Complex search? Arm and Leg?

boballoo

I want to rebuild my 15-year old site from the ground up. I provide services to clients through freelancers who register their skills with the site. The search function will be the heart of it all so it has to be robust, but flexible enough to accept changes and additions after we find out what the client's needs are and how they are changing. It must be able to search the user info (profile text, projects info, etc. etc.) and make "decisions" about the relevant categories for each provider profile. If there is no search function such as this available as a site plugin, then I would want to develop it from scratch. I am surprised that I have not been able to find one already built as this is a common function for many sites. I have been told it will cost me an arm and a leg to develop it from scratch. Any hints or ideas on this would be appreciated.

dalecosp

Sounds like a commercial site?

I understand that many people are still able to move and generally cope pretty well even after the loss of a limb 😃 ...

traq

You might look at storing all of the search "options" in a database, adding new options as they arise.

In terms of how to approach the project, dalecosp is right - the site is [going to be] making money for you; you should invest in it.

boballoo

dalecosp;11025083 wrote:
Sounds like a commercial site?

Sorry, I don't get your meaning. Yes, it is a commercial site. Is there any other kind? Is there something bad about that? Can you clarify your message?

boballoo

traq;11025087 wrote:
You might look at storing all of the search "options" in a database, adding new options as they arise.

Yes that is one of the ways that we will add new search "tags". This will be done automatically by the search function.

traq;11025087 wrote:
In terms of how to approach the project, dalecosp is right - the site is [going to be] making money for you; you should invest in it.

Thank you for clarifying dalescsp's post. If that is what it means, I know it will cost money but I am still going to look for the cheapest way to do what needs to be done. I had hoped to find a search engine that could be plugged into the site and modified to suit my purposes. The only one I have seen is FDSE, which is what I am using right now and it is old and written in PERL and just not flexible enough. So, the questions is, how much does an arm and a leg cost?

traq

If all you're looking for is a quote, I can provide one.

I'd want more information first, of course, about your specific requirements and your current setup.

boballoo

traq;11025099 wrote:
If all you're looking for is a quote, I can provide one.

I'd want more information first, of course, about your specific requirements and your current setup.

Thanks for your help. I was only looking for a ballpark figure. I have not gotten into it enough to give you specific details, but I do have a page or so of notes that will help, but I don't want to publish them in public here.

traq

Which I understand - but anyone who gives you a price without at least some specifics is going to be wrong. 🙂

dalecosp

My point, which traq seemed to get ... is that if search is the "heart of it all" [your site], it's not time to be chintzy with it.

OTOH, thrift is a value I can understand. One way businesses can be thrifty is using pre-packaged software for site development.

If you intend to use pre-packaged software for your rebuild, I'd spend time investigating just how good its search engine is. I have little experience with pre-packaged stuff ... at least, the most common packages (Drupal, Nuke, Wordpress, etc.) I've never used. There are, generally, lots of "plug ins" for these packages, though. I can't say if any would meet your needs.

HTH,

boballoo

I have no intentions of being "chintzy," dalescop. I will spend whatever is required to get the functions I need. I am researching my options, shopping around and thought I would try here to see if anyone had any idea of the cost OR if anyone knew of a pre-packaged search function that was good and might work for me. I am now thinking that a pre-packaged software will not work because, for my purposes, the search function needs to be updated and modified quite often for the first few weeks or months. Now I need to narrow my focus and think about the options or functions of the search task itself. That will give me the info I need to send to a programmer to get a quote. Like traq said, if I get a quote now, it will be incorrect.

cretaceous

If the site is rebuilt using a well structured database plan, with everything neatly categorised in database tables, the search function will be easy.
I know Dalescosp and Traq know that..
So do you have someone to rebuild it from the ground up ?
Make sure they know what they are doing and maybe they can tell you how long the piece of string (or limb ligament) actually is, that you are currently waving around.
TBH a properly structured database of records will serve you much better than a bought in search function added as an afterthought

boballoo

cretaceous;11025149 wrote:
If the site is rebuilt using a well structured database plan, with everything neatly categorized in database tables, the search function will be easy.

This was my thought, which is one reason why I posted here after having been told it will cost an arm and a leg. I mean, how difficult or time consuming to can it be to build an application that simply has to find words or tags that are given to it. The key though, as you mention, is to have the database organized from the start in a simple, logical, easy to read (for the search application) format. The database is the tedious part i would imagine. However, If I have all the "tags" created, it is a matter of putting them in the right column. Maybe I am simplifying things but it can7t be too difficult. After all, search technology has been around for a while and has been perfected over time but that may also mean it has become complicated.

cretaceous;11025149 wrote:
So do you have someone to rebuild it from the ground up?

No, I am still looking. I have had my fill of outsourcing to India, China and the Philippines. But I have also had trouble with my present site builder in Australia. A two week job has turned into two months.

cretaceous;11025149 wrote:
TBH a properly structured database of records will serve you much better than a bought in search function added as an afterthought

This is exactly the conclusion I have arrived at. The database is the heart of it all. It has to be organized and simplified and I understand that it takes time and experience and intelligence to do it right.

cretaceous

Yup, outsourcing can be more trouble than it is worth - you should be able to find a web development company or one man op. near you - maybe you were just unlucky with this guy.
You're not looking for anything that is specifically "search technology" - it's just standard database stuff - it ain't Google. Explain what you need and ask for quotes but if there's 15 years of old data to input or clean up that could be a lot of work.
Re search: You can search for matches on tags (i.e. items input from drop down listings etc) and/ or you can do free text searching - you may need both.