ideas about threads and searching ( discussion request )

[joegagan]

most of us have gotten used to how the search works here. "  "  and the + sign are very handy for refining your results.

but the way it is, it seems that words grouped together are prominent.  if you use the quotes, then only words that were previously grouped will show in that way.

so i have a suggestion. make sure your key words in a thread title or even in the thread itself are together ie; 'wah buffer', 'pot taper', "TS mods", etc rather than just putting a single word by itself. ( example of how not to do it ' what are the best mods for a ts? - the keywords are broken up by other words)

in other words, group your keywords.

it is amazing how scattered the results are sometimes because , for example there are many different ways LDRs are used, so you have to sift through a bunch of unrelated stuff to find the app you need. ( not that stumbling across seemingly unrelated info isn't awesome sometimes)

what say the rest of you? how do you use search here and what are your thoughts? suggestions?

[frequencycentral]

One of the best things about the search function is coming across stuff only vaguely related to what you were searching for originally, but is neither the less really interesting and ends up taking you somewhere you weren't planning to go.............

[joegagan]

tru!

[egasimus]

If we're talking about the need to find information on the forum, there's a wiki for that. I asked Aron for an account, at worked on some improvements for a while. I strongly suggest you do the same - a lot of what's buried in the forum belongs to the wiki.

[iccaros]

on extra hint..
for a way to search that is not using the boards search tool, but gives you the power of Google

type into Google search site:diystompboxes.com ldr
for example. http://bit.ly/rVvMZW
This will search the entire site for ldr.. bad search but you can apply all of the Google search tools after the website name.

[joegagan]

cool >>>>>>>>>>>thanks guys!

[chi_boy]

Are signatures included in searches?   I cant say for sure now, but I remember searching for specific pedal info in the past and finding many unrelated threads.  The best I could figure was that the search was picking up pedal names from people's sits that listed completed builds.  Am I mistaken about how it works?

[frank_p]

Are signatures included in searches?   I cant say for sure now, but I remember searching for specific pedal info in the past and finding many unrelated threads.  The best I could figure was that the search was picking up pedal names from people's sits that listed completed builds.  Am I mistaken about how it works?

You mean 'by user' ?:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?action=search;advanced;search=

[chi_boy]

Are signatures included in searches?   I cant say for sure now, but I remember searching for specific pedal info in the past and finding many unrelated threads.  The best I could figure was that the search was picking up pedal names from people's sits that listed completed builds.  Am I mistaken about how it works?

You mean 'by user' ?:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?action=search;advanced;search=

No, I meant in a normal search, but I just proved to myself that the search does not include signatures.  If I search for "elephant", none of my posts come up.  Which is a good thing IMO.

So disregard, I guess.  Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for making me rethink it.

[jdub]

From what I can tell, the SMF forum search doesn't support Boolean searching (AND, OR, NOT, etc.). Bummer, but with the more advanced features of Google and other engines, combined with search engine optimization of most SMF forums, I suppose you don't really need it.  I've found using Google and specifying this site works pretty well- and also using the "Find" feature on the browser (useful when you have a large thread) 

[LucifersTrip]

+1 to iccaros

unfortunately, the search here is not the greatest. it gives way too many results that don't match my search (unless I'm doing something wrong).

Ie, if I use the search here and search "ts mods", I get many results...and many that don't even have the exact phrase "ts mods" in the text.

So, I use google:

"ts mods" inurl:www.diystompboxes.com

then click "repeat the search with the omitted results included."