[mbardeen]

[quote name='flash' timestamp='1373912096' post='145648']

if that means that somebody wants to go somewhere else, so be it. if, however, they want to spend the time and use the bloody search engine, or poke around a bit, they will find a wealth of information, and they won't waste people's time asking the same things over and over.

[/quote]



This came from Flash on another thread, and it touches on one of my biggest problems with the site. In the interests of keeping info in the relevant areas, I'm starting this thread here.



Many people don't have unlimited time to spend poking around the site. They have a question and they want the answer. So either they search or they post a question that's already been answered. And if they do search and don't find the answer, they'll ask. So that brings up the following observation:

The search process here ranks somewhere between bad and absurd. It often pulls up information that's completely irrelevant. That's not bad in itself... Where it really gets bad is when you do a search and quickly realize from the irrelevant results that you've forgotten to check one of the boxes, you're told you have to wait 20 seconds before you can search again.



Is this really necessary? Given that there are rarely more 10 people on the board at any given time, surely the processing demands of searches can't be that high. Even if it is necessary, can that 20 seconds be lowered to something more reasonable, like 5 seconds?

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[flash]

actually, the search engine here is excellent. users often don't know how to use it though, and don't fill in enough boxes to refine their search to get the results they really want.



as for the search engine, each and every time somebody logs on, hits "new posts" or anything, it uses the search engine. anybody who is hooked up to an rss feed, or has notifications set, it uses the search engine. so, basically the search engine is hit every few seconds. that is why it is set to 20 seconds right now. when we had it set lower, it would jam up. to be fair though, that was on a slower server with less bandwidth. i can see about lowering it, run some tests, and see how it goes.

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[optigolf]

I tried to use it and did some search on few things, obviously I am not using it right as I did not get any answers for example' forced introduction' ?

So is there somewhere some introduction/advice how to use the sites search ?

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[flash]

you are typing "introduction" and not "induction"?



if you have a more general search, like "forced induction", then you are better off just going to the heavy breathing area and browsing the threads

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[optigolf]

Yeah, I seem to have typing error now, I typed right words when I did the search and as said no result. I will try again. Thanks for the advice, however still it looks like I have long way to get best out of the info at the forum.

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[flash]

most topics are pretty easy to search for. unfortunately the one you want to read about is the most discussed and argued about subject. the answers are not black and white, and opinions vary. there is no way to give you a quick answer. you'll have to do a lot of reading to make the decision that makes the most sense for you.

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[mbardeen]

A couple tricks for Mark: If you have a phrase consisting of more than two words, enclose it in quotes "forced induction". Also, use the advanced search (the little gear next to the seach box on the right top of the page) and just search on titles only.







And thanks for that, Flash. Having a lower threshold should make the search more conducive for playing around. I now have an observation for you.



The All words vs any words option in advanced search doesn't work correctly for queries like: ' "This is a phrase" extraword '.



Example: I tried ' "forced induction" turbo ' on title only with both options, and they both returned the same results. None of the results listed had the words "forced induction", so All words should return nothing. However, when I tried 'induction turbo', that was interpreted correctly and no results were returned.



Things like that bug my computer scientist side. If it works for one example, it should work for all. This is also a trick I use with google to quickly find what I'm looking for, as it's more specific than just the words themselves -- a concrete reason why I'm not completely convinced by the site platform's search capability, but I know you guys didn't program the software. I don't mean to take it out on you.

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[flash]

it really helps to use a member's name in the author area. if you know somebody who would be involved in a conversation, using that as a filter goes a LONG way.

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[Inkedupfatboy]

Yes that may be true, but new members will not always know who to search for - I know I have run into trouble a few times and just gave up.

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[flash]

understood. that's why new members should just go to areas and start reading. that's also why new members are not allowed to read certain areas right away. it only gets them into trouble. this is a "walk before you run" process



instant gratification will not serve you well with this car. patience and research is the only path to success.

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[94SilverCab]

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS use advanced search, your results will be 1,000 times better.



Jay

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[Rap]

Flash, as an aging, graying, conservative liberal who has spent much of his life working and trying to be patient and do the right thing at the right time, I must confess that there are times when I intensely long for instant gratification! Of course the news that I needed to replace the a/c compressor and a couple of other things yesterday in this heat at a large expense made me realize being patient and putting the repair off was the patient thing to do. My daughter who often picks me up remarked yesterday, " it seems like your cars are in the shop at least every other week". So off to Max to do the proper search for my a/c. Patience means I can't drive the white one in this heat! lol

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[flash]

lol - i'm the last one to be patient, which is why i find it tiresome to answer the same questions repeatedly. i realize that newbies don't know that i've already answered a question, but that's the whole point of forcing searching and reading. it's a homework research assignment of sorts, to learn about this car. it's not like other cars, where information is readily available. for this one, you have to search for it, as there are too many "internet geniuses" who continually give out bad information. you can't just take the first answer, and expect it to be right. you have to do some reading.

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[94SilverCab]

At least I have never seen anyone just reply RTFM on this site...LOL



Jay

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[Inkedupfatboy]

RTFM????

Tell me now! lol

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[flash]

you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think



i crack myself up

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[Inkedupfatboy]

Hey funny guy, where's my parts? Seriously, any update? Just wondering.

Thanx...

And what is RTFM - really I'm dyslexic.....or too tired to figure it out.

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[mbardeen]

GIYF -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTFM

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[ds968]

Awesome :-) . Thanks for the reference, did not know its meaning prior to reading this, but now think I'll be using that in response to all the idiotic questions I receive at work, LOL .

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[Rap]

I would be asked what's a Manuel, where is it, do I have to pay for I and will you pay me overtime to read it!

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