Why this blog post?

Often when I add a search function to a Drupal website using Apache Solr, I'm amazed at how complex some people think this is. Many developers/site builders are of the belief that this is some kind of very-hard-to-master black art. They could not be more wrong.

So what I want to contribute back to the Drupal community is an understanding of how Solr works, why/how it differs from Drupal Core Search module, and the benefits Solr has over core search.

Annertech was very privileged to have the opportunity to work on such an exciting project as the “Inspiring Ireland” website which was funded by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and coordinated by the Royal Irish Academy. This first phase project is a pilot which marks the beginnings of a much larger programme to digitise, preserve, and share Ireland’s culture for public viewing, educational use and scholarly research.