hue.me
Since .me domains went on sale this morning, I decided to purchase hue.me as a shortcut for entering the entire headsupeating.com URL.
Check it out: http://hue.me
Filed under Tips | Comment (0)Improving your food search results
To help you improve your search results, it helps to know the algorithm the food search engine at Heads Up Eating is using. In this article I will explain how results are found and ordered, and give you some tips on finding foods as fast as possible.
Some terms you should know: “search query” refers to your entire search query, spaces and individual words included. “Search term” refers to an individual word in the search query. So if you type “pears raw” in the name field, your search query is “pears raw”, and your search terms are “pears” and “raw”. This article applies to search queries in the name field–obviously you can narrow your search down greatly by including the brand, if possible.
Private foods are listed first, followed by USDA imported foods, followed by public foods added by Heads Up members, all color coded. For this reason, you should copy foods that you are planning on using often to your private foods. There is a link to do this when you display USDA imported foods and public foods. Once foods are added to your private foods, they are very easy to find since they are always displayed first in any search. This is huge, not only because it will be easy to find, but Heads Up Eating will also remember the last serving size you used if the food is private, often saving you time. Also if the original food is a public food, and the owner for some reason decides to delete it, you’ll still have your copy.
Within the results of each type of food (private, USDA imported, and public), the results that start with your search query are displayed first in alphabetical order, followed by results that match all of your search terms anywhere in their name field, in alphabetical order, excluding the results already found. I know that sounds complicated, but basically remember, if you know the food starts with a certain term, searching for this term will help you find it since it will show up first. If you don’t happen to know the first term in the name field, you can still probably find it, but it may be hidden a few screens in.
Obviously if you can narrow your search down by brand, you’ll want to do this. If you’re searching for a whole food out of the USDA database, this is not possible however. If your first couple guesses for a search query are turning up fruitless, you probably just want to use the Food Tree, also on the food search page. Clicking on the category nodes and finally on a label will give you a nice concise search at that level, and this is often the easiest way to find foods. Again, once you find a food you’re looking for, and you plan on using it often, definitely copy it to your private foods.
And lastly, though this may be obvious, you can restrict the search engine to only certain types of foods (private, USDA imported, and public). If you still can’t find it, it’s probably not in there, so help yourself out and the Heads Up community by adding it yourself and making it public. The more people add foods, the more valuable of a tool Heads Up Eating becomes.
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