Forum SEARCH facility

[Derek Uzzell]

There has been an increasing number of complaints that the forum SEARCH facility "won't work".

 

This is essentially because the quantity of data now held on the various forums is too much for the SEARCH facility to handle if you attempt a general 'search everything' interrogation.

 

For example, if you are looking for earlier threads that, say, mention Thetford products and just enter "Thetford" in the Keywords box, with no author or Date-limit restriction, the Search will fail. If you restrict the Search by entering "Derek Uzzell" in the Filter by Author box, or by entering "One week" in the Date limit box, then the Search will work.

 

As a rule of thumb, if you don't see a rapid reaction on your computer's screen after you've clicked on the Search's Submit-button, then the Search is going to fail. When the Search fails a message is automatically returned that the webmaster has been contacted - this message should be treated with derision!

 

The only way I can get the SEARCH facility to work effectively across all forums and back to 2005, is to search by keyword and/or author. Unfortunately, this technique demands an in-depth knowledge of what's on the forum and a good memory.

 

There's a reasonable chance that, if you are attempting a general Search on a 'popular' subject and you enter "Derek Uzzell" in the Filter by Author box, you'll retrieve what you want. This is simply because, over time, I've posted lots of stuff on heaters, tyres, toilets, gas, etc. If that doesn't retrieve what you were looking for, then try entering the User Name of another forum 'stalwart'.

[johngee]

Try this in Google as a workround:

whatever site:outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums

where whatever is your search term

You will get 706 results for thetford. For more options see Google Advanced search

[Vernon B]

johngee - 2009-08-28 9:43 AM

Try this in Google as a workround:

whatever site:outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums

where whatever is your search term

You will get 706 results for thetford. For more options see Google Advanced search

Thanks johngee you're a star I put a 'van manufacturer'e name in and just got 860 hits. Your work round should be given more prominence hereThanks againV

[Derek Uzzell]

V

 

Using GOOGLE Advanced Search for forum-searching has been mentioned several times previously on this forum. It's usually been suggested for searching sites (like MotorHomeFacts) that deny Search facilities to non-subscribers. It can be a handy tool, but shouldn't really be needed when a website purports to offer its own search capability. The GOOGLE-search results will be unstructured and, if there are lots of them, you'll have a hell of a job sorting the wheat from the chaff.