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Request #77405 Issue tracker: Advanced search unclear, link to how-to difficult to find
Submitted: 2019-01-03 01:21 UTC Modified: 2019-01-03 01:28 UTC
From: chealer at gmail dot com Assigned:
Status: Open Package: Website problem
PHP Version: Irrelevant OS:
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
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 [2019-01-03 01:21 UTC] chealer at gmail dot com 
Description:
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https://bugs.php.net/search.php offers several filters whose effect is unclear (in particular the "Find bugs", Status and Type filters). These filters are in good part documented on https://bugs.php.net/search-howto.php but there is no prominent link to the HOWTO from the advanced search page. There is a link at the top right, but it is buried in mostly superfluous links. Although I have known this site for more than 10 years, I failed to find this page when I needed it.

This ticket is broadly asking to clarify advanced search. Ideally, the form would be simplified or documented in-place. But I would consider simply prominently linking to the HOWTO as a solution. This could be done by either:
1. Adding a link in the advanced search page's content (rather than in the header common to all pages)
2. Removing some rarely used links from the common header (random bug, documentation, support)
3. Splitting the links in 2 clearly distinguished categories - some specific to bugs.php.net and the rest. This could be done just by using different colors or font sizes. Or, search links could be moved to the bar currently dedicated to basic search, which currently has much room available at the left.

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 [2019-01-03 01:28 UTC] chealer at gmail dot com 
I forgot - it may be best to rename the How to Search page. Currently, it is the only page with the information required to interpret a given ticket's state. In other words, it is not only relevant for searching tickets. "Issue tracker documentation" or "Help" would be vaguer but probably less misleading names.
 [2021-09-24 00:23 UTC] ddpm at liscovius dot de 
IMHO best is to get rid of the 'search howto' page and instead just integrate the information into the search form where the user is working (no break of flow)

The information can be simply embedded by HTML title tattribute as tooltips for instance, placeholder attributes or CSS toggles of divs that contain more detailed description of a search form element.
 
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