[KellieCM]

Hi Everyone --Everyone at PC World really values your opinions and feedback on our site, features and functions. We are constantly working to improve them to make them more robust, powerful and easier to use. However, in the past, we have made a change to our site after internal beta testing, but we have not let you -- the community, the readers -- have a chance to give input on a new site feature or function. That changes today.We are currently working on updates and revisions to the PC World site search. To help us make it the best that it can be, we are releasing a public beta of the new search for you to try out. We simply ask that you use it, and report back any bugs, improvement suggestions, or pats on the back (we like positive things too) that you find. Here is the link to the public beta: http://www.pcworld.c...ta/searchPlease post your (constructive!) feedback, comments, bugs, etc below. Please do try to be constructive -- if you don't like something, tell us why and what would make it better. Our Applications Development team, Art team, and others within PC World will be reading this thread, and we are all eagerly waiting to hear what you think.

[KellieCM]

Oh, by the way -- there is currently one bug with the site search. We're aware of it, and working on it right now to fix it.If you type something in the search bar and hit enter (or submit) you will be told there are no search results. Click on the "News" text (right next to All) and you will see results. You can click back to All and the results should be there.I (or someone from the Applications Development team) will update the thread when this bug is fixed.Kellie

[KellieCM]

... and just like that, the bug is fixed!(told you they were fast)

[fishy]

{size:18px}[/size] I did what you asked And it looks good from here,, i hope this is the right place to reply,,, It works for me lol lol lol:D,,, anything eles i can do.....fishy

[KellieCM]

thanks fishy. anyone else have a chance to take a look at this yet?

[techie4fun]

So far so good!!

[Cosmo]

I think the results need to be more defined. Instead of clustering results together:[img:0b8428f858]http://cosmoc0re.sit...om/search.jpg+I think they should be spaced apart, and have something to let you know it's a new link. Something to define it as a new link, like a bullet or something.

[mjd420nova]

I tried a number of cross sectional searches and then cross referenced them and it looks pretty good and comprehensive. Still have a couple more angle s to try but I like what I see and have even added it to the bookmarks in place of my home page search. Good work.

[Wayfinder]

Tried out the site beta. Imho: way too cluttered, and no one likes invasive popups cluttering their screen... especially if it blocks visibility to the search information they're trying to find. No feedback beyond that, because that one stopped me right there. (woulda thought that one kinda obvious).

[KellieCM]

What popups did you see? There are no popups on our site that I am aware of except for a subscription popup which I'm not even sure is running on that page. In terms of the cluttered nature of the search results... how would you suggest better organizing the information? We want to make it easy for people to filter their search results by type (news, reviews, etc). If you could let me know about the popups and offer any specific suggestions about data organization on the page, that would be really helpful to us.Kellie

[Wayfinder]

[quote name='kellie']What popups did you see? There are no popups on our site that I am aware of except for a subscription popup which I'm not even sure is running on that page. In truth, I don't remember what the actual popup was. It was in the form of large, gray, almost manga-type letters that floated around over the search results screen.Regarding "clutter"... it comes to the old KISS method. There's so much stuff on the pages, all over the pages, it's hard to make heads or tails of it. When setting up a search site, there are three ways to do it: 1) A simple and direct search screen (such as Google), 2) a moderate information screen (search with pre-set popular categories) or 3) Cram as much onto the page as physically possible. Current beta strikes me as type 3. Putting too much stuff on a page is counter-productive. Not only can it confuse some users, but others just don't bother to wade through it. When a person actually has to search over the page to figure out where the search box is... one questions the purpose of the page.Just me humble opinion. : )

[fishy]

i didnt see any pop up,,as you said Kellie,,in reguards to your site... my idea is it seems fine to me the layout,,, seems to be great,,, it works for me ,,my opinion:) ,,,fishy:)

[Nitakka]

You really need to do something about that damned subscription popup. Every time I do a search, I get hit with the thing. Also, {size:14px}GET RID OF THE FLASH!!!!![/size]. Attempting to read a link, while you have dancing computers, and other stupid animations right next to what you are reading is HIGHLY annoying. Also, you have too many "blocks" for the sponsered link. One will do, there is NO reason to spam the results.Other than that, It has a clean look, I like the "block and column" setup, it keeps everything nice and organized.Try to get rid of all the advertisements, other than that it's a nice job done.

[KellieCM]

Well, if we got rid of ALL the ads, I'd be out of a job. ;) As you can imagine, I am against that, but I do get your point. Is it that there are too many spaces for sponsored links, that they are too intrusive, or that they are not as easily distinguishable as ou would like?In terms of flash, I believe that the only flash items on our site are the ads. We used to have a flash-based box at the top of our homepage and index pages, but that was changed to not be in flash anymore (based on user feedback!). The subscription popup will not go away, but you also shouldn't be getting it every time you search. I'll make sure that the timing stays the same on the new search as it does on the rest of teh site.Thanks for your feedback!

[phillypa800]

ok so i tried the beta version several times and came across this potential problem (for a person that is constantly searching for information). when you query a topic you get a wide variety of topics. some relevant and some irrelevant. maybe adding an advance search feature with options to narrow your search? i know that there are two thus far-"sorted by", but maybe fields within the sorting options where you can plug in key words, date range, etc.?most importantly, a date range field to only isolate most current articles or what not instead of getting results that have say information from year 2000 or so and is included with current articles.other than that, the clutter isn't so bad and the search feature looks promising in its beta stages.thanks

[donbiz]

I think the search is great. Like someone else said , it is a little clustered together. If that were fixed I would say it is perfect.

[KellieCM]

Thanks donbiz!The idea is to cluster groups of results together so you can more easily find what you are looking for, say, if you know it is a download file or a news story. Do you mean that you wish it wasn't clustered, or just that the clusters were placed differently?thanks again for your feedback!

[KellieCM]

Thanks for all your valuable feedback -- the new search interface launched last night. Now when you do a search on the site, you get the new look!We'll be beta testing more things in the future, so stay tuned!!Kellie