AlterVista Search Help Menu

(instructions on using the simple boolean operators)

 & This means AND.  It finds documents containing all of the specified words
   or phrases.  For example, free & software finds documents with both the
   word free and the word software.
 | This means OR.  It finds documents containing at least one of the specified
   words or phrases.  For example, free | software finds documents containing
   either free or software.  The found documents could one, the other, or both
   of the words "free" and "software".
 ! This means NOT.  It excludes documents containing the specified word or
   phrase.  Free ! software finds documents with free but not containing
   software.  The operator ! must be used with another operator, such as &.
   AlterVista does not accept "free ! software"; instead, you must specify
   for example, free &! software.
 ~ This means NEAR.  It finds documents containing both specified words or
   phrases within 10 words of each other.  The search "free ~ software"
   finds documents in which the words "free" and "software" appear close
   together.
() Use parentheses to group complex Boolean phrases. For example,
   (free & software) | (GNU & Stallman) finds documents with the words
   'free and software' or 'GNU and Stallman' or both.
"" Use quotes to select phrases, e.g. "free software".
 * Use wildcard character, *, to match any ending.  For example,
   program* will also match with programming and programs.
   Also overrides quotation, e.g. "free program*" will still match
   "free programs" and "free programming" and the like.

   Capitalize proper names like Stallman to narrow the search.  Uncapatilized
   terms give rise to a broader search (e.g. "stallman" will also match to
   Stallman, STALLMAN, or StAlLmAn, whereas Stallman will only match the
   first of these three capitalizations).

   anchor:text Finds pages that contain the specified word or phrase in
   the text of a hyperlink. anchor:"Click here to visit garden.com" would
   find pages with "Click here to visit garden.com" as a link.

   applet:class Finds pages that contain a specified Java applet. Use
   applet:morph to find pages using applets called morph.

   domain:domainname Finds pages within the specified domain. For example,
   use domain:uk to find pages from the United Kingdom, or use domain:org to
   find pages from noncommercial (non profit organization) sites.
 
   host:hostname Finds pages on a specific computer.  For example, the search
   host:www.gnu.org would find pages on the gnu.org Free Software page,
   and host:utoronto.ca would find pages on the University of Toronto's www
   server.  Note that some hosts have multiple names, e.g. utoronto.ca
   is the same as toronto.edu.

   image:filename Finds pages with images having a specific filename. Use
   image:beaches to find pages with images called beaches.

   like:URLtext Finds pages similar to or related to the specified URL.
   For example, like:www.abebooks.com finds Web sites that sell used and
   rare books, similar to the www.abebooks site. like:sfpl.lib.ca.us/
   finds public and university library sites.
   like:http://www.indiaxs.com/ finds sites about culture on the Indian
   subcontinent.

   link:URLtext Finds pages with a link to a page with the specified URL
   text.  Use link:www.gnu.org to find all pages linking to gnu.org.

   text:text Finds pages that contain the specified text in any part of
   the page other than an image tag, link, or URL. The search
   text:graduation would find all pages with the term graduation in them.

   title:text Finds pages that contain the specified word or phrase in
   the page title (which appears in the title bar of most browsers). The
   search title:sunset would find pages with sunset in the title.

   url:text Finds pages with a specific word or phrase in the URL. Use
   url:myway.com to find all pages on all servers that have the word
   myway in the host name, path, or filename--the complete URL, in other
   words.