The Basics of Using Our Google Powered Site
Search
To enter a query, type in a few descriptive
words and press Enter (or click the Search button)
for a list of relevant web pages. Since our site search only returns web pages
that contain all the words in your query, refining or narrowing
your search is as simple as adding more words to the search terms you
have already entered. Your new query will return a smaller subset of
the pages we found for your original "too-broad" query.
Choosing
Keywords
For best results, it's important to choose
your keywords wisely. Keep these tips in mind:
- Try the obvious first. If you're looking for wooden toys, enter "wooden toys" rather than "toys".
- Use words likely to appear on a page with the information
you want. "Erector Set Special Edition" gets better results than
"special Erector Set models".
- Make keywords as specific as possible. "Geomag 184" gets more relevant results than "Geomag".
Automatic
"and" Queries
By default, we only return pages
that include all of your search terms. There is no need to include "and"
between terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed
will affect the search results. To restrict a search further, just include
more terms. For example, to find toys that contain magnets, simply type:
Automatic
Exclusion of Common Words
Our site search ignores common words and characters
such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single
digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search
without improving the results. We will indicate if a common word
has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the
search box.
If a common word is essential to getting
the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+"
sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+"
sign.)
Another method for doing this is conducting
a phrase search, which means putting quotation marks around two
or more words. Common words in a phrase search (e.g., "where are
you") are included in the search.
For example, to search for specific Geomag lines, use:
~ OR ~
Capitalization
Site searches are NOT case sensitive.
All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as
lower case. For example, searches for "brio", "Brio",
and "BRIO" will all return the same results.
Word
Variations (Stemming)
To provide the most accurate results,
we do not use "stemming" or support "wildcard" searches.
In other words, we search for exactly the words that you enter
in the search box. Searching for "gift" or "gift*" will not yield "gifts"
or "giftwrap". If in doubt, try both forms: "kite" and "kites,"
for instance.