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Search syntax

Type words or a Sphinx search expression in the query box. The plugin uses this expression for full-text matching through SphinxQL.

Start with a few words, then narrow the search using these examples, inspired by recent posts on The Standard.

All words

unemployment statistics

Find both words, anywhere in the indexed text. A space means AND; unemployment & statistics also works.

A phrase

"data centres"

Find these words next to each other, in this order. Use straight double quotes, as shown.

Either word

Labour | National

Find either word. Use the vertical bar for OR.

Leave a word out

election -Trump

Find election while excluding Trump. election !Trump also works. Include a positive search word; -Trump on its own is not a valid search.

Group alternatives

(Labour | National) unemployment

Find unemployment together with either Labour or National. Parentheses make combinations easier to read.

Words near each other

"coalition government"~5

Find these words close together, in either order, allowing fewer than five intervening words.

In a title

@title "data centres"

Find the phrase in a post or page title. Comments have no indexed title; select Posts for articles only.

In the body

@body "tactical voting"

Find the phrase in the text of a post, page or comment.

By an author

@author lprent @body search

Find search in the body of items whose indexed author name contains lprent. Use the displayed author or commenter name, which may differ from a login name.

In a category

@category politics

Match words in indexed category names. Use the Categories checkboxes to select a specific category and its descendants.

In a tag

@tags election

Match words in indexed tag names. Use the Tags checkboxes to select a specific tag. Comments inherit their parent post’s categories and tags.

Combine fields

@title election @body (Labour | National)

Require election in the title and either Labour or National in the body. A field applies to following words until another field or the end of its parenthesized group. @* switches back to all fields.

Which fields work with @?

The current index supports @title, @body, @author, @author_full, @category and @tags. @author_full lprent searches the same author text as @author lprent; it uses the same word-matching rules.

The date columns published_utc, calendar_day and date_added are numeric attributes used for filtering, date counts or ordering. They cannot be searched with @: expressions such as @published_utc 2026 or @calendar_day 20261107 produce a query error. Use the From and To (inclusive) controls for dates.

Likewise, use Content for posts, pages or comments, and the Categories and Tags checkboxes for specific terms. Their numeric IDs and content-type attributes cannot be searched with @.

For example, enter @title election, select Posts, set From to 2026-01-01 and To (inclusive) to 2026-11-07, then press Search. This combines the title search with an inclusive date range in the site’s time zone.

Find recent posts

Select Posts only and Newest first. In Text Search or Archive Explorer, set From to one year ago and To (inclusive) to today, then press Search. The sidebar opens Text Search, where you can add these dates. For comments, the date range uses the comment’s own date.

Try @title election, @title "data centres" or unemployment statistics. Recent starting points:

• Election day news (7 November 2026)
• Data Centres – 21st century “Think Big”? (6 November 2026)
• Who is to blame for the latest unemployment statistics? (5 November 2026)

If the results surprise you

Check Content and the date, category and tag filters. English word endings may match the same stem, so quotes fix word order rather than spelling. Wildcard searches such as elect* require index settings that the plugin’s default configuration does not enable.

Enter the expression itself in the box; choose dates and ordering with the controls. For example, use Labour | National for alternatives.

Background: Search upgraded (yet again).