forum searches   user searches

job searches   bing and google

The easiest way to search is to simply enter the word(s) you're looking for, for example:

   Factory   --   finds all records with the word Factory.
   Abstract Factory   --   finds all records with the word Abstract or Factory.

The search engine also provides a rich query language, the details of which are below.

A search query is made up of terms. There are two types of terms: Single terms and Phrase terms.

   A Single term is a single word, such as Reflection.
   A Phrase term is surrounded by double quotes, such as "John Smith". This phrase will find matches exactly as specified.

Multiple terms can be combined with Boolean operators to form more complex queries, for example:

   Reflection AND "John Smith"  (see below for details).

You can build search queries by specifying a field.
Enter fieldname, followed by a colon ":" and then the term you are looking for, for example:

   tag:Silverlight   --   finds all topics tagged with Silverlight.
   tag:"Visual Studio"   --   finds all topics tagged with Visual Studio.
   certification:MCAD   --   finds all users that are MCAD certified.

Note: when searching Users you'll use different fields from when searching Forum topics (see below for a complete list).

Single and multiple character wildcards are supported by using ? and * symbols respectively, for example:

   S?lverlight   --   finds records with Silverlight, Solverlight, Sylverlight, etc.
   S*light   --   finds records with Silverlight, Stoplight, Spotlight, etc.

Note: you cannot use * or ? as the first character in a query.

A Range search allows you to find values within a lower and upper bound, for example:

   rank:[75 TO 100]   --   finds all users with a community rank between 75 and 100.
   points:[500 TO 1000]   --   finds all users with a point score between 500 and 1000.

Note: range searches are not limited to numeric fields. You could search for all first names between Jack and Jill by first:[Jack TO Jill].

Search terms can be combined with Boolean operators: AND, OR, and NOT, for example:

   Windows OR MVVM   --   finds all topics with the words Windows or MVVM. Same as Windows MVVM.
   Windows AND MVVM   --   finds all topics with the word Windows and the word MVVM.
   Windows NOT MVVM   --   finds all topics with Windows but not the word MVVM.
   tag:WPF AND tag:MVVM   --   finds all topics tagged with both Silverlight and MVVM.
   country:"United States" AND company:IBM   --   finds all US users that are working (or have worked for) IBM

Note: Boolean operators must be ALL CAPS.

Use parentheses to build sub-queries, for example:

   (Patterns AND VB) OR website   --   finds records with Patterns and VB or records with website.
   points:[500 TO 1000]   --   finds all users with a point score between 500 and 1000.