[Advanced Search] - Enhancing Your TiddlyWiki Search Experience

[Byper]

Hello community,

The native TiddlyWiki search is efficient for quick access, but as our wikis grow, we often find ourselves needing more specific retrieval capabilities. We created the Advanced Search plugin to supplement the core search with features designed for content-heavy wikis and deeper discovery.

Enhancing the Search Experience

We aim to bridge the gap in scenarios where you need more detail and control:

• Search Without Limits: Support for short keywords (1-2 characters) that are often skipped by standard indexing.
• Contextual Visibility: Instead of just titles, see a text preview of where your keyword appears, helping you identify the right tiddler immediately.
• Deep Navigation: Click to jump directly to the specific paragraph containing your match, rather than just opening the tiddler.
• Visual Clarity: Keywords are highlighted in the results for quick scanning.
• Streamlined Workflow: The search box auto-focuses when opened, allowing for immediate typing.

Core Features

• Unrestricted Matching: Accurately matches keywords of any length.
• Smart Snippets: “What you see is what you get” result previews with context.
• Highlighting: Clear visual cues for search terms within the results.
• Auto-Focus: Optimized for keyboard-centric workflows.

Try it Now

• Source Code: GitHub
• Live Demo: Live Demo

We hope this plugin serves as a useful power-up for your daily TiddlyWiki usage. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome!

[Thomas_Chuffart]

Hello. On your demo, the Mac shortcut is not working. I can’t use your extended search. Could you add a button to access it ?

[vuk]

Press Ctrl + K

is there a button to press in the TiddlyWiki interface instead of the hotkey?

PS: it looks like my post doubles the one above. Except I’ve asked in context of Android

[Byper]

I tested it myself — on macOS, both cmd+k and ctrl+k can trigger the action. Could you have a shortcut key conflict?

[TiddlyTitch]

@Byper

Could you have a shortcut key conflict?

I don’t have a keyboard.
A button would help.

TT

[Byper]

Sorry, I didn’t really consider mobile devices. Then, I can add a button to trigger the search box

[Byper]

@Thomas_Chuffart @vuk @TiddlyTitch
Hello everyone, I’ve updated the code — the search button has been added and mobile device support is available

[TiddlyTitch]

@Byper

the search button has been added and mobile device support is available

First impression: very useful! …

Search result example …

On open of found Tiddler highlight persists momentarily …

Best
TT

[TiddlyTitch]

Now the difficult question

Why is the same tiddler apparently shown more than once? Are they different?

TT

[Byper]

Actually, this is a design issue.
The current search matching logic is:

1. Prioritize matching the title
2. Then match the content
3. In the content, each paragraph is treated as an item, and multiple items form a list

The reason you’re seeing the same tiddler appear multiple times is that several paragraphs in its content match the search keyword. This design is actually inspired by Logseq’s search behavior.

Originally, the design was different: only one instance of each tiddler would appear, with matched content displayed in a sublist format — somewhat similar to Obsidian’s search.

Of course, if most users prefer the other approach, I can make adjustments accordingly.

[Scott_Sauyet]

@Byper

Of course, if most users prefer the other approach, I can make adjustments accordingly.

I, for one, do prefer the other approach. I’d rather see links/previews to the same tiddler grouped under a single instance of its title.

[wikster]

I too would prefer the other approach.

[TiddlyTitch]

@Byper

if users prefer the other approach, I can make adjustments accordingly.

edited by me

Ever hopeful that results be so shown in Singular.

Any chance?

It is brilliant!
MA one result per Tiddler looks most apposite to me?

TT

[Byper]

@Scott_Sauyet @wikster @TiddlyTitch
Hello everyone, I’ve updated the way search results are displayed. Please visit: My TiddlyWiki — a non-linear personal web notebook to try it out

[Ste_W]

Hey, slightly late to the party on this one. Gave it a try.

Oddly a search for Force, for example, puts the Force tiddler below Value Engineering and Analysis.
This is better than the default search which puts Force way down the list.

Can this replace the default search box in the side bar? I’d still like the search button next to the search box to open advanced search.

Can the context be defaulted to close? Or an option to toggle?

Cheers.

[Byper]

Thanks for the feedback!

I just pushed an update:

1. Sorting: Fixed! Title matches now strictly come first, so “Force” should show up at the top.
2. Context: Added a setting in the plugin tab (Control Panel → Plugins) to toggle default expansion. You can turn it off if you prefer a cleaner list.

As for replacing the default search box, I’d like to keep this plugin as a non-intrusive supplement rather than an overhaul of the core UI.

Let me know if the new version works better for you!

[Ste_W]

That’s the job. Thank you for that.

[TiddlyTitch]

@Byper

I just pushed an update:

1. Sorting: Fixed! Title matches now strictly come first, so “Force” should show up at the top.
2. Context: Added a setting in the plugin tab (Control Panel → Plugins) to toggle default expansion. You can turn it off if you prefer a cleaner list.

I’m testing it with enthusiasm. My initial responses …

• The visual presentation of results look really good! They really help one work on a wiki.
• The performance on large TW’s is good.

In a separate post I’ll comment on a few things that maybe could be improved.
But overall it is excellent at finding & highlighting quickly!

Best, TT

[TiddlyTitch]

@Byper

I just pushed an update:

1. Sorting: Fixed! Title matches now strictly come first, so “Force” should show up at the top.
2. Context: Added a setting in the plugin tab (Control Panel → Plugins) to toggle default expansion. You can turn it off if you prefer a cleaner list.

Four things to maybe consider …

1. It might be better if the search could be dynamically set by the user for literal strings or whole words. At the moment when I search for “test” I get some results I don’t need. For example …

2. Am I right that the search ignores Tiddlers starting “$:/”?
   In my case I was hoping to use your tool to help me find errors in “$:/” Tiddlers. Does it include all Tiddlers?

3. I suggest you give a user option to either have the search from the Sidebar button to a float box (as it currently is) OR as a tab in $:/AdvancedSearch.

4. At the moment when you go back to the search the previous search string is gone from the box. I think it could be very useful if the search string persists between searches.

Do ask if anything I wrote is unclear.
Best,TT

[DaveGifford]

I am not sure how I missed this thread until today, but kudos to you. The context visibility works great and the ability jump directly to a paragraph is a great leap forward in TiddlyWiki searching. Even though you already implemented these suggestions, I want to agree with grouping the instances of the same tiddler under one search result, and the button in the sidebar, and making “in-title” results come before “in-tiddler only” results. Stunning. After I get done with my current urgent project, this will now be a “must-add” plugin to add to all my tw files.