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Advanced Keyword Searches: Allow multiple keywords to be selected from the Advanced Title Search screen, and allow "or" keyword searches
This suggestion involves IMDb's Advanced Title Search, available here: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/
I have two suggestions regarding the keyword section of this search screen.
1. Allow multiple keywords to be selected from the Advanced Title Search screen
First, the Title Search should be upgraded to allow users to search for multiple keywords in combination with each other. The "help" label for the Keyword section of the search currently reads as follows:
The title search currently only allows you to filter by one keyword at a time. To search for titles using multiple keywords, please use keyword search. Note that keyword searches require an exact match.
The word "currently" in that language implies that IMDb was at least considering allowing for multiple keywords to be included in advanced title searches. I hope that idea is still under consideration.
Keyword searches are largely inferior to title searches. For example, there are a lot more choices of search parameters available from the Advanced Title Search screen that are not available for keyword searches. (I know how to adjust both keyword and title searches manually by editing the URLs, but it is cumbersome and tedious to do it that way.) In most cases, keyword searches are not a viable alternative.
Also, if you want to include Adult titles in the results, the above-quoted suggestion of using keyword searches literally will not work.
To fix this, IMDb should simply allow for multiple keywords to be included in a search directly from the Advanced Title Search screen. I suggest allowing up to 10 keywords.
2. Allow "or" keyword searches
My second suggestion, which goes hand in hand with the first suggestion, is to allow "and/or" keyword searches, more commonly described as "or" searches.
Currently, it is possible to search for titles that include all of multiple keywords, and also to search for titles that do not include specific keywords. (For the latter search, just add an exclamation point before the specific keyword in a title search.) But there is literally no way to search for titles that include "keyword A" and/or "keyword B." This severely limits the effectiveness of keyword searches, especially searches that involve multiple keywords in combination with each other (aka multi-keyword combination searches).
This could be easily solved by allowing the user, when filling out the data fields for the Advanced Title Search, to click a button indicating whether each keyword should be treated as "or," and if that button is clicked, then the user could add multiple keywords for that entry.
For example, you could search for all titles with ("keyword A" AND/OR "keyword B" AND/OR "keyword C") AND "keyword D" AND "keyword E," etc. (It would also be ideal to include "NOT" and "AND NOT" Boolean operators here too.)
If these two suggestions are implemented, here are some sample searches that users would be able to do.
Sample Search #1
reference-to-jesus-christ and/or jesus-christ and/or jesus-christ-character and/or reference-to-christ |
AND |
reference to god and/or |
AND | miracle and/or miracles and/or |
Sample Search #2
Sample Search #3
ouija and/or |
AND | father daughter relationship | AND | talk-to-the-dead and/or talking-with-the-dead and/or talking-to-the-dead and/or talking-with-dead-people and/or talking-to-a-dead-person |
Sample Search #4
christmas and/or hanukkah and/or kwanzaa |
AND | new york city |
Sample Search #5
killer santa claus and/or evil santa claus and/or evil santa and/or bad santa claus and/or villainous santa claus and/or criminal dresses as santa claus and/or |
AND |
(pick any keyword or search parameter you like) |
Those are just a few examples -- the possibilities would be endless! Overall, this would greatly expand the functionality of keyword searches..
IMDb could and should easily tap into more of the vast potential for keyword searches by adding these simple yet powerful innovations.
bderoes
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5K Messages
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118K Points
2 years ago
Wanted to document that the URL can be edited to include multiple keywords. The result appears to be using "AND" logic, which is what most parameters follow in ATS. (Note, I realize you want more than a URL hack, but just in case you find it helpful...)
Example:
ouija 107 results
ouija board 312 results
versus
ouija,ouija-board 34 results
Notice the need for the hyphen in multi-word keywords.
(edited)
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benfishbus
10 Messages
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314 Points
11 months ago
I would like these features too, particularly the ORing of keywords. Right now I have to request each separately and concatenate the results, and when there's significant overlap that's a lot of wasted effort at both ends.
This can be accomplished through MDBlist.com, but in a lot of cases that's overkill.
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Peter_pbn
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14.2K Messages
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327.8K Points
11 months ago
The new advanced search that is being tested allows multiple keywords to be entered.
https://community-imdb.sprinklr.com/conversations/imdbcom/imdb-advanced-search-redesign-beta/652d9e3c7727574070c19e1a
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