Search Tips
Keyword Search Basics
Enter keywords related to the items you are seeking and click on the 'Search!' button. A page displaying the results of your search appears. The page displays in alphabetical order the number of items that match your search. There are also several options to sort the results - by category, in ascending or descending alphabetical order, by area (city/town) and for events by event start date. You can then click on individual items for more information - some items will open as PDF files, Web pages or pop-up windows with further details on the items.
Keep these important notes in mind when entering keywords:
A simple keyword search uses words and phrases separated by commas.
- edmonton, hotel - the search engine treats 'edmonton' and 'hotel' as two separate words and searches for any items that include either of those words in no particular order.
- edmonton hotel - the search engine treats 'edmonton hotel' as a phrase and searches for any items that include that phrase with the words in that particular order.
When a keyword search is entered in mixed case (for example 'Edmonton Hotel'), the search engine finds case-sensitive matches. Keyword searches entered completely in upper or lower case will cause the search engine to find all versions of the keywords - mixed, upper, and lower case. You will typically have better success in finding the items you seek by entering keywords in all lower or upper case.
Helpful Tip: If you are doing a more general keyword search it can be handy to use <AND> between words and phrases. For example, if you are looking for 'banff hiking trails' and type in that phrase there is a good chance that your search results will be limited since the search engine will only look for items with all of those words in that particular order. There could be a page on the site with such related information titled 'Hiking Trails in Banff National Park'. By using <AND> between all words in your original phrase ('banff <AND> hiking <AND> trail') the search engine will return results that contain all of those keywords in no particular order - so your chances of finding related items will be higher.
Keyword Search Options
Use the following search options to perform more advanced keyword searches. You can also use our category search templates to perform more specific searches of items within areas of TravelAlberta.com.
ITEMS/PAGE
Choose how many items you wish displayed on the results page. The default setting is 10 items per page. The more items you display the less
pages you need jump forward to see all of the results. However, more items on a page also means more scrolling within that page.
CATEGORY
All areas of TravelAlberta.com are searched by default. You can choose to search only specific areas of the site such as Vacation Packages,
Attractions and Events to name a few of the categories. Choosing specific categories will help limit the number of results displayed. If you
choose to search all categories, then a list of results from all categories will be displayed; however, there is an option at the bottom of the
list of results displayed which also enables you to sort the results by applicable categories.
TITLE CONTAINS
If you know the name (or even part of the name) and proper spelling of the item you seek, enter it into this area and the search results will only
display items matching keywords in that title. This is helpful as it will typically return fewer results than if you perform a general search.
SUMMARY CONTAINS
You can search only the summary of each item on TravelAlberta.com by entering keywords into this area. Summaries range in length and will typically
return more results than if you perform a title search. Note that the name of the item may not always be included within the summary of the item,
so if you are searching for a specific item name use the TITLE CONTAINS search option instead.
AND
Finds items containing all of the keywords you specify. If the word AND is part of the name of the listing be sure to enclose AND in double quotes.
OR
Finds items containing at least one of the keywords you specify.
NOT
Finds items containing only the keywords you specify.
NEAR
Finds items containing specified keywords, where the closer the keywords are within an item, the higher the item's ranking in the results. Note that by
default all items displayed from search results are ranked in alphabetical order.
CASE SENSITIVE
Finds items containing the keywords exactly as you have typed them in mixed case. Keyword searches entered completely in upper or lower case will cause the
search engine to find all versions of the keywords-mixed, upper, and lower case. CASE SENSITIVE will not work with the SOUND-ALIKES option.
SOUND-ALIKES
Finds items containing the keywords you enter and one or more words that "sound like," or whose letter pattern is similar to, the word specified.
CHECK FOR SYNONYMS
Finds items containing the keywords you enter and its related synonyms.
FIX SPELLING
Finds items containing the keywords you enter plus similar keywords that contain all or part of the spelling of the keywords you enter. This is
handy if you do not know the exact spelling of the item you are seeking.
Helpful Tip: If you place double quotes around any or all of your keywords the search engine will search for those keywords exactly as they are entered within the double quotes. CASE SENSITIVE does not work with this option.
PARTIAL WORDS
To search for items when you only know part of the complete word - use an "*" at the end of the word. This can also be helpful if you are looking for
instances of keywords that may have multiple derivatives. For example, placing a "*" after the word "mountain" would return any items with the words
"mountain", "mountains", "mountaineering", "mountaineer", etc.
