All about browsing and making quick and advanced searches online at WHSmith.
Did you know there are more than 2 million products in our range? To find the bestselling book, pen or gift you're looking for, follow these tips:
- Quick searches - know what to search for to get the product you want quickly
- Advanced searches - find specific or hard-to-find products with different search words and options
- Browsing - search product categories for the item you want
At the top of each page there's a search box - enter what you're looking for there, such as:
- title
- author/artist/actor
- publishers
- product codes (including ISBNs for books)
- brands, eg Parker, Moleskine
- product types, eg fountain pen
- words associated with the product, eg Dr Who
You can also re-order your searches by:
- price
- alphabetical order for title or author
- publishing date
- bestseller rank
Or narrow down the search results by:
- format (hardback, paperback, audio book or map)
- price band
Handy search tip: use an asterisk if you only know part of the title or author - so, for example, if you're not sure how to spell Solzhenitsyn, enter Solz*.
An advanced search is ideal if you can't find what you need with quick search or if you're looking for something very specific.
Can't find what you need using Quick Search
Try using Advanced Search. Here's how Books Advanced Search works:
You are looking for the Cliff's Notes guide to Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd...
- 1. type the book title into the quick search box, and you'll see 7 pages worth of results
- 2. go into one of the results
- 3. select the link Advanced Search above the search box and you'll be taken to a page with the following fields:
- Title
- Author/Narrator
- ISBN
- Publisher
- Series
- 4. narrow your search further by entering The Count of Monte Cristo in the Title box and John Wiley and Sons in the Publisher box and selecting Search
- 5. you'll see the product page for that particular book
Find a specific product using Advanced Search
Title, series and keywords
Not sure of the book's title? Just enter a keyword. For instance, enter Narnia into the Title box and you'll be shown all books related to The Chronicles of Narnia.
A series could be books like The Famous Five, James Bond or The Lord of the Rings. Enter the name in the Series box and select Search - if all the books you expect to see aren't there, just enter a book title in the Title box.
Author and narrator searches
The Advanced Search function is smart enough to find the author you're looking for, often without entering a full name.
Looking for Charles Dickens? Enter "Dickens" in the Author box. Want a book authored by 2 people? Use both names in the Author box.
ISBN and publisher searches
Every book is identified by a 10 or 13 digit code - an International Standard Book Number (ISBN).
If you know the ISBN of the book you're looking for you don't need any more information for the Advanced Search. Enter the code into the ISBN box and the search for your book is on.
Looking for books by one particular publisher? Enter the name of the publisher in the Publisher box. Eg, want books by Faber & Faber? Type Faber into the Publisher box and all available books from that publisher will be found.
Audio book searches
To find only talking books (on CD and cassette), select the Audio Books box. Then follow the process above to search by author or title.
Map searches
Enter the location map you're looking for in the Title box, eg "London" and select the Map format box.
Looking for a detailed Ordnance Survey Explorer map? Follow these steps:
- include the location in the Title box, eg "Peak District"
- enter "Ordnance Survey" in the Publisher field
- enter "Explorer" in the Series field
You can use other Advanced Search tools for other products:
If you're looking for a product in an area of interest, you can browse through our categories. Either search via the tabs at the top of the page, or follow these links:
See also: