This was spawned off from an existing thread:
https://feedback.mountaineers.org/forums/273688-general-feedback/suggestions/37230223-integrate-fuzzy-logic-to-text-search-gh2837

It was clear that "fuzzy search" as implemented there did not translate into a good people search experience.

BACKGROUND

Currently, the only way to search for members (contacts) is through the sitewide search mechanism. While we have dedicated search pages for "Find Activities", "Find Routes & Places" and "Find Courses, Clinics & Seminars", we have no such dedicated page for finding members. Your options are to either find them on some roster you have access to or to rely on the sitewide search.

The problem is that the general sitewide search is not tuned to finding people, and when applied in this use case, it does a terrible job unless you get the member's name (first and last) EXACTLY right.

Examples:
"Travis Prescot" Finds ZERO hits, even though the most logical result should be "Travis Prescott"
https://www.mountaineers.org/search#SearchableText=Travis+Prescot&b_start=0&type=mtneers.contact

"Danielle G" returns a whole lot of "Dan"s and "Daniel"s, most of which don't have a last name starting with G, and few "Danielle"s.
https://www.mountaineers.org/search#SearchableText=Danielle+G&b_start=0&type=mtneers.contact

This can be improved by putting a wildcard after the G
"Danielle G" still returns a bunch of "Dan"s and "Daniel"s but more "Danielle"s and at least most of the last names actually start with G! However, the average user of the website is NOT going to know how to use wildcards in search, so this is not a workable solution.
https://www.mountaineers.org/search#SearchableText=Danielle+G&b_start=0&type=mtneers.contact

And finally, an exact search for "Danielle Graham" returns me two results, both with this name, but the top search result has no information whatsoever.
https://www.mountaineers.org/search#SearchableText=Danielle+Graham&b_start=0&type=mtneers.contact

Bottom line, all of these non-exact search results are awful, and the exact search result could be improved.

REQUEST

Please add a "Find Members" search page that is tuned, optimized and tailored to finding members.

Assume wildcards--we should never force users to put them (it's a techy trick that is not intuitive to regular users). That means if I put "Daniell" it should match "Danielle" but NOT "Dan", "Daniel" or anything else.

In terms of the number of actual search fields, one is ideal, but only if it actually produces good results. If it doesn't then consider having multiple search fields:

• First Name
• Last Name
• Email
• Username

Right now the general search field works for email and username ONLY if they are exact (otherwise it turns up nothing) but has serious problems generating rational results with a single search for first and last name.

Since the search is specific to people, it should have facets relevant to finding people.

• Checkbox for "Show expired members" (should default to off)
• Checkbox for "Show guest members" (default to on?)
• Multicheckbox for Branch affiliation
• Committee Affiliation ("tag" style field where you type and it autocomplets)