Great Books - Search Engine Testing Platform

🎯 Project Purpose

This platform serves as a comprehensive testing ground for drop-in site search solutions and not API search engines (see more below). By using classic literature from Project Gutenberg as the content corpus, each subdomain contains identical content but implements a different site search solution, allowing for direct performance and feature comparison of easy-to-integrate search tools.

100

Classic Books

100

Blog Posts

~600

Words per Post

6

Site Search Solutions

📖 Content Details

Each subdomain contains carefully curated excerpts from 100 classic works sourced from Project Gutenberg, including masterpieces by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, and many others. Every excerpt is approximately 600 words, providing substantial content for search indexing while remaining digestible for readers.

The content spans multiple genres including:

Classic Novels: Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, Moby Dick, etc.
Adventure Tales: Around the World in Eighty Days, Treasure Island, etc.
Gothic Literature: Dracula, Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, etc.
Poetry & Drama: Works by Shakespeare, Blake, and other masters
Philosophy & Essays: Classic works of thought and reasoning

🔍 Search Engine Implementation Status

Project Focus: This project focuses on Drop-in Site Search solutions that can be easily integrated with minimal setup. API Search Engines require complex backend infrastructure, manual indexing, and extensive development work that is beyond the scope of this demonstration.

🎯 Drop-in Site Search (Project Focus)

Simple integration solutions that crawl or index your site automatically with minimal configuration.

Search Engine	Status	Features	Demo Link
Pagefind	✅ LIVE	Static search, instant results, highlighting	Test Now
Jasamba	✅ LIVE	Cloud-based search, real-time indexing	Test Now
Cludo	🚧 Coming Soon	AI-powered search, personalization	—
AddSearch	🚧 Coming Soon	Crawler-based, easy integration	—
Site Search 360	🚧 Coming Soon	Visual search, advanced filters	—
Lunr.js	🚧 Coming Soon	Client-side search, offline capability	—

🔧 API Search Engines (Beyond Project Scope)

Powerful but complex solutions requiring backend development, API integration, and manual content indexing.

Search Engine	Type	Complexity	Notes
Algolia	SaaS API	High	Requires API integration, manual indexing
Meilisearch	Self-hosted API	High	Open source, requires server setup
Typesense	Self-hosted API	High	Open source alternative to Algolia
Elasticsearch	Self-hosted API	Very High	Enterprise-grade, complex infrastructure
Apache Solr	Self-hosted API	Very High	Java-based, enterprise search platform
OpenSearch	Self-hosted API	Very High	AWS fork of Elasticsearch

🛠️ Technical Architecture

Each search engine implementation runs on its own subdomain with identical content, enabling direct feature and performance comparisons. The architecture includes:

Static Site Generation: Hugo with custom themes per search solution
Content Management: Automated post generation from Project Gutenberg sources
Deployment: Automated scripts for consistent deployment across all subdomains
SSL/TLS: Wildcard certificates for secure browsing across all implementations

📊 Comparison Metrics

Each implementation will be evaluated on:

Search Speed: Time to return results
Relevance: Quality of search result ranking
Features: Advanced search capabilities (filters, facets, etc.)
User Experience: Interface design and usability
Setup Complexity: Implementation difficulty and maintenance
Cost: Pricing models and scalability economics

⚠️ Important Disclaimer

ACADEMIC LEARNING PROJECT - NOT AN OFFICIAL REVIEW OR ENDORSEMENT

This platform is solely intended as a personal learning endeavor and academic exercise in search technology comparison. The author makes NO CLAIMS regarding:

The accuracy, completeness, or validity of any comparisons or observations
The optimal configuration or implementation of any search engine
The performance characteristics under production conditions
The suitability of any search solution for commercial or production use
The comprehensive evaluation of all features, settings, or capabilities

THIS IS NOT:

An official review, evaluation, or benchmarking study
A recommendation or endorsement of any search engine or service
A comprehensive technical analysis or professional assessment
Suitable for making business or technical decisions

LIMITATIONS & DISCLAIMERS:

The author acknowledges limited expertise and incomplete understanding of the full feature sets, optimal configurations, and capabilities of the search engines tested
Testing may not reflect real-world usage patterns, scale, or performance requirements
Results should not be considered representative of performance under different conditions, configurations, or use cases
No warranty, guarantee, or assurance is provided regarding the accuracy of any information presented

USERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO:

Conduct their own thorough evaluation and testing
Consult official documentation and support channels
Engage qualified professionals for production implementations
Not rely on this project for any critical decisions

By accessing this platform, you acknowledge that this is an informal, educational project with no commercial intent, professional authority, or claim to comprehensive technical expertise. The author disclaims all responsibility for any decisions made based on information presented herein.

📚 GRRREAT BOOKS