Search help

[Mark E.]

The search function has never worked well for me.

For example, I just did a search for 1970 LS5 fan and all sorts of results not related to this topic came up. Also, at the top it said something like "search for 1970 LS5". "Fan" wasn't apparently part of the search.

Suggestions? Or is this a bug?

[Mark E.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

I just tried an advanced search for 70 LS5 fan with these options:

Search Types: I tried "All Types" and "Forums"

Keywords: 70 LS5 fan with "Search Entire Posts" selected

The result: "Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms."

I know there are several threads with these terms. What's up?

In fact, "Sorry- no matches" is a common result, even when searching common terms.

[Don H.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

Mark
check the FAQS for help with searching in tool bar above. You need to insert and between your search words to get the results you seek.

[Jack M.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

Don't forget, there is a minimum of four (4) characters for any search term.
The FAQ gives examples of 'special characters' to insert on short words.

[John W.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

We are aware of the limitations of the search function but most people who complain have never visited the FAQ to find the best way to utilize it. Google and Bing have spent millions of dollars on their search engines but still 95% of the results are not what you are looking for. If you use the bad results to reword your search you will find that you can improve your results by carefully crafting your search.

The detailed section of the FAQ on searches for this forum was developed by Richard Mozzetta (13499). He did a lot of trial and error to hone it down to what worked and what didn't.

You will find the FAQ at: https://www.forums.ncrs.org/faq.php?...faq_vb3_search

[Gary C.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

In addition to the Forum search - try the Google Site Search from the top menu bar
Google Search - NCRS Site_v1_110415.jpg

1970 LS5 Fan returned these results. You can try the different "search operators" from Rich's Search FAQ that John mentioned to see if returned search results will be improved.
Google Search - NCRS Site_v2_110415.jpg

[Mark E.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

In addition to the Forum search - try the Google Site Search from the top menu bar
[ATTACH=CONFIG]65632[/ATTACH]

1970 LS5 Fan returned these results. You can try the different "search operators" from Rich's Search FAQ that John mentioned to see if returned search results will be improved.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]65633[/ATTACH]

I never noticed the Google custom search at the top of the page. THAT search engine works great... like Google! No FAQs needed to use it!

If we're reduced to saying "people who complain have never visited the FAQ to find the best way to utilize it", then is it possible the real issue is an unfriendly, clunky search engine? Would it be easier and less costly to eliminate it and replace it with the Google custom search?

Just saying.

[John W.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

Mark,

That is a good question. I would have to investigate if it can be turned off first. Second I know some users have learned the in's and out's of getting what they want from the current search function. I will have to think on this one.

[Gary C.]

Re: Tip for easy search.

John,

Leave as is since the Google Site Search is already available from the top menu bar and you've added a FAQ about the Google Site Search function being available.

While it's a good idea, replacing the standard vBulletin search function would require some vBulletin non standard code customization and several hours worth of work with zero gain.

Gary
....

[Richard M.]

Re: Search help

Hi Mark,

Just noticed your post and did a few experiments to try to help you find what you're looking for. Yes the search is tricky sometimes but I've found different combinations help and using the Boolean expressions can be a tremendous help, however yes it can become a bit cumbersome to use. Once you play around with different combinations and get good results, you'll get hooked on it. Most times I get great results on my searches.

I just tried this string below for you, in the "Search Multiple Types" mode, Titles Only.

1970 AND ( " LS5 " OR "LS5 " OR "LS-5" OR " ls5 " ) AND ( " fan " OR " Fan " OR " FAN " )

It returned this at the header. Note the commas and the "or"s. Commas are the AND.
1970, " LS5 " or "LS5 " or "LS-5" or " ls5 ", " fan " or " Fan " or " FAN "

For 3 characters or less I try to imagine how the words would be used in a title or inside the body of a post. Usually the "space" character can be added to the word, in front or in back or both front and back to make it work a little harder to find what I'm looking for. But in order to add a space in a string, you must put quotes around it. The use of parentheses helps to isolate the strings being searched.

Since adding spaces makes the string exactly specific, I now have to add more possibilities of the word, like if in a Title, the word may be the first word, so no space in front, but one in the rear. I usually perform my searches in Titles Only to get right to the meat of the Topics if possible. If I get no satisfactory results then I try the "Search All" mode. That can get more than I need but it just takes a bit more time to parse through them all.

One caveat with using the parens is what I found to be either a "feature" or a oddity I cannot explain.
Note the extra spaces before and after each parentheses above in my example. I discovered that issue long ago when we first got the Boolean search function. If you don't add those spaces, when using this search string it gets confused. For example......

1970 AND (" LS5 " OR "LS5 " OR "LS-5" OR " ls5 ") AND (" fan " OR " Fan " OR " FAN ") {note no spaces next to parens}

It returned this at the header and gave different results.
1970, LS5, " OR ", LS5, " OR ", LS-5" or " ls5 ", " OR ", " OR "

Look what happened to the search string. It cropped all of my "fan" strings out. I'm unsure if this is a vBulletin bug or not. IMO it's a bug. We looked at it then and tried to get specific Search Help information from them but it was not available. So I just kept experimenting until I figured out what I could.

Rich