By defining a list of synonyms, you can increase the effectiveness of a search by grouping similar words together as a single result. For example, you define movie, video, and avi as synonyms. If a user searches for one of those terms, a match will be scored if any of the three are found in a document.

To add these definitions, you’ll need to perform an override on a file called synonyms.xml, located by default in the ePublisher Designer installation directory here:

  \Formats\WebWorks Help 5.0\Files\wwhdata\common

Once the file is copied to the correct location in your project directory, open it in any text- or XML-editing application (e.g., NotePad), and add entries to the <WebWorksSynonyms> section. For example, your synonyms might look like this:

  <WebWorksSynonyms>
   <Word value="movie">
    <Synonym value="avi" />
    <Synonym value="video" />
   </Word>
   <Word value="picture">
    <Synonym value="image" />
    <Synonym value="graphic" />
    <Synonym value="photo" />
   </Word>
  </WebWorksSynonyms>

Please note that the Synonyms feature does not recognize multiple word values or synonyms. And, it ignores words (and synonyms) of 2 letters or less. Also, its search logic is quite literal. That is, it finds only what you type, and only if the exact form is in the text. For example, it does not find plurals or phrases, and it even includes punctuation.