Help:Search

Wikipedia has a search page that allows you to navigate its contents quickly and efficiently. Since 2014 it uses CirrusSearch, the new search engine of the MediaWiki platform. In addition, it is possible to search using external search engines.

Wikipedia interface search box.

To quickly search for an article or other content on Wikipedia, you have to write the name of what you are looking for in the Search box in the upper right area. As you type, a list of relevant results will be displayed and you can access any of them by clicking on it.

If you click on the magnifying glass button or press the ↵ Enter, the server will search all of Wikipedia for the words you typed. In case the title of the article matches what you have written (for example, if you write tree), you will automatically access the article; if it does not exist, it will direct you to a page with the list of most probable articles.

If you want to perform an advanced search or avoid going directly to an article (to be able to choose from the links which one to consult) you can leave the search box blank and click on the magnifying glass or press ↵ Enter. This takes you to the Special:Search page, where you have several custom search options.

Syntax

• The quotes (") serve to look for a phrase, words in a particular order, which considerably defines the results. For example "time won" returns many less results than time earned.
• The operator OR lets you search for items containing at least one of the words entered. For example, looking for "escuela OR colegio privado"The articles containing the word appear Schoolthe term private school or both.
• By adding a script before a word ("-palabra"), only articles that do not contain that word appear in the list of results. For example, a search with "-árbol" returns the articles that do not have the term tree.
• Adding a virgulilla after a word ("palabra~"), the search returns the articles that have the exact word or similar words. For example, the search "esto~"returns the articles that include "this", "this", "is" and other similar words.
• Adding an asterisk in a word ("pal*", "*abra"), the search returns the articles containing the prefix or suffix. For example, the search "*logía" returns the articles containing "Biology", "Geology", "Theology", etc.
• By adding a point or a comma before or after a word without quotes (silla.), the search shows the articles that contain it both in the title and in the text of the article.

Parameters

Prefix:

Prepending "prefix:" links are obtained to articles whose title begins with the added term. For example, when searching with "prefix:San Juan" we get this result. This is also useful for locating articles whose first words of the title have the same morphological root: for example entering "prefix:Camp" we get links to articles starting with Camp, Field, Campaign, etc.

In relation to this parameter we have the page Special:Pages by prefix. Simply enter the term in the box on that page and press the ↵ Enter or on the "Show the list" button. For the example of "San Juan" we get this result, while for "Camp" this other. As you can see, these are the same results as prefixing "prefix:" plus those of the pages that redirect to articles. If we activate "Hide redirects" then they are the same results (with different presentation and order).

Intitle:

If we want to search for articles based on words that are anywhere in their title, we have to put "intitle:" to each word. For example, when searching with "intitle:Antonio intitle:García" we get this result. If we want to delimit the search from word(s) that is(are) in the body of the article, we can put it in any position (without "intitle:" in front). For example, when searching with "Peru intitle:Antonio intitle:García" we obtain this other one (the same is achieved by searching with "intitle:Antonio intitle:García Perú": this result).

Incategory:

If you want to get a list of all articles included in a category, use "incategory:" and the category name without the "Category:" prefix. For example, to get a list of all articles and attachments categorized under Category:Pablo Picasso, type "incategory:"Pablo Picasso"" into the search box. (For multiverbal categories it is necessary to use quotation marks). This is what you get.

If you want to get the list of articles included in two categories, use "incategory:" twice. For example, to get a list of articles by male New York writers, type "incategory:"New York Writers" incategory:"Men"”. This is what you get.

If you also want it to include the subcategories (up to 5), use "deepcat:" or "deepcategory:". For example, to obtain a list of all the articles and annexes that are in Category:Geography of Madrid and its subcategories, type in the search box "deepcat:"Geography of Madrid"". This is what you get.

Insource:

If you want to get a list of all articles that contain a given string, use "insource:". For example, to get a list of all articles and annexes containing "Roman Republic|Republic of Rome", type in the search box "insource:"Roman Republic|Republic of Rome"". This is what you get.

Linksto:

If you want to get a list of all the links pointing to a page, use "linksto". For example, to obtain a list of all the articles and annexes that point to Velázquez's article, type in the search box "linksto:"Diego Velázquez"". This is what you get.

Advanced search

There is the possibility of sorting the search results according to different criteria. By default, the system presents them in order of relevance, but it is possible to order them by the date of creation, by the date of the last edition, by the number of links that point to the page, in all cases, both ascendingly, and descending.

The search websites in the WWW offer different possibilities when searching within the contents of Wikipedia. It must be borne in mind that it takes time from when a new content is added to Wikipedia until it is available on external engines. Currently, Google usually locates it and offers it in its search in a few minutes, while the other engines usually take days or weeks. Some external engines allow, in addition to (in) articles, to search (in) categories, talk pages, etc.

Google search

• Search with Google in Wikipedia in Spanish
• Search with Google in Wikipedia in all languages

Search via WikiWix

• Search with WikiWix in Wikipedia in Spanish
• Search with WikiWix in Wikipedia in other languages: you have to click above to the right, on the active language (p.e. "Spanish") or "...", then on the desired language button and then on OK (to the left).

Search through Yahoo!

• Search with Yahoo! in Wikipedia in Spanish (it is to be added "es.wikipedia.org" in the "seek only in this domain/site")
• Search with Yahoo! in Wikipedia in all languages (we must add "wikipedia.org" in the "seek only in this domain/site")

Bing search

• Search with Bing in Wikipedia in Spanish
• Search with Bing in Wikipedia in all languages

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