Forum search problems

mnatco

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Having not yet been recognized as a full member (though I am) this problem may not be a problem once I receive access to the Inner Sanctum.

In the forum there are 30 plus pages of threads. Attempting to find your way through them by cruising through the titles is arduous at best.
Searching can also be very frustrating and, for me, it has been fruitless.
I submit that it would be to everyones advantage if the forum were to be divided by the moderator(s) into distinct headings i.e. Burman, Girdraulic, Series A etc. so that the information presented would be much more accessible and valuable.
A case in point would be another forum where I spend much of my time.
http://www.webassist.com/forums/
I am a web designer and use many of the products this company provides and the structure of their forum makes working through the problems I need to solve much easier.
I realize that the forum above is managed by a team of paid employees who benefit from making it easier for their users because it frees up their own time.
Just my thoughts and my apologies if once reaching the Inner Sanctum all is bliss.

Yours
Mick Natco
 

Bazlerker

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Search within a specific website
Google allows you to specify that your search results must come from a given website. For example, the query [ iraq site:nytimes.com ] will return pages about Iraq but only from nytimes.com. The simpler queries [ iraq nytimes.com ] or [ iraq New York Times ] will usually be just as good, though they might return results from other sites that mention the New York Times. You can also specify a whole class of sites, for example [ iraq site:.gov ] will return results only from a .gov domain and [ iraq site:.iq ] will return results only from Iraqi sites

Or you can use this http://www.google.com/sitesearch/
 

mnatco

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
Shouldn't one preferentially use the search box found at the top of this page in hopes that the results would be more to the point?
Are you saying that a Google search produces better results or have you not tried the forum's own search function?

Mick
 

Bazlerker

Well Known and Active Forum User
Non-VOC Member
I am embarrased to admit that I haven't tried the forums search tool...I'm just used to using Google.
 

mnatco

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
You said above…
"Once you are a full member - using google to search the forums works wonders."
How is Google to know whether you are a member, and if it does - does it than restrict access to areas not permitted to non-members?

Mick
 

bmetcalf

Well Known and Active Forum User
VOC Member
I assume that google lets you search, but the Forum software doesn't allow access unless you have already logged in as a Club member.
 

mnatco

Forum User
Non-VOC Member
All that being said - and again, I don't have access to the private fora where things may be different - the forum would be much easier to navigate if it were broken up into distinct, inviolable topic areas as I mentioned in my first post.
And taking your advice, I tried the Google approach you defined and the results were different but no better.
 
Top