Searchpath
Today I’m happy to announce my new web app: Searchpath. It’s search for your web site or blog with an innovative “popover” UI. Simple, fast. With better control of your search results, and no need to link to Google or show ads to your readers.
First, I have to admire anyone who tries to take on Google in search.
Searchpath is $8/month compared with $100/year for the ad-free Google Site Search, which I’ve been happily using for C-Command. (On this site, I’m currently using the version with ads.) On the whole, I like the Google results better, since they show the URLs and can fill the whole window. Searchpath is less configurable but easier to set up. I have a test page here.
After a few days, Searchpath seems to have stopped indexing my sites. It’s indexed only 191 pages (out of about 3,400 posts) on my blog; and 2,591 pages for C-Command, compared with 22,800 that Google found (many of them forum posts).
Also of note:
Searchpath doesn’t have passwords. Instead, your account is kept signed in for up to 6 months or until you sign out. By sending you a quick email, we can confirm your account and sign you in securely, without ever needing to remember a password.
I thought this would be handy because I would be able to bookmark the special links for my two sites and easily switch between them. However, it turns out that once you log out the link becomes useless. You have to request another e-mail with a new sign-in link, and sometimes it doesn’t arrive right away.
Of course, this is just 1.0. I will be watching Searchpath’s development with interest.
