Advanced Website Search Features

[Gamer1983]

Serious question i'm dying to find out. I'm currently a web designer with basic programming knowledge. I am trying to find out how to create a database driven website which hosts advanced search features like you would find on EBay or a dating site. The best I can manage thus far is a simple search box that returns the results through PHP. Any ideas guys and gals?

[kalniel]

Hire a web developer with more advanced programming knowledge. Amateur efforts aren't really suitable for a business holding personal information IMHO, for several reasons including security.

[scaryjim]

... The best I can manage thus far is a simple search box that returns the results through PHP. ...

Not entirely sure what more you think you're going to end up having, tbh.

A search function - whatever input you need - is going to work by collecting some information in an html form, sending it to the server, processing that form using a scripting language (whether that's php, perl, python, ASP.NET or whatever), querying some form of data repository / indexing system, then handling the query results - again using a scripting language. If you don't currently have the confidence or knowledge to plan and implement that yourself, then I'd suggest you one of:

- get someone else to do it for you, as kalniel suggests
- take a proper training course in web development to gain the necessary skills
- make a personal project using dummy data to test things and have an experienced web designer look over it and act as a mentor / tutor (if you can find someone who'll offer that service).

Certainly don't just try to hash something together and make it publically available - that way trouble lies!

[finlay666]

Can't say much without knowing details, what is it you want to search, what type of DB/Site/language to communicate are you using and how complex does it need to be?

Multi faceted searches aren't exactly difficult if you know how to create them and query the data you have

Did one 1-2 years ago for a local coffee supplier (http://www.pumphreys-coffee.co.uk/pr.../fresh-coffee/) (it was actually years ago and is out of date compared to the new ones I/the place I work at has written, but they are all not released yet or on the CMS side which I can't show for obvious reasons

[Steve7]

I will suggest you w3school(dot)com. You can find codes and try in their editor. Do It by yourself.

[virtuo]

If you are using a Framework then most have very good ORM capabilities that'll efficiently query your data and give you some security from those who might want to break it.

I'd suggest having a better-than-good grasp on SQL and indexing to give you the very best results. For huge amounts of data you'll want a better search server such as sphinxsearch[dot]com (that sits on top of your DB and builds it's own indexes). I had a site a few years ago that ran complex queries on millions of rows and this was a life saver.


.. re-reading your question, do you just want to know the intricacies of creating lots of search filters to customise results (categories, distance, attributes etc as on eBay)?

[peterb]

This thread is over row years old. I hope the OP has found success with his SEO by now!