Search Update: search result limit raised to 2,500

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Deviation Actions

hq's avatar
hq
By
Heidi
Published:
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On November 30th, 2010, hq posted a blog describing a new 1,000 result limit on search queries.  It didn't take long for the community to express its feelings in regards to this being a less-than-popular update.

Still, we knew the 1,000 result limit was necessary in order for search to function properly for all deviants.  (Remember, it was implemented after many months of the search function failing to work on a regular basis.)  We made the change knowing it was a temporary fix and never stopped working towards a better overall solution.  

Thanks to the efforts of mccann, deviantART's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and lead search engineer, we're glad to announce that we've upped the search ability to produce 2,500 results.

With this new, expanded limit, you'll be able to see over twice as many results as before.  The 1,000 result limit was the number-one complaint for many deviants, especially among the stock community and those looking for unknown artists.  With this addition, we hope you're better able to find the artwork and artists you're looking for.

DeviantART's search issues are highly complex.  mccann explains it best:  
“
Memory, network, and CPU resource costs are essentially linearly proportional to the max result limit.  Thus, raising the limit from 1,000 to 2,500 means that the underlying functionality takes 2.5 times as much memory, network, and CPU.  We raise this limit knowing that this is not a long-term solution to the core problem of "finding the right piece."  It, however, should certainly help.  In the longer term, we're working on better search and browse systems that will help you navigate through this deviously massive index of deviations.
”

Again, please note, this is not a permanent solution -- it's another band-aid fix until we release our totally new search.  According to mccann:
“
The new search has been in ongoing development since early 2010 and is focused on being a guided search system.  Guided search helps you find what you're looking for, but also helps you browse when you're not quite sure what you're looking for.  One of the biggest changes will be the ability to search and browse by genre or art form directly, instead of having to navigate the category tree.  It will also allow for new ways to order deviations, thus providing yet another way to look at a given genre or search term.  With the many new ways to slice and dice the data set, finding and browsing will be both more productive and fun.
”

Super secret sneak peaks of the new search:
This update is to inform the community that we're working, constantly, on the beast of a problem that is search.  We know the current search is not perfect, and we sincerely understand your concerns.  The new search will revolutionize the way you find art, but in the meantime, we hope this update alleviates some current search woes.  We're here, listening, and responding to your feedback while keeping the best interests of the community in mind. Sometimes, we need to work within the limitations that are real and can't be avoided, but we're constantly striving to do everything we can to discover creative solutions to tough problems.  

We appreciate your support and thank you for hanging in there with us.

~Heidi

© 2011 - 2024 hq
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RainbowPowerDash251's avatar
RainbowPowerDash251
Yeah, much better. Get rid of the search limit. Its best for everyone.