Implement Search Functionality for Q&A Board

[ChaitanyaGudimalla]

Estimated effort: Hard

Description:

As a student, I want to be able to search for specific questions or topics within the Q&A board, so that I can quickly find relevant information without having to scroll through all the posts.

Acceptance Criteria:

• The search functionality should be prominently displayed on the Q&A board interface, preferably at the top of the page.
• Users should be able to enter keywords or phrases into the search bar.
• Upon entering a search query, relevant posts matching the query should be displayed in a clear and organized manner.
• The search results should be sorted based on relevance to the query.
• Users should have the option to filter search results based on various criteria, such as date, relevance, or user.
• The search functionality should support both basic keyword searches and advanced search operators, such as AND, OR, and exact phrase matches.
• The search feature should support pagination or infinite scrolling to accommodate a large number of search results.
• The search functionality should be optimized for performance to ensure fast and efficient retrieval of search results.
• The search feature should include auto-suggestions to assist users in refining their search queries.

Dependencies

Integration with the existing frontend design of the Q&A board. Access to the backend database to retrieve and filter search results. Coordination with the development team to ensure seamless integration with the NodeBB project. Testing and validation of the search functionality across different environments and scenarios. Review and approval from project stakeholders before deployment to the production environment.

[Aishwaryasri15]

Initially, we might not have recognized the need to break down the implementation of the search functionality into smaller sub-tasks, so we created it as a single feature issue on GitHub. However, as we became occupied with other feature implementations, we realized that the search functionality could be a substantial task requiring time and resources. Consequently, we decided to plan its implementation as a stretch goal, allowing us to focus on higher-priority features initially.