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| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 10:00 #41346 | |
Ben86
126 posts |
It has been argued in the past that a number of members are posting repetitive questions in the forum without consulting the wiki or previous forum posts. Whilst I try to search existing topics as much as I can before posting a 'stupid' question, I don't always find this straight-forward. I believe John (Postal) began a topic on the subject fairly recently, but ironically I'm struggling to find it! I think it might be helpful if there were some advanced options in the search tool? At the moment there are options to search all words/any words/exact phrase and a couple of ordering options. It might also be helpful if we could search specific sections, posts by specific users, subject line only vs. entire topic etc. Also, the permitted search string length is reasonably short, so it's difficult to search more specifically than a couple of words. Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 11:59 #41348 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2084 posts |
Part of the issue could be with what users title their topic. John's topic is here http://www.SimSig.co.uk/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=18&id=34493&Itemid=0 but I would not have found it with the search function, I just happened to know the title so could go through the recent items list until it cropped up. If an ambiguous title is used in the topic, that would throw any search function out, and it is quite likely that the basic text within a topic could throw up all sorts of irrelevant data in addition to what you actually want to read. Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 12:33 #41350 | |
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Ben86
126 posts |
I agree with everything you've said, Stephen. It would certainly help if we all try to use a title that includes any key words relating to the topic, and post the message to the most appropriate board category. I still wonder whether the search function could be more powerful. Ben Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 12:37 #41351 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2084 posts |
There is always room for improvement in any search function - Google churns out a lot of rubbish sometimes.
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| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 13:06 #41354 | |
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AndyG
1842 posts |
Are we discussing the search function in the top right box, or the one on the 'Forum' tab?
I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either. Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 13:26 #41356 | |
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Ben86
126 posts |
Both- I think the top right box leads to the one on the 'Forum' tab with the extra ordering options?
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| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 17:15 #41364 | |
GeoffM
6377 posts |
There are some more advanced search functions available - I'll do a bit of, um, searching for a decent one.
SimSig Boss Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 18:50 #41367 | |
BarryM
2158 posts |
An FAQ may be helpful. Barry Barry, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 19:32 #41369 | |
postal
5265 posts 
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" said:An FAQ may be helpful.Like here? “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply The following user said thank you: BarryM |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 09/02/2013 at 19:33 #41370 | |
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postal
5265 posts
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" said:John's topic is here http://www.SimSig.co.uk/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=18&id=34493&Itemid=0.More of a rant than a topic. “In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 10/02/2013 at 04:19 #41382 | |
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alvinhochun
249 posts |
My understanding: The top-right search box is provided by Joomla, which should basically search everything except the wiki. On the top navigation bar, under "Forum" there is another "Search" function, which specifically searches the forum. Inside dokuwiki there is another search box, which specifically searches the wiki. IMHO the search function provided by Joomla isn't very good. Log in to reply |
| Improved Forum Search Function? 20/05/2013 at 12:25 #44916 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
Bit of a late reply to this topic, but here goes anyway.  Although most forum engines do their best to answer queries, IMO they all leave much to be desired. For example, another forum engine (I don't know about this one) refuses to search on words of fewer than three letters, even when within a phrase, to save time and space. On the other hand, Google and similar universal search engines are much more intelligent, so when I really get no matches for something that should be present, I use Google, IxQuick, Bing, DuckDuckGo, whatever, including the forum name in the search string. It's worth taking time out to read tutorials on how to get the best out of Google. Last edited: 20/05/2013 at 12:26 by maxand Log in to reply |