older threads tend to have lesser tags). To furthermore complicate things, some games lack tags, that are fundamental to differentiate them.
The second big working area is the presentation of search results. Maybe I am the only one, but it bugs me that there is no way to search for only certain game engines.
Also there are no images like on Latest Updates which makes it harder to evaluate.

My suggestions :
In general the search algorithm should take the Genre tags from an OP and use those tags as search tags ( I mean in addition to the ones already used ).
There should also be a way for users to recommend tags that are also then used for the search (maybe use likes as some kind of mechanism to evaluate the reliability e.g. 100 people clicked the thread and a recommendation has 10 likes -> the tag is probably a good one).
Then the search results interface should have at least an option to be shown like on the latest updates page and it would be nice to have a progress bar beneath the picture that tells you how accurate it fits your search tags and optionally how many other tags it has.
Lastly I'd wish for a hover on the results that shows some more info about the project (maybe what I described with the progress bar in a more detailed way. Like a list of the tags and the ones you searched for are green, the ones you didn't want are red and all others are white)

This is my opinion, I'd like to hear what other people think.
P.s. Sorry if there was another place to put this but I didn't see it.

 

[redknight00]

Bear in mind that the tags are use submitted, if a tag is missing from a game you can request a mod to add it.

Also, the update will bring new features to the forum, so we just have to wait and see.

 

[usr499]

Bear in mind that the tags are use submitted, if a tag is missing from a game you can request a mod to add it.

Also, the update will bring new features to the forum, so we just have to wait and see.

Yes I know, but if you think about the amount of tags that would be needed... I think the mods have other things to do as well and it won't help if a small group of people has to check for thousands of tags.

 

[Papa Ernie]

Actually, most of what you suggested can already be done with the search page:

You must be registered to see the links

1) All keyword searches use the tags
2) You can use any prefix as a filter
3) As redknight mentioned, any member can report a thread to have tags added. I do so frequently.

While the search engine is a little non-intuitive, it doesn't make it any less effective; you just have to learn to use it. As for obscure kinks, you'll just have to slog through a generic text search or ask for game suggestions in the Game Suggestions forum.

Older games being properly tagged is already a planned feature, although I believe a lot of site tweaking/improvements are on hold until the new version of the web software is implemented in the near(ish) future.

For future reference, these type of threads go here:

You must be registered to see the links

Just follow the README rules before posting a feature request.

Thanks for expressing a desire to improve the site and welcome to F95zone!

 

[usr499]

Actually, most of what you suggested can already be done with the search page:

You must be registered to see the links

1) All keyword searches use the tags
2) You can use any prefix as a filter
3) As redknight mentioned, any member can report a thread to have tags added. I do so frequently.

While the search engine is a little non-intuitive, it doesn't make it any less effective; you just have to learn to use it. As for obscure kinks, you'll just have to slog through a generic text search or ask for game suggestions in the Game Suggestions forum.

Older games being properly tagged is already a planned feature, although I believe a lot of site tweaking/improvements are on hold until the new version of the web software is implemented in the near(ish) future.

For future reference, these type of threads go here:

You must be registered to see the links

Just follow the README rules before posting a feature request.

Thanks for expressing a desire to improve the site and welcome to F95zone!

Thank you for the clarification, I will think of it in the future!
But what I meant was, that you can not search for multiple Prefixes or exclude certain ones. (e.g. most people really don't like RPGM, but are okay with Renpy or Unity).
As for the tags : Is there a possibility that it does not work under certain conditions ? Sadly I don't remember which tag it was, but I was searching for a combination of tags and did not find anything. So I cut down the tags and found a game that had ALL the tags I searched for in the "Genre" part , but was missing them in the tags part above the thread.
Lastly, I know the reporting mechanism, but how long can that work out ? In the best case a website expand exponentially in users. There will be a certain point where the mods will be overwhelmed. The more self sustained f95 becomes the better in the long run.
But I think it is pretty clear that what I mainly wanted will be adressed in the next updates, so I am very pumped for the next overhaul

 

[Papa Ernie]

Thank you for the clarification, I will think of it in the future!
But what I meant was, that you can not search for multiple Prefixes or exclude certain ones. (e.g. most people really don't like RPGM, but are okay with Renpy or Unity).
As for the tags : Is there a possibility that it does not work under certain conditions ? Sadly I don't remember which tag it was, but I was searching for a combination of tags and did not find anything. So I cut down the tags and found a game that had ALL the tags I searched for in the "Genre" part , but was missing them in the tags part above the thread.
Lastly, I know the reporting mechanism, but how long can that work out ? In the best case a website expand exponentially in users. There will be a certain point where the mods will be overwhelmed. The more self sustained f95 becomes the better in the long run.
But I think it is pretty clear that what I mainly wanted will be adressed in the next updates, so I am very pumped for the next overhaul

One last thing. You can search for multiple tags in the Tag Search page search bar. Just separate the tags with a comma.

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Catwashere]

Like it was said above you can help this site by asking for tags to be added.
I have before just make sure you are 100% certain the tag is in the game, i say this because some people think anything with a dick is NTR and it is not!
It is nearly impossible for the uploaders and staff members to play all the games and search for each tag that is in the game so it is cool to ask for one to be added.