[Bug]: Empty state provides no guidance or diagnostics when no projects match search criteria

[deekshinowdu-collab]

What happened?

When a search query returns no matching projects, the results section displays a generic empty state message. It does not provide any diagnostic details or guidance on why the mismatch occurred (e.g., due to unsupported skills, interest categories, or restrictive time/level constraints).

Steps to reproduce

Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Go to the homepage.
2. Enter a skill not present in the dataset (e.g., 'Rust').
3. Submit the search.
4. Observe the generic "No projects found" message with no suggestion on what to adjust.

Expected behaviour

The empty state should dynamically display suggestions based on which input blocked the recommendation (e.g., "No projects match 'Rust'. Try Python, JavaScript, or HTML.").

Area of the app affected

Homepage form

Python version

3.11

Operating system

Windows 11 (Build 26200)

Relevant error output or logs

N/A — This is a usability/diagnostic suggestion feature bug, not a code crash, so no error logs are generated.

Before submitting

• I searched existing issues and this has not been reported before.
• I can reproduce this bug consistently with the steps above.
• I am running the latest version of the main branch.

[malikshahzaib7238]

Hi! I'd like to work on this issue. If no one else is currently assigned, I'll submit a PR.

[malikshahzaib7238]

I was unable to reproduce the bug.

[abhinavkhedwal4-maker]

/assign