Last week Dreamwidth implemented a search-your-own-journal feature for paid users and paid communities. So I can search my old posts (but not the comments), but as of right now I can't search other people's journals.

I've never blocked search engines on LiveJournal or Dreamwidth, so I regularly use Google to find old posts in my journal that I want to reread or link back to by searching for "cryptoxin [keyword(s)]". This is particularly valuable for me because I don't have a good tagging system for my posts.

Dreamwidth is also considering implementing site-wide search of public posts as a feature for paid users. They're looking for feedback, including whether to implement it on an opt-in or opt-out basis. One suggestion supported by several commenters for when the feature is rolled is to set the default preference to match each user's setting for offsite search engines. That is, if you've opted to minimize your journal's inclusion in public search engine results (e.g. Google), the assumption would be that you're also opting out of DW's site-wide search unless and until you change your DW site-search preference.

( Read more... )

So what would best describe your searchability preferences? For 'Google search' read 'external search engines'; for sitewide search, it only applies to your public posts, and is only available to other journal users. Sadly, my attempts to create a poll in DW are failing, so let's try a manual version ETA or see next entry for a functional poll:

A. Block Google search AND block sitewide search by other users

B. Block Google search BUT allow sitewide search by other users

C. Allow Google search AND allow sitewide search by other users

D. Allow Google search BUT block sitewide search by other users


Bonus question: if you would opt to block both external and internal searches, are your reasons or privacy concerns the same in both cases, or different?

See previous entry for context & explanation.



ETA: ...er, the second option should read "Block Google searches; allow...".