1. LordKyleOfEarth

    LordKyleOfEarth Contributor Contributor

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    Search button oddness

    Discussion in 'Support & Feedback' started by LordKyleOfEarth, May 6, 2013.

    I've recently noticed some oddness with the site's search function. It seems that I'm unable to search for my works/posts that predate 2013 (or so). I can search by keyword or author, and in either case, I get nothing. If I manually page through sub forums, I can find the posts; but I'd rather slit my wrists than do that on a regular basis. The problem seems to be most pronounced when using the Advanced search for multiple content types:
    https://www.writingforums.org/search.php
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    The search has definitely degraded after one of the not-all-that-recent site software upgrades. It's no longer possible to do complete searches, even if the total number of results would be small. It's a nuisance as a site member, but was crippling when I was a moderator.
     
  3. LordKyleOfEarth

    LordKyleOfEarth Contributor Contributor

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    I just find myself thrashing my keyboard when I know that a thread exists, and I want to reference it, but I cannot find it. I guess we'll have to cut people some slack now when they post a tired old topic; no more "Ues teh search button n00b!" replies.
     
  4. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Search still works pretty well for finding recent threads, so go ahead and facepalm to your heart's content. :)

    Lawdy, if I see one more "How long should a chapter be" thread, I'll scream. Again.
     
  5. LordKyleOfEarth

    LordKyleOfEarth Contributor Contributor

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    This problem exists regardless of search functionality. It's transcendent.
     
  6. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Or ideopathic. :)
     
  7. Daniel

    Daniel I'm sure you've heard the rumors Founder Staff

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    I've noticed this too. I'm currently rebuilding the search index. It should help, but I doubt it'll give us full search results. While I rebuild the index the search might not work at all - should be finished in about an hour.
     
  8. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Don't know anything about the rebuild, but should it fail, I find you can search forums using Google if you can remember something key in the thread or the title.

    For example, "writingforums search button"
     
  9. Daniel

    Daniel I'm sure you've heard the rumors Founder Staff

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    I very well may add Google search as another option. It was in the past.

    I did update the index. The results seem better to me, but I'm not sure if they're complete. Thoughts?
     
  10. Daniel

    Daniel I'm sure you've heard the rumors Founder Staff

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    I went ahead and added google search as a replacement for our search box. The results aren't pretty - still need to do a little styling - but it's Google, so it's more accurate. You can still use the built-in search feature by doing an Advanced Search (needed if you want to search the Writing Workshop or a private section of the site or based on a particular member, etc.)
     

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