Editing Help:Searching (section)

=== Understanding search results ===

The search string entered will be displayed in the search box on the page, in case you wish to modify it.

Spelling corrections and query corrections are offered at the top of the results {{crossref|pw=y|(see [[#Preliminary reports|Preliminary reports]], below)}}.

Note that search results include content from templates displayed on the pages searched.

The order that search results are presented in is based on the page ranking software.

Results match word stems, along with their various tenses (past tense, plural tense, etc.), except for anything included between double quotation marks. {{crossref|pw=y|See [[#Stem matching|Stem matching]], below.}}

Throughout the results, matching terms are highlighted in bold. All matches in the title show for sure, while matches within the details may show, but not if they are far apart on the page.

Matches are included for section headings, members of matching categories, and destination pages of redirects. These will show off to the side of the page name, parenthetically.

A single result (one each) from selected sister projects appears on the right side of the page (the most likely relevant match for each). This feature may be permanently turned off in [[Special:Preferences|Preferences]].

Files from Wikimedia Commons are included within the results when the <code>File:</code> namespace has been selected. You can prepend search terms with <code>local:</code> to limit results to locally uploaded files.

==== Preliminary reports ====

Search results will often be accompanied by a preliminary report.
* '''There is a page named "{{font color|#0645AD|{{var|Page name}}}}"''' (a wikilink to an existing page)
* {{font color|#CC2200|Did you mean:}} {{font color|#0645AD|{{var|spelling correction}}}} (either a wikilink or a search-link)
* ''You may create the page "{{font color|#CC2200|{{var|New title}}}}"'' (a redlink to a new page name)
The ''Did you mean'' report corrects dictionary word spellings and gives a link that is either a wikilink that will navigate to an article or a search link that will perform a query. The distinction can be made by observing the presence of a ''You may create the page'' report.
Another report corrects "spellings" to coincide with any "word" found in a search index (any word on the wiki):
{{block indent|{{font color|#CC2200|Showing results for}} {{font color|#0645AD|'''{{var|query correction}}'''}}. {{font color|#CC2200|Search instead for}} {{font color|#0645AD|{{var|your query}}}} (two search links).}}<!--
--><section end="Search results page" /><section begin="Refining results" />