By default the search engine tries to locate
pages which have exact matches for all of the words entered in your
search query. If that fails, it then tries to locate pages which contain any
words in your search query. If that happens a short message is displayed at the
top of the search results indicating this has been done.
In addition, there are several ways to modify
the default search behavior.
phrase search
The search engine supports three types of phrase search.
To match an exact phrase, use quotes
around the phrase
Example: "free search engine"
To match a near (within a couple of
words) phrase, use square brackets [around the words]
Example: [free search engine]
To match a far (within several words)
phrase, use braces { around the words }
Example: {free search engine}
+ and - qualifiers
If you prepend a word with + that word is required to be on the
page.
If you prepend a word with - that word is required to not be on the page.
Example: +always -never
* wildcard
If a query word ends with a * all words on a page which
start the same way as that query word will match.
Example: gift*
? wildcard
If a query word contains a ? any character will match that
position.
Example: b?g
boolean search
You can use the following boolean operators in your search: AND, OR, NOT.
These operators MUST be in capital letters.
Example: (contact AND us) OR (about AND us)