Searching the whole site

Site search looks across the whole of Underground Aquarium at once and groups what it finds, so you don't have to guess which section something lives in. It opens as a pop-out over whatever page you're on, so you never lose your place.

How do I search the whole site?

1. Tap the magnifying glass at the top of any page. On a computer it sits to the left of the bell; on a phone it's next to the menu button. On a computer you can also press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) from anywhere.
2. The search pop-out opens over the page with the cursor already in the box. Start typing. Results appear as you type, a moment after you stop.
3. Tap any result to open it. The pop-out closes and the result opens.

You don't need an account to search.

How do I close the search pop-out?

Press Esc, tap the X in the top corner, or click anywhere outside the pop-out (on a computer). Opening a result or going to another page closes it too. Pressing Cmd+K or Ctrl+K again also closes it.

On a phone the pop-out fills the screen; tap the X to go back to the page you were on.

Can I use the keyboard in search?

Yes. Use the up and down arrow keys to move through the results and Enter to open the highlighted one. If nothing is highlighted, Enter opens the full results page.

How do I see all the results?

The pop-out shows up to four results per group to keep things quick. Click See all results (above the results) to open the full Search page, which shows up to six per group, has chips to jump between groups, and links like All forum results under some groups. The full page's address includes your search (for example /search?q=cherry+shrimp), so you can bookmark it or share it.

What does site search look through?

Results come back in groups, in this order, and a group only shows when it has matches:

• Help answers: answers from the Help Center that contain every word you typed, linked straight to the right spot in the guide.
• Fish species & care: species pages, matched on the common name, scientific name, other names, former names and trade codes such as L046, and also on the care guide itself: the summary, full care write-up, diet, temperament, origin, care level and water type. So a search like "peaceful schooling fish", "blackwater" or "driftwood" finds the species whose care guides talk about it. Species whose name matches always come before ones that only mention your words in their care guide.
• Classifieds: active ads that haven't expired, matched on the title, description, town, state and category. Each result shows the price (or Free or Wanted) and the area.
• Fish stores: published shops, matched on the shop name, city and state. "fish store sacramento" works. Claimed shops say Claimed.
• Forums: forum threads, using the same search as Searching the forums.
• Breeding guides: species that members have bred, from the breeding guides, with how many breeding records each has.
• Events: upcoming events listed in the events directory, matched on the title, description, town, state and venue.
• Glossary: aquarium terms, matched on the term, its definition and its topic.
• Courses: published free courses, matched on the title and subtitle.

The pop-out shows up to four results per group; the full Search page shows up to six, with chips under the search box to jump straight to a group.

How does it decide what matches?

• Every word you type (apart from little words like "how", "the" or "my") has to appear somewhere in a result for it to show.
• Words match the start of longer words, so "shrimp" finds "shrimps" and "post" finds "posted" and "posting". The last word can be half typed: "cherry shri" already finds cherry shrimp.
• Results whose name or title contains your words rank above results where the words only appear in the description or care guide.
• Very short words (two or three letters, like "ph" or "kh") only match whole words, so "ph" doesn't pull up everything about photos.
• You need at least 2 characters before anything is searched. Forum threads need at least 3.

Does search handle typos and misspellings?

Yes. Search knows every word used across the site: help answers, species names and care guides, store names and towns, ad titles, events, the glossary and courses. If you type a word that isn't any of those, it's swapped for the closest real word before searching:

• Short words (4 or 5 letters) can have 1 mistake, and longer words can have 2. A mistake is a wrong, missing, extra or swapped letter.
• For example, leaving a letter out of "Roseville", swapping two letters in "shrimp" or "claim", or typing one "p" in "nippers" still finds the right thing.
• A few common shorthands are understood too: "pic" or "foto" means photo, "msg" or "dm" means message, "pw" means password, "lfs" means store.
• When a word was fixed, the line above the results shows the words that were searched, followed by what you typed in brackets.

Words with numbers in them (like L046 or 20g) and words of 3 letters or fewer are never changed.

How do I see more results in one group?

On the full Search page, some groups have a link under them:

• All forum results opens the full forum search page with your words already filled in.
• Open the store directory opens the fish store directory filtered by your words, with the map and Near me.
• Open the Help Center takes you to the Help Center, where the help search shows more answers.
• All breeding guides opens the breeding guides page.

For classifieds, species, events, the glossary and courses, open that section and use its own search box to see everything.

Can I share or bookmark a search?

Yes. Click See all results in the pop-out to open the full search page. Its address includes your search, for example /search?q=cherry+shrimp. Copy that link to share it or bookmark it, and it opens with the same results (as of the moment someone opens it).

Is site search the same as the Help Center search?

No. The search box on the Help Center only looks through help answers, and it works instantly in your browser. It also fixes typos (against the words the help guides use) and, if no answer contains every word, shows the answers that contain most of them. Site search covers help answers plus everything else on the site, and only shows help answers that contain every word, because the other groups cover the rest. If the Help Center search finds nothing, its message has a search the whole site link that runs the same words through site search.

Common problems

Nothing shows up. Try fewer words. Every word has to appear in a result, so one unusual word can hide everything. Typos are fixed automatically, but a word that's badly off (3 or more mistakes) may not be.

My word was "fixed" into the wrong word. Check the "you typed" line above the results. Try the word spelled differently, or use a more specific word.

An ad I know exists doesn't appear. Only active ads that haven't expired show. Sold, removed and expired ads never appear in search. See Why did my ad expire?

A shop I know exists doesn't appear. Only published shops show. Try the shop's town instead of its name, or open the store directory. If it's missing entirely, you can suggest it.

Something new doesn't show yet. Site search keeps its lists fresh on a short timer: classifieds every 2 minutes, events every 5, species, breeding guides, glossary terms and courses every 10, and stores every 30. Something added moments ago can take that long to appear. Forum threads show right away.

Past events don't show. Site search only lists events that haven't happened yet (and ones from the last day).