Getting started#

Sign in#

Searpa requires an account, there is no anonymous search. The account itself, though, can be anonymous: only a username and password are needed, no email or personal details are required (an email is optional, and only for password reset, see Your account). On the hosted service, accounts are invite-only during the alpha; on a self-hosted instance the administrator creates them.

1. Go to your Searpa instance (the hosted service is at searpa.eu).
2. Click Sign in and enter your username and password.
3. You land on the search home page.

If you forget your password and added an email to your account, use the Forgot password? link to reset it. Without an email on file a lost password cannot be recovered, see Your account.

Your first search#

Type a query into the search box and press Enter. Searpa queries every enabled engine at once, merges the results and shows them on a single page. As you type, autocomplete suggestions appear; pick one with the arrow keys or keep typing.

A results page can show several things at once:

• An instant answer at the very top for utility queries (2+2, weather in Paris, 100 usd to eur).
• The web results, blended from your enabled engines.
• One or more knowledge cards to the side for well-known subjects (a person, a film, a place).

The search tabs#

Across the top of the results you’ll find tabs. Each runs the same query against a different kind of source:

Tabs only appear when the instance has the relevant provider configured. See Search tabs for what each one does.

Make it yours#

Open Settings (from the home page or the menu) to choose which engines to use, set your interface and search languages, pick a light or dark theme, and turn individual data sources on or off. Your settings sync to your account and follow you to any device you sign in on, see Settings.

Keyboard tip: start any query with a bang like !w (Wikipedia) or !images to jump straight to another site or tab.