Show short entries first in search results to improve UX

api/funkwhale_api/common/utils.py

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from urllib.parse import parse_qs, urlencode, urlsplit, urlunsplit
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django import urls
-from django.db import transaction
+from django.db import models, transaction
 
 
 def rename_file(instance, field_name, new_name, allow_missing_file=False):
@@ -139,3 +139,11 @@ def parse_meta(html):
     meta = [elem for elem in tree.iter() if elem.tag in ["meta", "link"]]
 
     return [dict([("tag", elem.tag)] + list(elem.items())) for elem in meta]
+
+
+def order_for_search(qs, field):
+    """
+    When searching, it's often more useful to have short results first,
+    this function will order the given qs based on the length of the given field
+    """
+    return qs.annotate(__size=models.functions.Length(field)).order_by("__size")

api/funkwhale_api/music/views.py

@@ -448,28 +448,29 @@ class Search(views.APIView):
             "artist__name__unaccent",
         ]
         query_obj = utils.get_query(query, search_fields)
-        return (
+        qs = (
             models.Track.objects.all()
             .filter(query_obj)
             .select_related("artist", "album__artist")
-        )[: self.max_results]
+        )
+        return common_utils.order_for_search(qs, "title")[: self.max_results]
 
     def get_albums(self, query):
         search_fields = ["mbid", "title__unaccent", "artist__name__unaccent"]
         query_obj = utils.get_query(query, search_fields)
-        return (
+        qs = (
             models.Album.objects.all()
             .filter(query_obj)
             .select_related()
-            .prefetch_related("tracks")
+            .prefetch_related("tracks__artist")
-        )[: self.max_results]
+        )
+        return common_utils.order_for_search(qs, "title")[: self.max_results]
 
     def get_artists(self, query):
         search_fields = ["mbid", "name__unaccent"]
         query_obj = utils.get_query(query, search_fields)
-        return (models.Artist.objects.all().filter(query_obj).with_albums())[
+        qs = models.Artist.objects.all().filter(query_obj).with_albums()
-            : self.max_results
+        return common_utils.order_for_search(qs, "name")[: self.max_results]
-        ]
 
     def get_tags(self, query):
         search_fields = ["slug", "name__unaccent"]

changes/changelog.d/searchorder.enhancement

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Show short entries first in search results to improve UX