Enhanced Search is worth to buy?

[Yenxji]

I was going to buy enhanced / elastic search, but I have a few questions,

1 - How does enhanced / elastic search work on the forum?
2 - What this will improve the forum for something?
3 - Does this support on MariaDB and Apache + Nginx configuration server?

 

[Old Nick]

1 - How does enhanced / elastic search work on the forum?

It's running here, just try it.

2 - What this will improve the forum for something?

XenForo Enhanced Search improves your community's search experience by ensuring that all of your content is searchable, quickly and accurately.

Search results can be tuned so that more recent documents are considered more relevant. Multiple forms of a word can all be matched at the same time, to give your users more consistent results. Even if you have millions of posts, searches will be fast.

ES 2.2 Thread 'Enhanced Search 2.2 - Similar Threads'

Jul 22, 2020

In the beginning, XenForo Enhanced Search (XFES) was intended to be a simple drop-in replacement for MySQL full text search, primarily aimed at large forums whose operation would potentially suffer when attempting to search very large database tables.

As a drop-in, XFES only made use of the enhanced search index and speed for the formal search system, but with version 2.2 we are starting to leverage more of the power afforded by the Elasticsearch back-end.

Similar threads​

A useful tool for surfacing content on your forum is a list of Similar or related...

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3 - Does this support on MariaDB and Apache + Nginx configuration server?

I think so. Just wait for expert confirmation.

 

[ekool]

It works with MariaDB/Apache/Nginx -- you need to be able to install ElasticSearch on your server. Some hosting plans won't allow that. You can read my post in this thread... how large is your search table? How many posts/threads does your site have?

Post in thread 'Enhanced Search'

Jun 26, 2024

I don't think enhanced search is really necessary until your site gets really huge. After that, just not having to store the search table in the database is worth it. It makes database dumps much smaller and quicker. I don't backup the elastic search. In the event of a failure or data loss, the search table can either be rebuilt or the ES index can be rebuilt. No need to back it up. That's honestly the biggest benefit, IMHO.

Edit: I guess I should clarify. If you are using a feature that requires the ES then that's a different story. We don't usually so the above is the biggest benefit.

• ekool

 

[rogerl]

If your forum is large or busy it is 100% worth it just for the speed/efficiency

If that isn't true, its a case of looking at the extra features and deciding if it is worth it for you.

ie. Word stemming, accent removal, weighting of results, similar threads widgets/searches

 

[Suzanne O]

It's an official addon that you only have to buy once for your forum.
It's one i'm looking at getting too.

 

[AjayJunkies]

The similar threads and searches is an awesome feature, especially for large and established communities or those with evergreen topics.

 

[CedricV]

I've bought ES a few weeks ago. I'm gonna copy & paste something:

XenForo Enhanced Search is an add-on that replaces the built-in XenForo search system and is built to take advantage of Elasticsearch to provide a higher performing and more flexible search system for XenForo.

• Improved Search Performance: XFES leverages Elasticsearch, a powerful search engine, to provide faster and more efficient search capabilities. This is particularly beneficial for large forums with extensive amounts of content.
• Scalability: Elasticsearch can handle large volumes of data and queries, making it suitable for forums with heavy search traffic and large datasets.
• Advanced Search Features: XFES offers advanced search functionalities such as:
  • Faceted Search: Allows users to refine their search results using various filters.
  • More Relevant Results: Enhanced algorithms for better ranking of search results based on relevance.
  • Auto-Suggestions: Provides suggestions while typing search queries to help users find what they are looking for more quickly.
• Customization Options: Administrators have more control over search settings, allowing them to fine-tune how searches are conducted and results are displayed.
• Synonym Support: XFES can be configured to recognize synonyms, enhancing the ability to find relevant content even if different terms are used.
• Improved Indexing: More efficient and comprehensive indexing of forum content ensures that search results are accurate and up-to-date.
• Multi-Language Support: XFES supports multiple languages, making it a versatile option for forums with a diverse user base.
• Content Prioritization: Allows administrators to prioritize certain types of content or specific forums to appear higher in search results.

What I loved most about this is the fact that you get the "Similar threads" widget under a thread and "is this already being discussed?" when typing a thread title. It's well worth the 60USD imo.

 

[ekool]

What I loved most about this is the fact that you get the "Similar threads" widget under a thread and "is this already being discussed?" when typing a thread title. It's well worth the 60USD imo.

There is probably a good percentage of users who find the similar thread suggestion on new threads as very annoying. I'm a long time forum user and I hate it... we get complaints from lots of members about it as well. Just a heads up.

The one at the bottom of threads I like.

 

[Sim]

Search accuracy and performance is greatly improved with XFES - I consider it to be mandatory for any large or active community.

 

[rogerl]

It's an official addon that you only have to buy once for your forum.
It's one i'm looking at getting too.

There is an ongoing annual licence fee for upgrades the same as for the main forum software, but only $10/year currently.

 

[Rhody]

I would very much like to get this license, too, but I am on a shared server that cannot run Elasticsearch or the new alternative. (opensearch?)

Could I run just the elasticsearch on a different server dedicated to just that task, like a linode or something? Do they have to be together on the same server?

Secondary question: Does the new indexing method for 2.3+ allow this to function the same without elasticsearch? I know some changes were made in how it stores the index. I'm assuming the answer is NO, but just checking

Thanks

 

[Paul B]

Yes, you can run elasticsearch on another server.

What new indexing method?

 

[Sim]

Could I run just the elasticsearch on a different server dedicated to just that task, like a linode or something? Do they have to be together on the same server?

I always run my ElasticSearch server on a separate machine - just makes maintaining it easier.

I would very much like to get this license, too, but I am on a shared server

If you're considering running ES on a Linode, why not just run your site on a Linode as well?

I wouldn't run my site on shared hosting and my ES on a Linode in a different datacenter - you'd generally want them on the same network if possible, to minimise latency for searches.

 

[Seeker-Smith]

Does it do anything for XFMG?

 

[Rhody]

Yes, you can run elasticsearch on another server.

What new indexing method?

I recall reading something about the search engine in the db going from MyIsam to innodb format, to be more efficient for 2.3?

I may have read too far into the benefits of this change

I'll check with my provider for a bare bones account that I can run ES on, that meets above the minimum requirements. (or maybe i'll move the my forums over to dedicated servers, and keep my other websites on the shared setup - which works very well)

Thank you

 

[Chromaniac]

yeah having them in the same data center is kind of important. i tried running ES on a different host and there used to be regular errors in backend coz of connectivity issues. and then search also gets a slight lag. currently running it on the same vps as the forum but i did run it on separate vps on same network for a long time and that also worked out fine. merged coz i was paying more for the ES vps coz of high system requirement than my primary node. merging them basically provided more resources to the forum vps. good option if you are using budget vps configs.

 

[Yenxji]

Thank you for all discussion on my thread, I have no plan to buy but maybe in future

 

[briansol]

I have a lot of acronyms so it's critical for me to be able to search 2 and 3 letter words/terms, and this product allows that to happen effectively at scale. totally worth it for my use case.