Search problems

[DarkKobold]

Love the board....
 
One little problem... When I try and do searches of archives over 60 days old, it returns nothing. Don't know if thats cuz archives get pitched, or it saves bandwith, etc? I just would like the option to be able to search all the archives occasionally. Might help reduce the forum clutter too.

Also, would it be possible to make a "just show topic" on the search?  Just an Idea.

[Vol]

Just a tip, don't flame me if you already know:

When you click the advanced search link it clears the search edit field.  I've searched for nothing a few times because of this.

[tom61]

Yeah, search is busted. Single word searches work best in advanced mode. The board goes back actively to 2002, so past 60 days is not the problem.

[GamingGreg]

Yeah, search is busted. Single word searches work best in advanced mode. The board goes back actively to 2002, so past 60 days is not the problem.

Any ideas as to when we can use two or more words in a search?  Quite often I try to find something I know was discussed a couple of weeks ago, and I can't find it.  I can sometimes find it if I use a single word, but then I have to wade through a ton of stuff, and often I just can't find it.

I think that the info on this board is a "gold-mine"; it's filled with lots of good stuff.  However it just can't be "mined" sometimes.  I think people wouldn't be asking the same questions over and over again, if the info could be found easier.

Don't take me wrong, I LOVE this site.  I just wish the search worked better.

[saint]

The search function is not easy to use, but I can generally find what I'm looking for.  Give me an example of what you were searcing for (multi-word) and let me toy around with it to see if I come up with good results?

Yeah, search is busted. Single word searches work best in advanced mode. The board goes back actively to 2002, so past 60 days is not the problem.

Any ideas as to when we can use two or more words in a search?  Quite often I try to find something I know was discussed a couple of weeks ago, and I can't find it.  I can sometimes find it if I use a single word, but then I have to wade through a ton of stuff, and often I just can't find it.

I think that the info on this board is a "gold-mine"; it's filled with lots of good stuff.  However it just can't be "mined" sometimes.  I think people wouldn't be asking the same questions over and over again, if the info could be found easier.

Don't take me wrong, I LOVE this site.  I just wish the search worked better.

[OSCAR]

I've found that I pretty much always have to change the drop down list from "Search -ALL- members only" to "Any poster" to find what I am looking for.  Even when I am looking for something I know I posted, sometimes it won't turn up unless I change that box.

[GamingGreg]

Okay, here's one example.  A couple days ago I tried searching for some info on the on light gun with the ArcadeVGA card issue.  I remember the problem being discussed a few months back, but I couldn't remember the solution.  So I went to the advanced search and typed in "lightgun arcadevga" and changed the "Max age since last post" to 300, and the clicked "search".  I came up with no results.  I tried the same thing, but this time searching only the main and monitor forums, still nothing.  I eventually found my info by doing a one word search and then wading through lots of irrelevant posts.  That post BTW, did contain both of those words.

I tried this same search just now, and I only got one result (a post I made two days ago).  I still don't see the info from a few months ago come up.  Anyway this happens to me quite often, and I find myself trying different variations of the search, just to find something.  If it's fairly recent, I tend to use the "next page" thing and use my browser's word search.

Anyway that's my plight. (BTW, I also did try using "any poster" in my above search, and it made not difference in my case.)

[saint]

I just did that search and got 26 hits.  Here's the parameters I used. Compare to what you used?  

Search terms: "lightgun arcadevga" -- match all words
Selected: Main forum, monitor forum. -- search: all members only.
Fields to search: Subject, Message
Max age since last post: 999 days
Display how many results: 999

I got the same 26 hits with 300 days instead of 999 days.  

Is it possible you put the 300 in hours instead of the days field?

Please compare how I searched, try it, and see if the post you were looking for comes up?  

If that ends up being the problem I may change the search function to default to 999 days (still can change it) and delete the hours field altogether.

Thanks for testing!

--- saint

Okay, here's one example.  A couple days ago I tried searching for some info on the on light gun with the ArcadeVGA card issue.  I remember the problem being discussed a few months back, but I couldn't remember the solution.  So I went to the advanced search and typed in "lightgun arcadevga" and changed the "Max age since last post" to 300, and the clicked "search".  I came up with no results.  I tried the same thing, but this time searching only the main and monitor forums, still nothing.  I eventually found my info by doing a one word search and then wading through lots of irrelevant posts.  That post BTW, did contain both of those words.

I tried this same search just now, and I only got one result (a post I made two days ago).  I still don't see the info from a few months ago come up.  Anyway this happens to me quite often, and I find myself trying different variations of the search, just to find something.  If it's fairly recent, I tend to use the "next page" thing and use my browser's word search.

Anyway that's my plight. (BTW, I also did try using "any poster" in my above search, and it made not difference in my case.)

[GamingGreg]

Okay, when I tried it with your parameters, I got 26 hits as well.  I played with a few variations, it it appears it has something to do with the "Display how many results?" field.  If it's set to 50, I get one result, but if set to 999, I get 26 results.  If you can default, this field to 999, that could help.

Also, on the hours thing; I'm not sure anyone uses or cares about that.  Usually when I'm using the search, I'm looking for stuff older than a day.  That feature probably creates more confusion, than it helps.

[saint]

Ah, excellent feedback!  OK, I will go tinker ...

Okay, when I tried it with your parameters, I got 26 hits as well.  I played with a few variations, it it appears it has something to do with the "Display how many results?" field.  If it's set to 50, I get one result, but if set to 999, I get 26 results.  If you can default, this field to 999, that could help.

Also, on the hours thing; I'm not sure anyone uses or cares about that.  Usually when I'm using the search, I'm looking for stuff older than a day.  That feature probably creates more confusion, than it helps.