- When you enter search terms using the box in the upper right corner of any of the sites listed below, the results from all 6 VPR websites are aggregated into a single stream of results pages.
- Searching all the sites listed below is the default behavior. No matter which of the six sites you do the search from, it will return results from all six sites.
- To limit the search to just the site you are on: Do a search, and when you have a results page you will see a checkbox that says "This Site Only". If you tick that checkbox then click search again it will display only results from the site you are on.
If you need to find items on a site other than the one you are on, you will need to go to that site and do a search from there, using the checkbox that says "This Site Only".
- Search will also look inside PDF and DOCX (Word) files and return the URL for any file containing matches to your search term.
How to enter your search terms
Case Insensitive
- The new search engine is case insensitive, which means that it doesn’t matter if you type, for example: “compliance”, “Compliance”, “cOMPLIance” or “COMPLIANCE”. They will all return the same results.
Multiple word terms and hyphenated terms
- To do an exact match on a multiple word term, hyphenated term or phrase, put quotes around the entire phrase. Note that dashes are considered the same as spaces, so put quotes around terms that are hyphenated.
Examples:
“allocation rates”, “key person”, “federal terms”, “sponsor-approved”, "under-recovery" - Leaving off the quotes will find every page that uses either one of the terms. For example, putting in uniform guidance without quotes will find every page or document that contains uniform and every page or document that contains guidance.
Search Operators and Conventions
Wildcard “*” – This works as it does in most search engines. The * may represent any number of characters.
The * can be placed at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the word you are searching.
Examples:
- alloc* finds any word starting with alloc
- *ternal finds internal, external, eternal, fraternal, etc
- exp*n finds expiration, exploration, experimentation, expansion
Boosting search terms (^)
Doing a boosted search may be helpful, but should be used in conjunction with a normal search.
The boost “^” operator can be used to elevate the more relevant term of a two word search in the rankings. Boost values range from 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest boost. Do not put quotes around the two terms. The search will find every page where one of those terms appears, but should list first in the results the pages where the boosted term appears.
Example:
If you want the term "export" to be more relevant boost it using the ^ symbol along with the boost factor next to the term. Compare results for these searches.
- export^5 shipping vs export shipping
- fabricated^4 equipment vs fabricated^4 equipment
Updated July 11, 2025