Yahoo! Search, Tips and Tricks

Well after the Google Search tips here is the just another tips and tricks for the Internet's 2nd largest search giant, Yahoo!. OK the list starts.

Choose Words Carefully
Use specific words to describe exactly what you're looking for. More general terms give a larger number of results, so try to narrow your search.
For example:
* Try 19th century chairs instead of old furniture
* Use digital camera reviews instead of electronics
Watch for words with more than one meaning. If you're looking for information on modeling, make sure you specify "fashion" or "clay."

Phrase Search
When you want the results with the exact phrase then you can simply use quotation marks around your search terms. Example: "the rose bud"

Including Words
To include words, just type a plus sign + in front of each one. For example, if you want to see pages about the latest "in thing," search for +in thing.

Excluding Words
To exclude words, type a minus sign - in front of them. No pages containing those words show up in your results. For example, if you want to see pages about dogs with no mention of poodles, search for "dogs -poodles."

'OR'
It shows results with either of the given words, like Pen OR book.

site: Use to find all documents within a particular domain and all its subdomains.
Example: football site:yahoo.com

hostname: Use to find all documents from a particular host only.
Example: ford hostname:autos.yahoo.com

link: Use to find documents that link to a particular URL.
Example: link:http://autos.yahoo.com/

url: Use to find a specific document in our index.
Example: url:http://edit.autos.yahoo.com/repair/tree/0.html

inurl: Use to find a specific keyword as part of indexed URLs.
Example: inurl:bulgarian

intitle: Use to find a specific keyword as part of the indexed titles.
Example: intitle:Bulgarian

'orginurlextension'
To search on specific file types, add ‘originurlextension:[file format]‘ after your search query. For example: nanotechnology originurlextension:swf OR nanotechnology originurlextension:pdf Some of the supported formats are:
* .htm, .html—Standard HTML
* .pdf—Adobe PDF
* .xls—Microsoft Excel
* .ppt—Microsoft PowerPoint
* .doc—Microsoft Word
* .xml, .rdf, .rss—RSS or XML feeds
* .txt—Plain Text Format

Definitions & Synonyms
To look up the definition of a word, try adding “define” or “definition” to your search term. For example: quixotic definition, definition of globalization or define ergonomics Or, if you’re looking for a synonym, try adding “synonym” to your search term. For example: humorous synonym

Flight tracker — search for the airline and flight number and you’ll get a shortcut to the flight’s status. Try: American 83 or Lufthansa 421

Traffic — if you’re driving instead of flying, you can search for traffic before you leave. Example: traffic Los Angeles Click on the shortcut and you’ll get a map with traffic alerts.

Maps — try searching for the exact address: ‘1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC.’ Don’t have the address? No problem. Add “map” before the city: map San Francisco You can also search for the zip code by itself: 20502

Yahoo! Open Shortcuts
Yahoo! Open Shortcuts are the ultimate time-saving search feature. Add an exclamation point to the front of certain terms to instantly navigate to a URL, search a site, recall a favorite Yahoo! search, or start an application.
!wiki queen elizabeth takes you directly to the Wikipedia page for Queen Elizabeth.
!wsf gives you the Yahoo! Search results for weather San Francisco
!ebay lamps searches eBay for lamps.
Search for !list to see a bunch more.

Hotels
Type city hotels to get a quick list of hotels in that city, along with the Yahoo Local rating, the base rate, and a link to check availability. You can also look for a specific hotel chain by typing city chain--for example, San Francisco Ramada.

Sports scores
Find out how your favorite pro team is doing by typing team mascot scores. You'll get a quick look at recent games, and sometimes you can see who they're playing in the next game. The query 49ers scores will give you information about the San Francisco 49ers football team.

Movie showtimes
To see when movies are playing in your area, type showtimes zip code, and you'll get links to local theater showtimes and a few showtimes for current movies.

Zip codes
You can find all of the zip codes for a city by typing zip code city.

Area codes
If you're not sure where someone is calling from, try typing the three-digit area code into Yahoo Search. Yahoo will return a list of cities in that area code.

Weather
For a quick look at the current weather for any city, type city weather. Yahoo will give you the current conditions and the expected high and low temperatures.

Preferences
Last but not the least the preferences will really help you to search with the options for your search to choose from.