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About the Directories
The CityStar® directories, covering 300 cities, contain more than 96,320 website listings. When one uses CityStar's search pages, one is searching within that data set. If one wants to find websites in a specific city, simply click on one of the cities linked in the lower part of the page, or if the city is not listed on that page, click on the "select_different_city" button. If you cannot find what you need within CityStar's database, you may use CityStar's "web_search" page, which also gives you connections to other major search engines.
Home Page Features
On the every CityStar® directory home page, users can search by category or by keyword. By default, they will be searching all sites and listings in CityStar's database. If they are looking for something in another area, they can click on one of the other city links in the lower part of the page, or click on the "select_different_city" button, which allows them to select one of 4,905 cities with listings in the database.
Users may also select the maximum number of results they would like to be displayed per page. By default, a maximum of twenty results will be displayed per page. If more than one page of results is found by a search, there will be a "next_page" button displayed at the bottom of each results page.
When one selects a category, the "go!" button will automatically be pressed. When one enters a keyword, they will need to click on the the "go!" button to start a search.
If one wishes to search within a category for specific keywords, one should type the keyword first, then select the category, and once again the "go!" button will be automatically pressed.
Select a City
The "select_different_city" page allows one to select a city from a drop-down menu. Selecting a city from this menu, the "go!" button will automatically be pressed, and all of CityStar's indexed sites and listings related to the selected city will be found. As of May 23, 2010, more than 4,918 cities and towns are indexed in CityStar's database.
Web Search
The "web_search" page is powered by Google. This page allows one to search the entire Web, not just the 96,320 resources contained in the CityStar® directory database. The web_search page also links to other major search engines, for example, Yahoo!
Site Map
The "site_map" page is designed to help you find other resources contained in the CityStar® directory. The categories on the site_map page enable other search engines to more efficiently index the contents of the CityStar® directories.
Search by URL
The "search_by_url" page allows one to find all of CityStar's listings for a particular Website. This search form searches the URL (uniform resource locator) field in CityStar's database. This page is most useful to CityStar® directory advertisers and other Website owners.
When one uses the "search_by_url" page, one simply types a domain name, i.e. "mycompanyname.com" (without the quotes) into the search field and clicks on the "go!" button. Users should not put "http://" or even "www." in the input.
Order of Search Results
In every CityStar® directory, all resources are assigned a ranking called Page Status, a number from 0 to 10. Higher status listings are displayed above lower status listings. Resources are awarded Page Status for their class (i.e. Featured Listing, Basic Listing, public service listing etc.), and within each Page Status, resources are displayed in alphabetical order by name. Page Status is awarded as follows:
- 9.30 > Video Listing
- 8.00 > Featured Listing
- 7.00 > Basic Listing
- 6.90 > Flat Rate Listing (discontinued)
- 6.78 > QuickAdd Listing (discontinued)
- 6.00 > Public service listings
- 1.00 > Offline resource listings
Additional incremental Page Status is awarded for linking back to a CityStar® directory site, for purchasing online banner ads, and for purchasing listing enhancements. For example, a listed site that links back to a CityStar® directory is awarded 0.01 in additional Page Status.
Again, within a particular Page Status, the results are displayed in alphabetical order by name. The exception to these guidelines is in the "NEW!" category, where all resource listings are displayed strictly from newest to oldest.
For those who are curious about the technical functionality of the Page Status system, all of CityStar's listings are stored in a series of flat file databases in which the primary sort is Page Status, and the secondary sort is alphabetical by name. The Page Status system and individual resource status numbers are subject to change without notice, not affecting contracts currently in force.
