If you’ve given up using the search engine on LDS.org, it’s time to try it again.

The search function has been overhauled with a new design, but more importantly, it has new search technology powered by Google. It has also been fine-tuned to understand word usage unique to the Church. For example, it recognizes that the word friend is also a magazine and that Monson refers to the prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.

All Church Websites

The search engine now searches not only LDS.org, but also the content on more than 20 other Church websites, such as Mormon.org, MormonNewsroom.org, and  JosephSmithPapers.org. This represents a huge amount of content. LDS.org is the world’s largest religious website with over a hundred thousand web pages and millions of files in its library of general conference, magazines, manuals, and other publications in up to 180 languages. LDS.org is visited by 32 million unique visitors looking at 735 million pages annually.

Multiple Search Options

The search box appears at the top of every page on LDS.org. You can also go directly to search.lds.org.

If you know that the content you’re searching is from general conference, you can either include the words “general conference” in the search bar, select General Conference from the list of categories on the left of the search results page, or go to the general conference page (conference.lds.org) and use the search box there.

Organized by Categories

A new feature of LDS.org search not typically found with other search engines is the grouping of results into categories: general conference, broadcasts, magazines, manuals, images, videos, scriptures, music, news and events, gospel topics, Church websites, and people.

On the search results page, the first few results from each category appear in separate boxes. At the top is a box labeled Top Results. Following that, you’ll see boxes labeled Magazines, General Conference, etc. If you want to see more results in any of these categories, click the link at the bottom of the appropriate box, such as All results from Top Results or All results from Magazines.

You may also simply click a category listed on the left side of the page and the results will be filtered. For example, click the category General Conference to see just the results from conference. Click the category Images and you’ll see just the pictures that relate to the word(s) you searched.

Images in Results

Some search results include an image, which provides a visual cue to the content, making it easier for you to quickly spot the content you’re looking for. For example, filter your results to the category Magazines, and you’ll see the magazine cover images with each search result.

Auto-Complete

One helpful feature Google users will recognize is auto-complete.

As you begin to type, the search box automatically suggests phrases that other people have frequently entered. Just select one of these options to narrow down your search, or continue typing any word or phrase you want.

Built-In Advanced Search Features

One feature you will not see is the old Advanced Search. That is because many of the advanced search functions are now built in to the basic search functions.

For example, if you want to find articles by President Thomas S. Monson on faith published in the Ensign magazine during 2012, simply enter the words “monson faith ensign 2012″ into the search box.

If you are a serious researcher, you may still miss some of the advanced search functions, such as date ranges, but these features may be included in future releases of LDS.org search.

Safe

The LDS.org search is safe because it only provides links to Church-approved content from LDS.org and other Church websites. Even though Google’s technology is used, no user information is provided back to Google.

Help with Search

Below are 4 videos from the search help page. You can reach this help page by clicking Search Tips on the search results page, then click Read More.

Learn more in the article “New LDS.org Search Harnesses Power of Google” at news.lds.org.