Download Using Wiki

THE CONTENT MODEL
FIGURE 4-8.
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Results of a sample search in a demo QuickiWiki
This basic search is speeded up somewhat by going on to the next page at the
first pattern match instead of collecting all matches for the page. The reasoning is that
in any case you need to use the browser search to locate instances on the page. In
other cases, a complete listing of matches with relevant context might be better, and
Chapter 6 shows how to do this.
For larger or more heavily used databases, you often find an additional fastsearch option that only looks at page titles and thus uses the demanding full-content
search more sparingly. Capability can be refined further by providing options for
word-only patterns and other constraints.
When the search pattern is a page title, the results list provides a map of all
references to that page. Searching for a title of a page known not to exist produces a
list of any pages containing this “open link”.
Tip 4.13: Topic suggestions for visitors
Some wikis implement generic open-link searches that show all links referring to
not-yet-created pages. The intent is to suggest open topics that users can develop
further—links that might otherwise be overlooked and forgotten.
Searching for page references is so useful that two related wiki features deserve
special mention: backlinks and topic search.
Backlinks
The original wiki displayed pages with the page name as a title, rendered as a
hyperlink. That apparently self-referential link invoked the search function with the