DYM - Did you mean? v1.0
A web part that provides "Did you mean?"-functionality to Microsoft Search Server Express. Bases suggestions on previous searches with feedback on "bad" searches, this allows suggestion of business specific keywords that others have search for, without any knowledge of languages or special dictionaries. Mainly intended for Search Server express although it should be aplicable to MOSS and Search Server.I wrote this web part because the "best bet" feature in Microsoft Search Server didn't work in the way I need. The web part provides a basic "Did you mean?" feature for the search result page. The apoearance is customizable and the display and function can be configured both on administrator level with "shared" options and at user level.
Result:
Configuration:
Configuration options:
Connection string (shared)Connection string to the server and database used by "DYM". Scripts to create the database and to add the .Net assembly to it are included in the download. Default value: None, this is something you MUST configure properly.
Multiple suggestion string (shared)
If the user chooses to configure "DYM" to supply multiple suggestions this string will be used to format the search result suggestion. The string is in three parts (divided by semicolon), a header, the suggestions and a footer. Header and footer will typically include font formatting or possibly line breaks to add some space in the gui. The suggestion part is identical to that of the "Suggestion string" configuration option. Default value:
Did you mean...<br>;<a href=\"{1}\">{0}</a>?<br>;Suggestion string (shared)
If the user chooses to configure "DYM" to only supply a single suggestion (this is the default behaviour) this string will be used to format the search result suggestion. This string uses two place holders {0} and {1}. {0} is replaced with the text that is suggested. {1} is replaced with the link to perform the new search. Default value:
Did you mean <a href=\"{1}\">{0}</a>?<br>Search threshold (shared)
The search threshold allows to configure the threshold for the number of times a keyword have been search for, to be considered a candidate. This has two effects, a higher threshold means that less statistic information has to be considered by the expensive "similarity"-function. A higher threshold also means that searches with random misspelled characters that occur rarely will not be considered a candidate for "DYM". Initially a low threshold will allow for DYM-suggestions to appear but in a system with lots of search activity the default value should be raised accordingly. Default value: 1.
Exact hit factor (shared)
If the DYM web part finds an exact hit in the statistics you would not normally to suggest some other keyword that is similar. Unless the similar keyword is MUCH more common as search word. This factor determines how much more popular a keyword should be than the exact hit to be considered for DYM. Default value: 5.
Minimum similarity (user)
The minimum similarity value required to be considered a suggestion. This is a percentage value where 0 indicates that the strings must not be similar at all and 100 indicates that they must be equal (not much point). A value around the default is generally considered quite similar but the user may tune this according to personal taste. Particularly when the user prefers multiple suggestions a lower value (around 66) could be used. Default value: 75.
Number of suggestions (user)
The user might prefer a few suggestions rather than just one. This option allows the user to specify the number of suggestions returned. Default value: 1.
Usage
To use this web part you need Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 (WSS 3.0) and Microsoft Search Server Express (MSSX). You need to be familiar with basic WSS administration and how to handle web parts to make use of it.Donate a dime if you like DYM and want to support further development.
History
Version 1.0 =========== Initial version