why don`t people use the SEARCH facility

16011996

Penelope_Penguin wrote:

If you use the *advanced search*, search *titles only* and put in *freeze milk* you get 3 threads, none of which is quite right. Put just *milk* into the title search and you get several threads, and easily find the answer you need. It's not difficult.

By not using the search facility, we clog up the time of the board guides, who have better things to do.

Penny. x

i agree, and i try to use the index as much as possible also, just sometimes it doesn't always work. i like your tip about doing the advanced search. it'd be ideal if we could have a sticky thread with tips on how to search on, i've been here ages and didn't know, so newbies etc must struggle too.

jillie1974

i stopped using ita while ago as everytime it brought up irrelevant topics or nothign at all!!
eg- i know there is an argos board but couldnt find it tried the search and nothing nada!!
had to wait for someone to post to find it!! same with stardrops have seen the thread but on search it didnt exist!
needs to be better!

Pink.

Agutka wrote:

Just 'cos you guys know EVERYTHING...

Now what happens if you type in popular words like milk and freeze into the search box? Ten minutes later you get shown a million threads, esp the daily ones which are not really readable at speed... So there

Hi Agutka,


I'll try to explain how I use it.

First I try to guess what board I'm most likely to find a result on and go to that board and use the 'search this forum' box to the top right of the board (as shown in sra's guide). That narrows down the search as it only searches that particular board and not the whole site.


If that throws up too many results I do the same, but opt for the Advanced search and use the 'Search Titles Only' option.


Some tips:

If searching for key words, I use the + sign and no spaces in between, eg store+potatoes.

If it's a phrase that you're looking for it sometimes helps to add quotation marks around the phrase eg "freeze cheese".



The search facility is far from perfect...

It seems to prefer search words typed in lower case.

It will not search for words of less than three characters. In that case you need to add an asterisk to the beginning and/or end of the word you are looking for as a wild card, eg *jam*

Also the wildcard helps for words like freeze/freezer/freezing...just type freez*+whatever else you are looking for.



This post by squeaky and this one by sra might explain more clearly than I have done. I hope this helps a bit.

Pink

mel_anthe

more often than not I can't find exactly what I'm looking for using the search facility either. Maybe I'm doing something wrong

I often think twice about posting to ask questions though as I'm worried that people will say 'but why didn't you just search'

Pink.

mel_anthe wrote:

more often than not I can't find exactly what I'm looking for using the search facility either. Maybe I'm doing something wrong

I often think twice about posting to ask questions though as I'm worried that people will say 'but why didn't you just search'

I hope no one on Old Style would ever say that.

If I see a thread and know there is another similar one I'll link to it or if it's asking exactly the same question, I'll often merge them together as it does help people who are searching to find the replies in one thread.

Please don't ever think twice about posting.

Pink

grade15

it would make life tooo easy!!! :dance:

squeaky

Hi all,

Yes, we know that the search facility can be problematical and it is very much why we are encouraging indexing.

Indexes contain nicely sorted and grouped collection of links, and the link names are what the thread is about and not just what it is called - which is very helpful.

It really does pay, even though not all the indexes are up to date, to make use of them. They're pretty comprehensive if you are looking for a subject in general, and quite good on specifics. They just don't contain the very latest posts - for which you'll still have to try a search.

To quote an earlier post by "somebody"...

It's always worth checking the MEGA first - most common subjects are listed among the THREE THOUSAND LINKS IN THERE! Harumph!

domestic_goddess

Pink-winged wrote:

I hope no one on Old Style would ever say that.

Isn't thay exactly what this whole thread is saying though. I think a lot of people will be put off posting questions in case they are 'told off'

Dont get me wrong I think we all need to know to search first and ask later and the mega indexed threads are fantastic for finding lots of things but I have used the search system loads and it doesn't always come up with what you are looking for. For example when I put sourdough or sour dough ino the advanced search system under titles only search, nothing comes up. If you do the search on whole posts rather than just titles it brings up loads including ones with the word in the titles so there are obviously flaws with it it is not just a case of 'blaming the system!!'

BTW Pink, Thanks for your tips they should make searching easier

lil_me

Got to agree with you there, when I first started using the board I even had PMs when I posted things saying 'use the search facility that is what it is there for'. To some that would put them off using the forum. I have found better ways of searching but sometimes I can't find what I am looking for at all. Sometimes I find it's better that people start a new topic, if we just used all the old ones there would be no new ideas etc.

squeaky

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

Isn't thay exactly what this whole thread is saying though. I think a lot of people will be put off posting questions in case they are 'told off'

I've read back and yes, it's true to say that there has been some criticism about members not making best use of the admittedly poor search facility.

But we Board Guides for sure know about its limitations all too well, which is why we never tell people off.

First because it's not "be kind to all moneysavers".

Second because we know the search can be a pain. It drives us NUTS.

Third because we know that new members get swamped by the huge amount of information here and it take time to find your feet.

Fourth because new posters are often not just new to Old Style but many are new to posting on forums altogether.


So we too struggle like crazy with the search and, as Pink said, will do our best to either link to a similar thread or merge with one that pretty much has the question that was asked already covered.

As for critcism, yes... can I please remind members to be kind to each other, and if anyone feels that they have been criticised - please don't let it put you off posting.

Finally, I'm pleased to see that there have been a number of helpful posts in this thread too... so readers can make use of those and "bin" the rest