Ability to find out what words + phrases are searched for by visitors.

[destalk]

I think that it would be great if forum administrators were able to see what subjects visitors were searching for.

In response to a query I made in elsewhere, I believe that SMF does not keep a record of which keywords and phrases are being searched for by visitors, using the inbuilt SMF search engine. This means that a mod cannot currently be made.

If admins could see what visitors are searching for, it would help them to provide visitors and members a better user experience. For example if 20% of visitors to this site were searching for (as a random example that just popped into my head) "SMF on Windows servers", then perhaps it would be useful to start a child board on the subject.

I'm not aware of any other forum software that provides this ability, so perhaps this could be a first. Not being a developer, I've no idea how much work this would be, or what kind of load it might place on the server/database or whatever. Perhaps it should be an admin option, rather than in a default installation?

As to the format it would take, here are some other thoughts that I had;

1. List keywords by number of searches and percentage.
2. List of search phrases... as above.
3. The ability to separate the stats for the subjects that have been searched for by registered members, as opposed to guests (I think it would be fascinating to know if guests and members are looking for different things).
4. All of this info would be accessible to admins only. However;...
5. ...how about an option for admins to allow members to see the top 10 searched for phrases on the home page, similar to the 'recent topics' list (perhaps as a clickable list that would take the user to a search results page for the link they click on).

Anyway, I'd love to hear what the SMF development team think about this. I'd also be keen to know if anyone else thinks this would be a useful feature and in what ways it could be implemented.

Thanks.

[PlayGroundFor.us]

I completely agree I have long wanted to see this as a feature added. There was a topic a few years back that had asked for something similar http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=2903.0. I think they way you have laid it out would be a little more useful than what the old thread was looking for (although some of his ideas have merit too, in some applications.)

I think this would be a very good tool in helping to improve both a site's forum and their webpage content.

[JayBachatero]

This is something that I would love to see.  I'll bring this up on the team boards.

EDIT:  I believe vB does it.  I remember seeing it on Ubuntu forums.

[destalk]

Hi

Glad to see there is some interest in this.

Thanks for the link to the older discussion OurAntiochc. That thread seemed to go off topic slightly, but there were some good points made.

Someone suggested there that it might be possible to make a mod with this, but if SMF doesn't currently store the searched for terms...

Jay The Code Monkey, thanks for the vB tip, I didn't know they had that functionality (or is it a mod?). I may go and see how they implement it, I run one vB forum.

[JayBachatero]

I am not sure if it's a mod or a built in feature.  I just remember seeing it @ ubuntuforums.org.

[destalk]

Thanks Jay.

[vbgamer45]

My thoughts maybe instead of saving every search that user makes what about doing the last five or ten then generate a report.

[destalk]

Hi vbgamer45

In think that might be an interesting feature. Although it's not really what I was after.

I'm not sure that would really help get an idea of what users were searching for over a period of time. The idea was to get the statistics of the most popular search phrases and keywords over the last week/month/year or whatever, to help admins provide a better service for visitors.

Just to be clear, I am not after a feature that allows admins to see what individual users are searching for (I would be against that on privacy grounds and also on the grounds that it is of no real use to anyone). On the contrary, I just want the overall forum search statistics.

The other thing about just keeping just the last few searches, is that many users repeat the same search in many variations until they get exactly what they are looking for. It is very likely that the last 5-10 searches will be using the same keywords, just in different variations. E.G. SMF Forum software, Forums with SMF, Forum software SMF... etc, so the information collected would be of limited value.

[PlayGroundFor.us]

Hi vbgamer45

In think that might be an interesting feature. Although it's not really what I was after.

I'm not sure that would really help get an idea of what users were searching for over a period of time. The idea was to get the statistics of the most popular search phrases and keywords over the last week/month/year or whatever, to help admins provide a better service for visitors.

I agree maybe as a feature, but I don't see that as very useful in terms of helping to improve the content on a website.

Just to be clear, I am not after a feature that allows admins to see what individual users are searching for (I
would be against that on privacy grounds and also on the grounds that it is of no real use to anyone).

I would agree that I too am not looking for a feature to track what an individual user is searching for, but I do see uses for it in at least one of my forums. As I have had issues with stalkers and harassment of my primary members (those users that all my other users come to chat with). Even that being said I don't see it as a feature that many would want or need. 

On the contrary, I just want the overall forum search statistics.

This is what I really would like to see to. I see these type of statistics as being an invalueable tool in keeping a web page/forum improving and growing.

Jim
The other thing about just keeping just the last few searches, is that many users repeat the same search in many variations until they get exactly what they are looking for. It is very likely that the last 5-10 searches will be using the same keywords, just in different variations. E.G. SMF Forum software, Forums with SMF, Forum software SMF... etc, so the information collected would be of limited value.
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[ghostfreak]

This would be a great idea

[destalk]

This is something that I would love to see.  I'll bring this up on the team boards.

Just wondering if there was any positive feed back on this.

[PlayGroundFor.us]

This is something that I would love to see.  I'll bring this up on the team boards.

Just wondering if there was any positive feed back on this.

It is something that I feel would be a excellent addtion to the software.