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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 18, 2014 10:25
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June 18, 2014 10:25

Last summer we launched the new search engine for Catawiki. The search engine was a big step up from what we had. However, during the introduction and also in the time afterwards, it became increasingly clear that the design of the search engine with three tabs is very confusing for many users. This is evident from the many posts about the search engine on this forum and from many emails we receive about it.

We hired an agency that specializes in creating user-friendly interfaces to see what we can do about this. Based on various expert reviews and also having the site used by inexperienced users, they mapped out the bottlenecks and made a new design for the search engine.

Today the new search engine has been added to the site.

The main issues addressed:

The three different tabs are integrated into 1 page of results. In addition, the search results in the auction of the current week are always shown first, because most visitors to the site appear to be searching for that, and then the results of the catalog. For advanced users who are only interested in the catalog, we have made an option in the profile that allows you to indicate that you only want to see the catalog results by default.

In case there are results in many rubrics, an intermediate page will appear that clusters the rubrics found. This allows you to go more specifically to a specific section.

Furthermore, a number of issues have been resolved that have been around for some time:

  1. Searching for words with special punctuation marks is now fine again. So if you search for Herge, you will also see Hergé.
  2. Short word search now works fine.
  3. The ISBN search now works fine.
  4. Searching for aliases and name variations now works fine.
  5. Aliases are now also shown in the filters.

You can now also use the same sort order as in the catalog. So, for example, if you search in comics and you sort by year, the number of the album series will also be sorted within the year. That of course depends on the category. This is an important step for us to improve the structure of the galleries in the catalog. We can then also use the search engine to build a photo gallery and that means that we no longer have to cach the pages. This also solves the problem I spoke about with Arco on the forum: there is no longer any delay when an item is changed.

You can also choose whether you want to see the second image (usually the back) of an item. And a view with only images has also been added.

There are also some changes that you will definitely have to get used to:

If you search in the catalog and you are, for example, in the comics section, a search will be made across all sections by default. We notice that users expect that if you search for Tintin, for example, you will also see statues. Of course you can immediately filter again on the relevant category.

By default it is no longer shown whether something is in a collection / search list / shop. You can easily activate this feature for advanced users in your profile

It is also a bit more difficult to go directly to a certain collection area. In the old situation there was a separate tab for this. What we do now is that we show the two most important collection areas per item (eg series and album series) and if you click on them you will go directly to the relevant gallery.

A lot of small things have been improved, but you will soon discover them yourself.

Enjoy!

Marco

==== Update June 24

Thanks for all the feedback on the new search engine. Obviously, what we thought the new search engine would be a step forward for many people has achieved quite the opposite for many, and of course, that is not the intention.

If I read back all your posts, there are three points that come up frequently:

  1. The checkboxes on the left are confusing. You would expect the option you selected to remain, however it is not.
  2. When you search the catalog in a specific section, it is inconvenient that you always search over all sections. When you search the comic book catalog, you initially expect results from that section.
  3. The biggest problem: you can no longer search directly for a collection area.

We are currently busy looking at how we can best tackle this. For now we have a new page available for point 3 with which you can search directly again: http://www.catawiki.nl/search/ area_search

Tomorrow we will look at how we can best make the above link visible to everyone. I also assume that tomorrow we will also have a solution for point 2.

I'll keep you posted.

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  • 856 messages
  • June 18, 2014 11:50
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June 18, 2014 11:50

It's just what you call improved. Why do you see the auction lots first? and do you have to click through to the catalog?

We will get used to it.

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Morits
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June 18, 2014 11:56

So it is not going well, just search for ta-Ar a comic book hero and see the result

It seems that the ta- is not included in the search, the results only show everything that is Ar ... begins to see

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  • 1,552 messages
  • June 18, 2014 12:20
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June 18, 2014 12:20

I first ask comics and then suske en wiske but instead of comics only I get books, toys and so on and

You searched for 'suske en wiske'
15,308 catalog items and 109 current auction lots found

View all results
View the 109 auction lots

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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 18, 2014 12:40
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June 18, 2014 12:40

@LordErnie: I ask comics first and then suske en wiske but instead of comics alone I get books, toys and so on and

That's because you first see Suske en Wiske items that are up for auction. Then you will see catalog results.

@Succo: Why do you see the auction lots first? and do you have to click through to the catalog?

Because we see that more and more visitors to the site appear to be mainly looking for that. For users who are only interested in the catalog, we have made an option in the profile that allows you to indicate that you only want to see the catalog results by default. Just try.

@Morits: it is not going well, look for ta-Ar a comic strip hero and see the result

That is indeed not going well. It doesn't seem to be related to today's change. Did that go well with you before?

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  • June 18, 2014 12:44
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June 18, 2014 12:44

Because we see that more and more visitors to the site appear to mainly search for this. For users who are only interested in the catalog, we have made an option in the profile that allows you to indicate that you only want to see the catalog results by default. Just give it a try.

Yep, works.

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Morits
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  • June 18, 2014 12:48
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June 18, 2014 12:48

hi Marco

has never gone well, but was hoping that with the new search engine it would be solved

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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 18, 2014 13:06
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June 18, 2014 13:06

@Morits: never went well, but hoped that the new search engine would solve it

I was not aware of this issue myself. We are going to see what we can do about it.

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  • Catalogue administrator
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  • June 18, 2014 13:28
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June 18, 2014 13:28

Results on parts of words are not displayed.

Eg. with the search term 'bicycles' and the series' Miniature bikes' of the Panter brand will not be found in cigar bands.

When' Miniature bikes' is entered completely as the search term, yes

When ' * bicycles * 'as well, with the asterisks' *' serving as a wild card.

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Ted
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  • June 18, 2014 14:24
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June 18, 2014 14:24

@Morits: it is not going well, look for ta-Ar a comic strip hero and see the result

They will be found immediately if you select further

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  • Catalogue manager
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  • June 18, 2014 14:34
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June 18, 2014 14:34

If I look for Ta-ar, he will find Prince Bernhard! (;-)

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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 18, 2014 14:39
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June 18, 2014 14:39

@Martinel: Ex. for the search term 'bicycles' and you will not find the series 'Miniature bicycles' of the Panter brand among cigar bands.

That's right we look at words that start with cycling. That was already the case, and nothing has changed since today. \

When using '* cycling *' as well, where the asterisks '*' serve as a wild card.

Indeed, that is one way to find them. We have considered searching for * bikes * by default, however we notice that it gives a lot of pollution in the search results.

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  • 1,194 messages
  • June 18, 2014 15:05
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June 18, 2014 15:05

Looks pretty okay in the new search engine

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  • Catalogue administrator
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  • June 18, 2014 15:37
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June 18, 2014 15:37

It is a pity that you can no longer search per category, so you do not have to filter first. I think that is a matter of getting used to and I think that was not the case in the past.

It is a nice overview result with all sections and then the result in a nice gallery that can also be filtered is. And is it just me or will I now also see search results faster?

And am I missing the icons of the shops and collections? Or had they never been there. I would find that useful, namely. I have already seen the option in my profile.

If you want to have a great search result, just type Collect . A clear example of the overview and the steps still to be taken.

The search results of the auctions are also interesting for me, because you always want to find everything that is offered on CataWiki.

And is that new or is it due to my computer? If I want to place my cursor here with an already written text, I get a blue bar and it overwrites everything in it (actually Off-topic, but could not put that in front of the text for the above reason).

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  • 19 messages
  • June 18, 2014 21:18
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June 18, 2014 21:18

I am missing the Recently added option when sorting. Was ideal for conjuring up novelties in an area, as they are not necessarily the newest in year ...

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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 18, 2014 21:31
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June 18, 2014 21:31

@puurveensboeken: Looks pretty okay from the new search engine

Beautiful :-)

@DisneyMeentwijc: And am I missing the icons of the shops and collections? Or had they never been there. I would find that useful, namely, I have already seen the option in my profile.

You can indeed enable this via your profile. Just try.

@DisneyMeentwij: And is that new or is it my computer? If I want to place my cursor here with an already written text, I get a blue bar and it overwrites everything in it (actually Off-topic, but could not put that in front of the text for the above reason).

That is not new. Strange. Which browser are you using?

@RvDN: I am missing the Recently added option when sorting. Was ideal for conjuring up novelties in an area, as they are not necessarily the newest in year ...

Interesting note. In the previous search you could not sort by recently added. However, you can do that in the photo gallery. What you see is that the two are growing closer to each other. The next step we see is that you get the same filter options in the photo gallery on the left that you now have in the search engine.

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June 18, 2014 22:01

In the previous search you could not sort by recently added. However, you can do that in the photo gallery.

I don't know if it was possible in the previous version (I never discovered it), but at the moment I can't find it in the photo gallery ( of the search results).

In any case, it would be the option I would use most regularly. My "wish list" consists largely of items that are not yet in the catalog.

It would be even better if I would be automatically notified when items are added with my favorite search term (s), as is already the case. possible at the auctions. But that might be an idea for the future.

P.S. By default, it is sorted by "Relevance". I always wonder (also on other sites) what that means. What are the criteria for finding one result "more relevant" than another? I can seldom discover any logic in the ranking of the actual results.

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  • June 18, 2014 22:19
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June 18, 2014 22:19

If you searched for an author in the old version, you got an overview of who matched that name, and then if you clicked through, you ended up in the 'old' photo gallery, where you could indeed sort by Recently added.

But with the new search engine, I can't get to that page anymore. Or am I not doing it right?

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  • June 18, 2014 22:39
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June 18, 2014 22:39

@boekmagazijn

@ rvdn

in the topic where you can vote for proposals, was the following proposal

"Receive a weekly email about new albums that were brought in from series that I follow "

but has been removed because Catawiki does not intend to do this at first, I had voted for them, so I received an email about it. Catawiki really reads these 'new albums' as new albums. I read it as 'new albums' in the collection area, so they can easily be 30 years old.

But still seems like a good idea, everyone would surely want to know if there is something about their collection area is added. Now I always look the RVDN way when there is something new. Is simply much more beautiful and especially much easier if you get a signal that something new has been added to your collection area.

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  • Catalogue manager
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June 18, 2014 22:56

But with the new search engine, I can't get to that page anymore. Or am I not doing it right?

@RVDN

If you click on a Series / Hero, Album Series, etc ... in the search results, you will not be returned until the normal photo gallery. Wonder why they don't just make it clickable in the left column next to tickable. Saves a lot of hassle / searching.

@Marco

Did you already email this morning. The lines under the icons have accidentally turned blue and are therefore no longer noticeable, even though they are precisely intended for that.

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Morits
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  • June 18, 2014 23:08
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June 18, 2014 23:08

@Richard

Do you realize that that could be 150,000 emails per week, that is a heavy load on the mail server.

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  • LastDodo Team
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  • June 19, 2014 01:26
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June 19, 2014 01:26

@Book Warehouse: Sorting by default is "Relevance". I always wonder (also on other sites) what that means. What are the criteria for finding one result "more relevant" than another? I can seldom discover any logic in the ranking of the actual results.

Some examples of criteria:

- If the keyword appears in the title, it is more relevant than in the explanation

- If you search for two words and they are next to each other, it is more relevant than if there are words in between.

@Arco: Wonder why they don't just make it clickable in the left column next to tickable. Saves a lot of hassle / searching.

We've tried and tested that, but it's super confusing for inexperienced users. The approach we use now can be found on many sites where you can filter on results and is a familiar way of working for many users.

@Arco: The dashes under the icons have accidentally turned blue as well and are therefore no longer noticeable while they are meant for that.

Let me take a look.

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  • 33 messages
  • June 19, 2014 08:25
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June 19, 2014 08:25

@ Morits

means that you can, for example, indicate from the draftsman Follet that you will receive a signal when something new is added. or other favorite artist of your choice. Are as many emails as collectors indicating this and how often something from Follet is added. Does it seem to me that the load on the mail server is not that bad?

If the auctions are possible, then why not with a search term in the catalog?

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Morits
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June 19, 2014 09:26

It's not about how many users collect Follet, every user has their own search list and that is many times more than the auction alerts

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  • 33 messages
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June 19, 2014 10:31

@Morits

I don't understand what you mean, why would that be many times more than the auction alerts?

I have now also set the artists of my interest as auction alerts, I would indicate exactly the same for an email if something new is added to the catalog. I think exactly the same as the auction alerts. If at most an e-mail would come more often, it depends on how often something is added from a particular artist. But also maybe nothing at all for weeks.

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