Hello, searchers! Today, we're going on an exciting adventure into the world of search. Just by entering your query, search engines usually know what you are talking about. But these functions mentioned on this page can take your search to the next level.

Meet the Search Functions

There are three main helper words we use: AND, OR, NOT. There are many more advanced search operators but right now we'll just focus on AND, OR, NOT. They're like the magic keys to unlock just the right treasure chest of information!

'AND'

Imagine you want to find a page that has both a pirate and a monkey. You can write "stories pirate AND monkey". This tells the computer to only show you pages where both the pirate and the monkey are together.

You also can use the "+" plus sign on each word that you want to be in your results. For example, you could write "stories +pirate +monkey" to make sure you find what you want.

'OR'

Sometimes, you might want to find stories about a dragon or a unicorn. If you type "stories about dragon OR unicorn," the computer will show you stories about dragons, stories about unicorns, and even stories that have both. It's like saying, "I'm happy with either ice cream or cake."

You can also use the "|" vertical line also known as the pipe symbol. You could type "stories about dragons | unicorns"

'NOT'

Now, what if you want to learn about space, but you don't want any pages about aliens? You can type "space NOT aliens". This tells the computer to show you everything about space, but leave out the alien stories. It's like saying, "I want all the cookies, but not the ones with raisins."

Instead of writing NOT you can put a - in front of the word. So the example search is now "space -aliens".

Combining Operators

You can even mix these words for a super-search! Let's say you want stories about animals that includes a squirrel, but not about dogs or cats. You would type "stories about animals +squirrel -dogs -cats". It's like making a special pizza order where you say what toppings you want and what you don't want.