Post by lrminji523 on Dec 10, 2023 23:06:26 GMT
I see so many people just give up when something isn't on the first few pages of Google. The browser has many ways to refine your search, but it seems few know about them. I thought it useful to list the most useful ones.
1.) "site:"
This will only show you results from a certain website
2.) "filetype:"
Will only show results of a certain filetype (eg. PDF or TXT)
3.) "OR"
Combines the results of both search requests (ex. cats OR dogs)
4.) "-word"
Will remove a certain word from appearing in results (ex. mustang speed -car)
5.) "word"
Does the exact opposite of the last - it will guarantee results that use this word. (ex. the bandmaster "oswald")
6.) "before:"
One of the most helpful for older media; type in (YYYY-MM-DD) or just a year to see only results before the specified date.
7.) "*"
The star is a wild card! It can help fill in for a missing word. (ex. song that goes 'put on your * bonnet')
These can also be used on website like YouTube! In fact, they definitely help with how crappy its search function has been lately.
(btw, just going to their search filters and choosing "video" will remove the 27 million irrelevant results)
Not all websites are so lucky, though. Some use a keyword search (like Vimeo). In which case... hope you're prepared to search through spam!
1.) "site:"
This will only show you results from a certain website
2.) "filetype:"
Will only show results of a certain filetype (eg. PDF or TXT)
3.) "OR"
Combines the results of both search requests (ex. cats OR dogs)
4.) "-word"
Will remove a certain word from appearing in results (ex. mustang speed -car)
5.) "word"
Does the exact opposite of the last - it will guarantee results that use this word. (ex. the bandmaster "oswald")
6.) "before:"
One of the most helpful for older media; type in (YYYY-MM-DD) or just a year to see only results before the specified date.
7.) "*"
The star is a wild card! It can help fill in for a missing word. (ex. song that goes 'put on your * bonnet')
These can also be used on website like YouTube! In fact, they definitely help with how crappy its search function has been lately.
(btw, just going to their search filters and choosing "video" will remove the 27 million irrelevant results)
Not all websites are so lucky, though. Some use a keyword search (like Vimeo). In which case... hope you're prepared to search through spam!
