Sketchfab now has over 1,000,000 models uploaded (yay!). But having so many models also means we must be able to find what we’re looking for, and right now the search function is not helping. The standard and expected behavior of a search function is, if no wildcard is inserted, to return results that match whole words only, but right now it does not. Let me explain:
I am currently looking for models of a hatch. Right now, if searching for the expression hatch, this is what you get:
- A hatchback civil
- A hatchling skull
- Models from a movie or game seemingly called “hatched”
- Countless hatchets
- Straw-thatch houses
- Even a lovely model called “Whatcha lookin at bub???”
- And yes, of course, a few (but very few) actual hatches
This is bad and absolutely counter-productive. The function should return results without the need to use quotation marks around a single word, but even quotation marks are not taken into account. So no way to look for an exact expression made of many words. Those are standard search features and given the amount of models we now have, being able to use them would avoid many frustrations when looking for specific content. To sum it up, I believe the search function should:
- Treat whole words as whole words
- Support wildcards if opposite behavior is desired ( % )
- Support searching for exact expression with quotation marks ( " )
- Support exclusion of certain terms by the use of the minus sign in front of a word ( - )
- Support other standard boolean operators, such as OR (this last point is arguably less important as they other than the ones above, they are rarely used)
What do you guys think?
