Search is worthless

[solargemII]

Can someone explain the secret to getting ANY results when searching TIp It? I have logged in and the result is still zero.

 

 

 

Why is there no sticky or FAQ?

 

 

 

Did I miss something?

 

 

 

For instance I want a guide to fight the KBD.

 

 

 

I have searched every way I know.

 

"No Search results found"

[hellbellz]

Soloing the KBD - updated 19 April 2007 (AOW)

 

 

 

And yes, everyone knows about the search, you have to be very specific.

[Mercifull]

Something I have discovered when people have problems searching is that its the person who is doing something wrong rather than the actual search function is broken.

[____]

And yes, everyone knows about the search, you have to be very specific.

That's a little bit harsh. The more broad you are the more irrelevant results you're going to get.

 

And then there's not utilizing the different options to scale down the results.

 

 

 

 

 

So many people just search all forums with like 2 or 3 words and expect what they're after to be on the first page of results, if not the first result listed :uhh:

[pokemama]

If your search term is too common the function cannot return ALL results (too many), so it just says no results.

 

 

 

It bugs me too, but that's how it works. Sorry.

[Wachtwoord]

Something I have discovered when people have problems searching is that its the person who is doing something wrong rather than the actual search function is broken.

 

I must be doing something incredible wrong then.

[solargemII]

Those of you who actually are constructive, I thank you.

 

Trolls like Murkifull who drop ignorant insults like a passing pelican can keep on flying.... You have made your mark on this thread and we see your splendor.

 

 

 

It makes sense that unless I use a string or exact spellin, I may miss a post, but I have used boolean specifics and still yield no results.

 

 

 

Please help me understand what brings you success in your search: Like,

 

Does search require capitalization ?

 

What else should I avoid?

 

 

 

I have been a fan of Tip.it since 2002, and remember how useful "Search" was to me in those early years. After a hiatus of few years, I come back to find Tip.it search almost always returning zero results. Is this search powered by the local server/desktop Google search engine?

 

 

 

FINALLY, my question is not just a complaint. I am asking for answers.

 

If you read my initial post, I am asking for help.

 

 

 

As a programmer and developer, I had to make support and admin documentation. I still do for my present job. If there was a general flaw, we addressed it and warned our users of common mistakes.

 

 

 

Why doesn't the FAQ t address this "known flaw" and give at least a warning like Darkrick and Pokemama mentioned not to be so generic?

[eias]

same here,it used to work now it displays nothing!

[chris1216]

Usually since you're going to be looking for a thread that is dedicated to what you're looking for (and not a post in an unrelated thread) just use

 

 

 

1) The "Search for all terms" button under your query box

 

 

 

and

 

 

 

2) The "Search message title only" button

 

 

 

 

 

Using those two usually nets me everything I want to find, and the message title only option lets you use broader terms in your search.

[____]

Considering the search function (the actual code to search the database) hasn't changed a lot in almost 5 years I'd have to say you're doing something wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

Generally speaking you should at least do the following:

 

 

 

1. 
    
   [*:4b51n2fq] Search for all terms
    
   [*:4b51n2fq] Make sure you are not searching all forums. At least narrow it down to a category.
    
   [*:4b51n2fq] Try switching between
    
   

• 
   
  [*:4b51n2fq] Search topic title and message text
   
  [*:4b51n2fq] Search message text only
   
  [*:4b51n2fq] Search message title only

 

Message title is a good one for guides or questions about things as chances are it will be mentioned in the title, but not in the actual topic text. But by all means use the first option if that lands you with nothing usefull.

 

[*:4b51n2fq] Narrow the time frame if possible.

 

[*:4b51n2fq] Use the wildcards. You can pull up results on terms which are too common using carefully placed wildcards.

 

[*:4b51n2fq] And while you don't have to - returning results as Post with first 400-ish characters rather than Topics will help you determine if the result was usefull or not. Rather than going to topics which look it but go off in a different direction.

 

 

 

 

 

edit - and if you are not trying to utilize this at all...

 

 

 

"You can use AND to define words which must be in the results, OR to define words which may be in the result and NOT to define words which should not be in the result."

 

 

 

That's something you need to consider using sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

edit2 - oh, and synonyms are your friend. Not landing hits with one word - try another which refers to the same thing.