Sitewide vs Resource search
The Resource Hub search currently shows resources from the last three years. The sitewide search in the main navigation searches across different content types and includes older results. The two searches therefore return different sets of results for the same keyword.
#How the searches differ
| Search | Where to find it | What it searches | Date restriction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource search | The keyword field in Our Library / Resource Hub | Resources, narrowed by any selected resource filters | Currently limited to the last three years |
| Sitewide search | The search button in the main navigation | Public content of various types, including resources, news, and pages | Includes older content; does not use the Resource Hub's three-year restriction |
| WordPress admin search | The relevant content list in the control panel | Records in that admin list, subject to its selected status and filters | Does not necessarily use the public Resource Hub's date restriction |
The three-year restriction is the current configuration recorded in the supplied support notes. The exact date field and cutoff calculation need to be checked in the WordPress implementation if a resource near the boundary is being investigated.
Resource Hub search
Use the Resource Hub to find recent publications. Its keyword field works alongside filters for category, resource type, country, region, and language. A selected filter can narrow the results further.
The keyword form submits a search parameter on the resources page, for example resources/?search=voluntourism. Use Reset filter before comparing results with someone else, then enter the same keyword and compare the resulting URLs.
Sitewide search
Use the main navigation search when looking for older resources or material elsewhere on the website. It submits WordPress's s parameter, for example the sitewide search for voluntourism.
The broader content types and date range mean its results should not be treated as a count of matching Resource Hub publications. A similar-looking results layout does not mean the two searches use the same scope.
Why “voluntourism” showed different counts
The original query reported three Resource Hub results for one colleague, one for another, and nine resources in WordPress admin. These are reported observations, rather than fixed expected totals.
The Resource Hub's three-year limit explains why older matching resources can appear in admin or sitewide search but be absent from the Hub. It does not, by itself, explain two people seeing different Hub counts at the same time.
For a useful comparison:
- Open the Resource Hub and reset its filters.
- Search for the same keyword and compare the complete URLs, including filter parameters.
- Compare the publication dates of missing resources against the current three-year restriction.
- If the same URL still produces different results, record the time and missing resource links, then check whether a stale cached page is involved.
- In WordPress admin, check each resource's publication status and the filters selected in the admin list.
A public check on 16 October 2026 returned one Resource Hub result for voluntourism. This confirms the one-result observation at the time of the check; it does not establish the cause of the earlier three-result observation or independently verify the nine admin records.
Capitalisation and keyword matching
For the term tested on 16 October 2026, capitalisation made no difference: voluntourism and VOLUNTOURISM returned the same result set in both Resource search and sitewide search. Changing letter case is therefore unlikely to explain this particular discrepancy.
This check does not establish matching rules for every language, accent, spelling variation, or phrase. The exact fields searched, handling of multiple words, and indexing of text inside attached PDFs need confirmation in the WordPress search implementation before making promises about those behaviours.