Order Header Search results by relevance

Stemming from this discussion of the Header Search.

I would like to see the header search results sorted. I agree with @bazwal:

As an example, if I search for tamias, I want results for tamias first, results for neotamias next, and results for tamiamiensis last.

(going through old topics* with no replies)

Has the sort order changed since you made the request? For the most part, I’m seeing tamias first, results for neotamias next, and results for tamiamiensis last. The latter is on page 4. https://www.inaturalist.org/search?&q=tamias Though Tamias striatus subspecies are lower down because they have few observations.

Is the question about whether the Tamias results have changed or whether the search algorithm has changed? The Tamias results have probably changed due to changing observation counts, but the crux of the problem remains: I would like to see exact matches before partial matches before fuzzy matches. Even better would be to allow exact match searching too.

Another example, with screenshot for posterity:

The search is for genetta. The second taxon is matching on the French common name genêt à balai, the fourth is matching on the German common name Genetzte Ackerschnecke. Neither one is an exact match, but they’re ranked ahead of Genetta genetta, and I can’t even see from the results page what they matched on.

Related suggestion for ordering results when filling in a taxon for an ID:

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