Flaffle.com - A different kind of search engine.
Going with the 'keep it simple, stupid' policy, I've built my latest offering - Flaffle.
It's a search engine, with the results being ordered by incoming traffic. The majority of the time, should a site be popular, it is full of content and relevant to the what the user is seeking, so this is how I've decided to order the results. As far as I'm aware, it's unique (in a way). Of course, to be listed, the bot needs to crawl pages (it does this for each individual page) in the database, but only to pages currently linking into Flaffle. I still need to add a few things, such as some alt banners/logos for sites to use when linking in and the docs page needs updated, but it's 'getting there'.
If you want some extra traffic and to boost your search engine ranking positions, send some traffic to it.
How to add your site | Flaffle.com
Comments/Criticism?
moshdj2uk posted this at 19:47 — 13th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
None?
timjpriebe posted this at 20:46 — 13th December 2006.
He has: 2,667 posts
Joined: Dec 2004
Hmm. I searched for the word comics and got a 404 error.
moshdj2uk posted this at 21:25 — 13th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
Sorry about that. I fixed a small bug before I left work and never had time to quickly check to see if the bug was fixed, in turn, creating another bug.
It has now been fixed. Many thanks, Tim.
cbc58 posted this at 21:58 — 13th December 2006.
They have: 140 posts
Joined: Nov 2003
So just what does the site do? I put in some search terms but nothing showed up.....
moshdj2uk posted this at 22:11 — 13th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
It is a search engine, ranked by incoming traffic. In order for sites to be listed, they must first link in a 'hit', then they get added to the database so the bot can crawl the site on next index. This is done, mainly for the sole purpose of it being much easier to check for broken links.
aka Rohan posted this at 22:25 — 13th December 2006.
He has: 200 posts
Joined: Feb 2006
I tried some search terms and got nowt. Searching 'the' gave 17 results (spread between 3 different sites). Using the same search word in Google provides 5,370,000,000 results. I'm just concerned that you're never going to get enough links to the site to make this engine viable.
I do like the logo though and the layout is nice
moshdj2uk posted this at 22:42 — 13th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
It will take time to get the database built up. I've yet to start advertising it. I'm hoping that after I start advertising it, word will catch on. Time will tell.
pisstaker posted this at 04:50 — 16th December 2006.
They have: 63 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
I just linked to you so we shall see what happens. Good luck taking on Google.
moshdj2uk posted this at 13:23 — 16th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
Thanks, much appreciated. However, at the moment, the description for the results are fed from the meta-description tag of the refering pages and as such, must be valid for the pages to be indexed by the bot. From what I can see, none of your pages on your blog have a meta-description tag.
I've been keeping up with your blog ever since you created the entry about Flaffle. I'm hooked.
pisstaker posted this at 15:33 — 16th December 2006.
They have: 63 posts
Joined: Sep 2006
Thanks for pointing that out. I didnt pay much attention to completing meta data tags at the start of the blog building process so I added keywords at a later date. I thought that was sorted but as a result of your comment I just found out my blog software apparently doesnt update metadata tags on existing pages sitewide, so I was living in ignorant bliss. However it was easy enough to add data via a different input box, so i hope your flaffle engine picks it up.
Glad to hear you are hooked. We are revamping the site at the moment, so maybe we will be hooking even more folks. It is good fun, but hard work at the moment. We will hopefully attract some input from other writers to lighten the load.
waffles posted this at 16:54 — 16th December 2006.
They have: 54 posts
Joined: Jun 2006
In order to get the databas built up, you might need to just go in and either let some people add a site or add some yourself.
Why do I need to link to Flaffle from every page of my blog if I want it all indexed? Isn't one link enough?
waffles Radio Coming to a set of speakers near you September 2006
moshdj2uk posted this at 17:14 — 16th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
Well the bot would then have to crawl all your pages on your site. At present, I don't have the server resources to have the bot do that for each and every site being indexed. The main reason for linking every page in, is for the bot to keep track of proken links easier. In essence, the bot has little to do to check for broken links in the sites. If a page is linking in, it exists on the refering server and is active. Simple.
It will take time to build up the database which is my main issue just now. I'm hoping that after some interest, the ball should get rolling and the links will keep coming in at an increasing rate. However, that will take time.
@pisstaker
You still don't have a meta description added. No worries though, you have over 2 weeks to get it sorted until the next index.
MoeAlza posted this at 03:14 — 17th December 2006.
They have: 23 posts
Joined: Nov 2006
It looks great but I searched anime and did not get any results. Nice logo too.
moshdj2uk posted this at 03:28 — 17th December 2006.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
If you'd had read the thread, you'd have figured out why.
benf posted this at 12:43 — 12th January 2007.
They have: 426 posts
Joined: Feb 2005
Hi, i like it. Good idea. Means that with the little extra effort you also know that the websites are serious about being searched, perhaps not just for link popularity. How did you create the bot...ive been looking to create one and know one seems to know?
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moshdj2uk posted this at 00:06 — 4th February 2007.
They have: 15 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
@benf: If using PHP, look into posting server headers, fopen() and regular expressions. It's far too complicated for me to give a tuorial on it here, but if you learn about those, you'll be more than half way there.
Sorry for digging this thread up again. Thank you all for the input. I've taken your advice and changed the site. Flaffle has now became a meta-search engine. I'd like feedback on the new direction.
Thanks.
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