What are alternative search programs for a website?

June 27, 2005 6:00 AM

I am investigating search programs for a website. Which have you installed and/or used?

There are about 13000 documents to be indexed on this site, some PDF and .doc but mainly HTML. Currently the site uses htdig, but I want to investigate 'better' alternatives. It has to run on Linux.

I am aware of htdig, phpdig and swish-e, but I would like you to share your experiences of them

posted by ajbattrick to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Why not just let Google do it?

Here's how to add a search box from Googs that will return results for only your site. Google understands PDFs and DOCs, too.

Seems to be a lot easier than doing it yourself.
posted by unixrat at 6:28 AM on June 27, 2005

Perlfect
posted by blag at 7:39 AM on June 27, 2005

Response by poster: unixrat: The site in question is not indexed in full by Google, which is specifically why I requested an installable application. Futhermore, I do not believe that is an acceptable solution for a business website.

blag: Have you used perfect?
posted by ajbattrick at 9:20 AM on June 27, 2005

If it's a business site, I was happy with Atomz Search when I used it a couple of years ago for a site.

I've been meaning to have a look at PhpDig for a while now. It is, apparently, pretty good at what it does, but I'm afraid I can't yet be anymore helpful than that.
posted by Hartster at 9:43 AM on June 27, 2005

I've used Fluid Dynamics Search Engine (FDSE); it's pretty good. Written in Perl, shareware, reasonably-priced for registration, the creator seems to respond to questions pretty promptly: http://www.xav.com/scripts/search/
posted by amtho at 11:16 AM on June 27, 2005

ajbattrick: yes, on a couple of sites. I looked at swish-e but the setup instructions were confusing. perlfect has an automated script that does everything for you. Very customisable.
posted by blag at 2:53 AM on June 28, 2005