Search
Search lets you find diary entries and authors across DearDiary.Net in near real-time. Whether you're looking for something you wrote years ago or want to explore what other people are writing about, Search makes it fast.
Where to find it
- Home page: a search widget is available on the homepage without needing to log in.
- Desktop/tablet: go to /search directly, or use the Search tab inside the Community card on your dashboard.
- Mobile: tap the Search icon in the bottom navigation bar.
Searching by keyword
Type one or more words into the Keywords field and press Enter or click Search. Results show matching diary entries with your search terms highlighted in the title and in a short excerpt from the entry body.
Each result card shows:
- Entry title (with highlighted matches)
- Diary name and author
- Entry date
- A short text preview (with highlighted matches)
- Privacy level of the entry
Searching by username
Enter a username (at least 3 characters) in the Username field to find diaries belonging to that author. You can combine this with a keyword search to find entries written by a specific person about a specific topic.
Search scope
If you are logged in, you can choose what to search:
- All public diaries — searches entries from everyone on the site (public entries only).
- My diaries — searches your own entries, including private ones.
Visitors who are not logged in can only search public entries.
Sorting results
For keyword searches you can change the order of results:
- Relevance (default) — best matches appear first.
- Newest first — most recently written entries at the top.
- Oldest first — earliest entries at the top.
Pagination
Results are shown 10 at a time. Use the previous/next buttons at the bottom of the results to page through them. Your search terms, scope, and current page are remembered if you navigate away and come back.