Searching These Forums

Started by glenn kangiser, January 12, 2008, 12:27:52 AM

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glenn kangiser

I should point out that I have recently found that the search functions on this forum, while they work great don't all search the same thing.

There are three search functions on this page, all different.  Top right searches this forum I think.

Top left is the Google search if I recall correctly, and bottom left is full forum search.  If that doesn't work out go to the general or Countryplans design build page and search.

Just stuff I have found from off the top of my head.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

MountainDon

More on the forum search functions.



Number 1 is what I call the SIMPLE FORUM search. Enter something in the field and click the search button to the right.

Number 1a Clicking on the magnifying glass symbol brings up the ADVANCED FORUM search. This is the same as clicking on the search TAB, which is described under Number 3.

Number 2 takes you to the Google powered search on the Country Plans main site, not the forum. From there you can select to perform either a Web search or a Country Plans search. Selecting a Web search from there is much like a search from Google's own main page, but I believe it's not as diverse a result. Selecting to search Country Plans is great for searching topics on the Country Plans main site. It may bring up some forum results, but only if the search terms have been crawled and registered by the Google site indexing robots.

Number 3. This is my favorite for searching the Country Plans Forum topics. Remember this is the same as mentioned under Number 1a. This selection searches all the forum topics, all the forum messages on the current SMF forum. There are several nice things about this search function.

* Limit the search to a certain time period. I find this especially handy when I know what I'm looking for was made within the past X number of days. It cuts down on the number of results to wade through.

* Limit the search by user. If you know what you're looking for was posted by a particular user, enter that user ID in that field. (The  *  means search all users.) The important thing to remember here is that as simple an error as leaving out the space between John and Raabe will prevent that user from being found.

* I also like the ability to leave some topics out from the search, or only select one particular topic. Again it can cut down on extraneous results.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


glenn kangiser

I think the number one may only search the current forum and not the others -- I didn't spend a lot of time on it as I go straight to number three.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.