@JohnPhilpin I love Pagefind! I …

@JohnPhilpin I love Pagefind! I actually wanted to build Search Space on top of it, but it wasn’t technically possible at the time because Pagefind needs to run on the server, and as a mere mortal I didn’t have access to run code on Micro.blog’s servers. But now that @manton has set this up, Search Space could technically pivot to use Pagefind behind the scenes instead. That might happen, but not in the near future.

Why choose one over the other? When it comes to search, the most basic question is: do I get relevant results for my queries? Here, you shouldn’t see too much difference, because Search Space and Pagefind both use the same ranking algorithm, BM25. The search results won’t be identical, but they’ll be close enough.

So, when it comes to choosing between the two, you’ll want to compare features and the user experience. One feature I miss from the Pagefind search page is the ability to link directly to search results. Another is the ability to jump straight from a search result to the conversation on Micro.blog.

Of course, both of these features could be implemented with Pagefind too, somebody just needs to do it. 😊

Another difference between the two search solutions, as I alluded to earlier, is that Pagefind builds the index on the server, while Search Space builds the index on the client (in your browser). That means Pagefind adds to your blog’s build time, but visitors to your blog will get instant search results. Search Space is a little slower, especially on the first search, because the index is being built in the visitor’s browser. On the other hand, Search Space doesn’t slow your blog’s build time as much.