# Search Help
## Search Pages
There are two search pages; [[WebSearch]] offers basic search features, while [[WebSearchAdvanced]] offers more control over searches.
By default searches are keyword based like in a typical search engine:
- Specify word(s) you want to find
- Multiple words form an **AND** search, `intranet web service` returns all pages that have the three words anywhere in the page
- Optionally specify plus signs for **AND** search, like `intranet +web +service`
- Enclose words in double quotes to form a **literal search**, like `"web service"`
- Specify a minus sign to **exclude** a word, like `soap -shampoo`
- Use double quotes if you want to search for a leading minus sign, like `"-nowarn"`
- **Stop words** are excluded from a keyword search:
- Stop words are common words and characters such as `"how"` and `"where"`, defined in the SEARCHSTOPWORDS setting in the [[TWikiPreferences]]
- If you want to search for a word in the stop word list, prefix the word with a plus sign
- **Example:** To search for all topics that contain `"SOAP"`, `"WSDL"`, a literal `"web service"`, but not `"shampoo"`,%BR% enter this: `soap +wsdl "web service" -shampoo`
Regular expression search searches for a set of regular expression patterns:
- Patterns are separated by semicolons
- An AND search is performed for the list of patterns
- An exclamation point preceeding a pattern indicates an AND NOT search; use it to exclude a pattern, like `!web service`
- If you want to search for a semicolon or an exclamation point, escape them with a leading backslash, like `\!shampoo`
- **Example:** To search for all topics that contain `"SOAP"`, `"WSDL"`, a literal `"web service"`, but not `"shampoo"`,%BR% enter this: `soap;wsdl;web service;!shampoo`
## Formatted Searches
You can embed a nicely [[formatted search|Main/FormattedSearch]] in a topic by using the `%SEARCH{}%` variable described in [[VarSEARCH]].
## Search Preferences
[[TWikiPreferences]] defines these search preferences:
- `SEARCHDEFAULTTTYPE`: Default search type for search forms which calls the `search` script
- Currently `%SEARCHDEFAULTTTYPE%`
- `SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE`: Default search type for `%SEARCH{}` variable
- Currenty `%SEARCHVARDEFAULTTYPE%`
- `SEARCHSTOPWORDS`: List of stop words (common words and characters to exclude from a keyword search)
- Currently `%SEARCHSTOPWORDS%`
**_Related Topics:_** [[UserDocumentationCategory]]