Looking for Orca Search 3.0 Beta Testers!
Apr 11, 2023A few weeks ago I finally got tired of how clunky the Orca Search 2.x script has gotten. Its last major release was in 2009 and I've just been layering bandage after bandage on it to keep it running during every PHP upgrade.
At first I was just going to rip out the HTTPS fetching code and replace it, but then I ended up throwing the whole thing away and starting from absolute scratch. The last few weeks have been pretty crazy as I put this thing together, and I'm finally ready to package it up for people to test.
The Orca PHP Search 3.0 boasts the following major features:
- Virtually fully automatic site crawling + searching engine
- PDF indexing via PdfParser
- Schedule your crawls to only happen between certain hours of the day
- Fully customizable search output template via Mustache
- Search "for phrases", important (+) and negation (-)
- Responsive Bootstrap-based Administration UI that's as easy to work with on mobile as it is on desktop
- Optional Geolocation of your search users via Maxmind
- Automatic sitemap generation per sitemaps.org
- Download a javascript version of your engine that works offline. Works great with mirrors generated by HTTrack
You can use the searching engine right now on this site! Check out the Orca PHP Search page.
Here are some screenshots of the completely new administration UI.
Right now I've only given it a small amount of data to crunch and it could certainly use a wider variety to see where it still needs some work. So I'm actively looking for beta-testers to give it a try.
If you have a website that isn't too complicated (< 2000 pages) and could use a self-contained search engine, give me a shout using my contact form.
Oh, and a last note: The Google search results for "Orca Search" are pretty crowded for things that are not my script so I've been giving some serious thought to changing the name. Perhaps to Orka Script? If you have any ideas, send those along too with your feedback! Or comment below.
Much appreciated! 
| ⇐ Simple Wheel / Tire Size Calculator | Orcinus Site Search now available on Github ⇒ |