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- What is SavvySearch, and why should I use it?
- How do I bookmark SavvySearch?
- How do I make SavvySearch my homepage?
- How do I register a web site with SavvySearch?
- How do I use SavvySearch?
- Is phrase searching supported?
- Does SavvySearch offer a query language?
- Can I add the search form or logo to my home page?
- Will you add search engine X?
- Can I suggest a new collection for SavvySearch?
- Can I translate SavvySearch into another language?
- Your FAQ didn't cover my question!
What is SavvySearch, and why should I use it?
SavvySearch is the most comprehensive meta-search engine on the Internet. Over 200 search engines, guides, auctions, storefronts, Usenet archives, news archives, shareware libraries, and yet more web resources are uniquely integrated in a single easy to use interface. SavvySearch saves users' time by simultaneously submitting search queries to every appropriate engine and integrating the results in an intelligent and relevant manner.
Please see About SavvySearch for further information.
How do I bookmark SavvySearch?
Netscape users:Communicator menu > Bookmarks > Add Bookmark
Internet Explorer users:Favorites menu > Add to Favorites...Lynx users: Just press the 'a' key on your keyboard to add a bookmark.How do I make SavvySearch my homepage?
If you use the Internet for research, then SavvySearch is a great place to start. You can make SavvySearch your default homepage so that each time you start your web browser, SavvySearch is at your beck and call. Here's how:
Netscape users:Edit menu > Preferences > Navigator > Use Current Page
Internet Explorer users:Tools menu > Internet Options > General > Use CurrentLynx users: Start Lynx with the command:
lynx -homepage=http://www.savvysearch.com/How do I register a web site with SavvySearch?
You can register with most of the major search engines for free using our meta-submission tool: SavvySubmit.Although you should not manipulate your web pages to affect search results, you can optimize your web content to provide information that will help search engines, robots, and human information seekers access your web site when it is relevant. The World Wide Web Consortium offers some notes on helping search engines index your web site.
How do I use SavvySearch?
The easy answer
Experiment! Have Fun! Take SavvySearch for a test-drive. Fifteen minutes invested in exploring your Savvy options is well-spent. You might look up an old friend in the email search collection, research an exotic vacation destination in the travel collection, savvy shop for the lowest price on a CD, book, bouquet, video game or other product, grab the latest headlines from the news collection, surf with your kids, or get the scoop on a film that's playing near you. Once you've tried experimenting with SavvySearch, you may be interested in learning some more about our recommended strategy and simplified query language.Search Strategy
SavvySearch is best employed as a time saving tool to assess the state of available information from a single, central, convenient access point. The power of metasearch is the time it saves you.SavvySearch collections integrate results from multiple remote sites on the fly, intelligently applying the different (and sometimes confusing) query languages on your behalf. Casual searchers may find everything they need with a single SavvySearch query. Expert searchers may appreciate a SavvySearch to quickly home in on remote engines that warrant an in-depth search. SavvySearch provides direct links to each reporting search service, allowing you to travel directly to these sources and take advantage of other advanced features they may offer.
SavvySearch Structure
SavvySearch sends your query to a collection of remote search engines. You can decide where you would like to direct your query by choosing a collection. If choose not to decide, your query is sent by default to a sensible selection of Internet guides or search engines that are suitable for most general queries. SavvySearch collections are available in three broad categories:- Search collections of general Internet search engines, grouped by the part of the Internet they cover, including usenet, news sources, search engines, guides (directories), and shareware providers.
- Specialty collections offer topical entry points, allowing you to metasearch subject-specific search engines, such as health or encyclopedias. If your information need matches a SavvySearch specialty collection, send your query to it!
- Shop collections offer comparison metashopping. Each shop collection sends your query to online vendors in a particular product category and brings back a cross-vendor list of product pricing. Popular SavvySearch shop collections include Books, Music & CD's, Toys, commercial Software, and Video Games.
Is phrase searching supported?
Yes! The most heavily--accessed SavvySearch collections: Search Engines, Guides, and the Usenet all support simple phrase searching. Just select the phrase option on the search form and submit your query. You can also use double quotes to search for more than one phrase.Not all remote search engines are included in phrase searches since not all remote engines support this type of search. Other SavvySearch collections may support phrase searching in the future if the remote search services implement this capability. If you require more advanced query capabilities, be sure to read the following answer.
Does SavvySearch offer a query language?
Yes! SavvySearch offers a query language, allowing you to refine your query with an extra degree of precision. The SavvySearch query language supports:-
• double-quoted phrases:
" "
• enforced term operators:+/-
• boolean language:and, or, not
• parenthetical grouping:( )At present these query language operators are supported in the Search Engines and Guides categories. SavvySearch translates your query into a form that can be answered by an appropriate group of remote engines. The more complicated your query, the fewer remote engines we can send it to since not all services support all of the language features. Query language operators you may use with SavvySearch are described in order of their reliability and availability with the greatest number of remote search engines…
default SavvySearch query behavior
Suppose you are interested in learning more about the musician John Lennon. A default `and' keyword SavvySearch in the Search Engines collection for:
will do a pretty good job of turning up information about John Lennon. It may also return web pages that contain both of the key words `John' and `Lennon,' but in surprising combinations, such as: ``Allison Lennon is touring with musician Olivia Newton John.'' If you are an experienced online searcher comfortable with boolean queries, you will see the default search is the same as a boolean query for:music john lennon
In a simple search like this, you are also likely to retrieve quite a bit of information about the Beatles, a band that Lennon participated in. You can use the simplified query language offered by SavvySearch to home in on information about John Lennon that does not discuss the Beatles.music and john and lennonquoted phrases and enforced term operators
To make sure the phrase ``John Lennon'' is included in the results of your music search, (and reduce the result listing of web pages that use both terms in a different way, you can use a SavvySearch enforced term operator in combination with a quoted phrase search element to narrow your results to what you really want: web pages about music that mention John Lennon but do not discuss the Beatles:
the + plus sign enforces that a key word must be present in the web page or resource result that SavvySearch presents to you. The - minus sign enforces a key word which must not appear in the SavvySearch results.+music +"john lennon" -beatlesboolean expressions
If you are familiar with boolean logic, you can consider the example of quoted phrases and enforced-term searching to be be much like a boolean language query for:
As a matter of fact, the SavvySearch simplified query language accepts this boolean language query, as-is!music and "john lennon" and not beatlesparenthetical grouping
You can use parentheses () to group query elements. This will increase the precision of your search but greatly reduce the recall (not as many remote search engines support parenthetical grouping). If your John Lennon query evolves into a quest for Lennon's famous remark about the Beatles being more famous (or did he say `more popular'?) than Jesus Christ, you might design your query to look for web pages that mention either the phrase ``more popular than jesus christ'' or the phrase ``more famous than jesus christ'' on the same web page. This can be expressed in a parenthetical grouping of:
The parenthetical grouping can be combined with a variation of the earlier Lennon query and entered into a precise SavvySearch query:("more popular than jesus" or "more famous than jesus")
If you construct a precise query using the SavvySearch simplified query language, you will often succeed in locating a small, very relevant result set. As you include more features of the SavvySearch simplified query language in your query, SavvySearch excludes remote search engines that can not handle the complexity of your search. To access more (albeit sometimes less relevant) search results, try using a simpler query."john lennon" and beatles and ("more popular than jesus" or "more famous than jesus")Can I add the search form or logo to my home page?
Yes! You are welcome to incorporate a SavvySearch form, logo, link, embedded query, or button within any web site or web page you have created.Please take a look at the instructions.
Will you add search engine X?
Please enter your suggestion in the box below and we will consider it as a future addition.
Can I suggest a new collection for SavvySearch?
We would be happy to review your suggestion. Please enter it below.
Can I translate SavvySearch into another language?
Sure! Through the generosity of volunteer expertise, the original SavvySearch site offered interfaces in 20 different languages! We would love to offer our international audience the same native-language convenience with the present SavvySearch site, and invite you to help. If you can volunteer to develop and maintain the SavvySearch interface in another language, please contact: translate@savvysearch.comYour FAQ didn't cover my question!
The questions on this web page are here because people kept sending them to us over and over again. If you have a question or comment about SavvySearch, the staff at SavvySearch would like to read it: feedback@savvysearch.com. Please note that we can not respond to every question by personal email, but if you've got a good one it will show up on this web page along with an intelligent (we hope!) answer.
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