To make my searches more effective using Yahoo, I shall use the following syntax and operators.



Required and Prohibited Search Words

Attaching a + to a word requires that the word be found in all of the search results
example: Computer Graphics +VRML
Attaching a - in front of a word requires that the word not be found in any of the search results
example: Computer Graphics -images

Document Section Restrictions

Attaching one the following operators to the front of a search word will restrict the search to a certain document sections.

t: - will restrict searches to document titles only
example: t:Computer Graphics
u: - will restrict searches to document URLs only

example: u:intel

Phrase Matching

Putting quotes around a set of words will only find results that match the words in that exact sequence.
example: "Computer Graphics"

Wildcard Matching

Attaching a * to the right-hand side of a word will return left side partial matches.
example: Com*

Combining the Syntax

You may combine any of the query syntax as long as the syntax is combined in the proper order. The proper order for using the syntax is the same order that the operators are listed on this page. That is, +, -, t:, u:, "" and lastly *.
example:
(correct) +t:football -American
(incorrect) t:+football -American

Time Restrictions

You can restrict your search to documents that are more recent than a certain date. There is no search query syntax available for restricting by time.

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