BroTrevor
06-13-2006, 12:21 PM
SO, you want to search for something that was said in a thread, but you can't remember where it is.
Well, as long as you have the general idea WHAT was said, there is hope. This fine forum offers you a way to search through threads and posts with a multiplicity of options.
I shall begin a brief overview....
General searching (this is the short way of saying: "futile search that probably wont find anything for you")
Ok, so we've all see that up on the top bar that says "Search" (in the forum window....not in the IE or Firefox tool bar. It should be just to the left of the "Welcome <your username>" Right between "new posts" and "quick links".
Ok, you found it? Good! Now, it drops a little box down that you can type in. Now, say you want to search for the word "amorous". Just type it in and hit the "go" button. You'll see that it pulls back "the rather interesting true story" thread. This is the only thread with that word in it. But say you have a less specific word. You want to search for "happy" that will currently yield 227 results... pages and pages of threads.
Suddenly the "general search" has become, as I have said, useless.
SO what do we do?? We move on to....
Advanced Search (short for, "if I can figure out how to use this, it'll really be a help")
So, being that 227 results and them all being bundled into the threads is pretty useless, we now decide to click "search" and then underneath the box you were previously typing in, we see "advanced search" Click there...go ahead, it wont hurt you. You'll be "advanced" by the time you're done with this thread.
So now we see all kinds of searching options. We'll walk through a few of them.
Today I was trying to find where I thought we had discussed how the guys should have a forum since the girls had one. I'm almost positive I suggested such before the creation of the fort. Joris was wondering how all this got started. SO I needed to search threads. I began by finding the date the fort was created. 2-9-2006. I now had a date range...I wanted to search posts that were older than 3 months. So in my "advanced search" area... I did the following.
Key words: "guys"
Find Posts from: 3 months ago, and older
Show results as: "posts"
OK, let's just stop here... the "show results as" option close to the bottom. This one is VERY IMPORTANT. "Why?" you ask. I'll tell you why. If you don't all the words you searched for will be brought back in the threads, so you'll click on threads, and scroll and scroll for the highlighted words which will be your key words that you are searching for. This is highly inefficient.
If you select "show results as: posts" then they all come back as posts, and you can riffle through them MUCH faster. Go ahead and try your search with it selected as threads...and then hit back, and select posts. See the difference?? I suggest always using "show results as: posts"
Ok, so now you've seen the basics of putting in a key word, selecting a date range, and showing your results as a post. What if you want to just search your posts? or posts of a specific person, well...that's just over to the right... "search by username" Just type in their username... and you'll see all their posts. Want to limit it? throw in some key words, or a date range and see what you get. Feel free to play around, you can't mess anything up by searching...even if you are in "advanced" mode.
Ok, now that you've played around with search by a user...what if you are a girl, and only want to search for something in the girls forum? NO PROBLEM!
The "search in forums" box by default has "search all open forums" selected. Instead, just select "girl talk". through in some keywords...and bam...you got some results.
Keep in mind you can mix and match any of these options with a search to limit the number of posts you have and achieve greater specificity.
Oh, and just because you can search...doesn't always mean you'll find. I didn't find what I was looking for today... but I think if you can remember the right keywords, or date range, or person... you'll find whatever post it is you were looking for.
Happy searching! This thread is open to search related questions.
Well, as long as you have the general idea WHAT was said, there is hope. This fine forum offers you a way to search through threads and posts with a multiplicity of options.
I shall begin a brief overview....
General searching (this is the short way of saying: "futile search that probably wont find anything for you")
Ok, so we've all see that up on the top bar that says "Search" (in the forum window....not in the IE or Firefox tool bar. It should be just to the left of the "Welcome <your username>" Right between "new posts" and "quick links".
Ok, you found it? Good! Now, it drops a little box down that you can type in. Now, say you want to search for the word "amorous". Just type it in and hit the "go" button. You'll see that it pulls back "the rather interesting true story" thread. This is the only thread with that word in it. But say you have a less specific word. You want to search for "happy" that will currently yield 227 results... pages and pages of threads.
Suddenly the "general search" has become, as I have said, useless.
SO what do we do?? We move on to....
Advanced Search (short for, "if I can figure out how to use this, it'll really be a help")
So, being that 227 results and them all being bundled into the threads is pretty useless, we now decide to click "search" and then underneath the box you were previously typing in, we see "advanced search" Click there...go ahead, it wont hurt you. You'll be "advanced" by the time you're done with this thread.
So now we see all kinds of searching options. We'll walk through a few of them.
Today I was trying to find where I thought we had discussed how the guys should have a forum since the girls had one. I'm almost positive I suggested such before the creation of the fort. Joris was wondering how all this got started. SO I needed to search threads. I began by finding the date the fort was created. 2-9-2006. I now had a date range...I wanted to search posts that were older than 3 months. So in my "advanced search" area... I did the following.
Key words: "guys"
Find Posts from: 3 months ago, and older
Show results as: "posts"
OK, let's just stop here... the "show results as" option close to the bottom. This one is VERY IMPORTANT. "Why?" you ask. I'll tell you why. If you don't all the words you searched for will be brought back in the threads, so you'll click on threads, and scroll and scroll for the highlighted words which will be your key words that you are searching for. This is highly inefficient.
If you select "show results as: posts" then they all come back as posts, and you can riffle through them MUCH faster. Go ahead and try your search with it selected as threads...and then hit back, and select posts. See the difference?? I suggest always using "show results as: posts"
Ok, so now you've seen the basics of putting in a key word, selecting a date range, and showing your results as a post. What if you want to just search your posts? or posts of a specific person, well...that's just over to the right... "search by username" Just type in their username... and you'll see all their posts. Want to limit it? throw in some key words, or a date range and see what you get. Feel free to play around, you can't mess anything up by searching...even if you are in "advanced" mode.
Ok, now that you've played around with search by a user...what if you are a girl, and only want to search for something in the girls forum? NO PROBLEM!
The "search in forums" box by default has "search all open forums" selected. Instead, just select "girl talk". through in some keywords...and bam...you got some results.
Keep in mind you can mix and match any of these options with a search to limit the number of posts you have and achieve greater specificity.
Oh, and just because you can search...doesn't always mean you'll find. I didn't find what I was looking for today... but I think if you can remember the right keywords, or date range, or person... you'll find whatever post it is you were looking for.
Happy searching! This thread is open to search related questions.