i am actually looking for some searching tips rather than giving out some.
sometimes i find it more useful to search for a post using a search engine like google and costrain the search to the developers website rather than look through the search engine here in the forum.google return the search with a list sometimes in a total different order than the Site search engine.
this forum is growing every day of uncountable numbers of posts and for people that are just starting off learning what this forum has to offer it is a bit frustrating and difficult to understand where to start.
are my searching skills extremely poor or there is a secret out there than i am unaware of? :shock:
the most important one I think is to choose Search for all terms
Why cant this be the default when searching for more than one word?
Related
Hi,
Are there still issues with searching this forum with search terms less than 3 characters as existed before?
I have tried doing the following search in the advanced search:
8GB SD
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.
I have a hard time believing that is the case.
This isnt the first time the search is making life difficult. Is there also a way of defaulting the search to ALL TERMS?
thanks
I find searching using Google advanced search is the best way to find info on this forum.
Just type in what you're looking for in the advanced search page and get it to look in this forum.
Hope you understand how I've worded it. Its not as difficult as I make it appear.
Hope this is of use.
To tell you the truth... the whole search function leaves a lot to be desired.
The stalwarts of this forum are constantly critesizing the newbies for not using the search function but the hits it returns are as good as useless. I try repeated variations of my searches and cannot find a single relevant post within the first 20.
Maybe moderators should mention the Goolge option as bieng the best way to find info.
Thanks for your confirmation guys... I was hoping the answer wasn't going to involve google search and that the internal search mechanism would be better.
Cheers!
Have a look at the form here:
http://support.catalyst2.com/index.php?_m=tickets&_a=submit
1. Submit the first page with any option (doesn't matter).
2. Type a few words like "email settings".
3. Notice the suggestions which pop up at the bottom, allowing to you find the solution without even having to actually submit your query, thus cutting down on questions which could easily be answered by the questioner themselves with a little research.
I'm not saying it will be easy, and it may very well reduce the site to a crawl, but you could have a pre-fetch on the articles held in the Wiki which would provide common solutions to a lot of threads which pop up with simple questions.
What might this require?
1. An up-to-date, correct, and well-referenced Wiki
2. Presumably a lot of server horsepower!
What will this prevent?
1. Easily answered questions like "Where can I find links to all the WM6 ROMs?
What will this not prevent?
1. Idiots who don't even read suggestions as they type their question
2. Recently solved problems in threads that get swamped by meaningless posts
3. Posts like "Thanks <insert name>, downloading now..."
Looks Good, BUT...
Looks good, but if you can't get a noob to search the forum using the provided search tools or to even correctly (correctly, being the operative word) google the site, we won't be able to get them to use this form...
Now, I do believe that you are on to something... IMHO, the search function should also include a link to google with the advanced search part already populated for searching in xda-devs... I know that there have been threads with the google links already posted, but they aren't stickies anywhere...
You are on the right track... Maybe all of the more knowledgeable members that are bother by this noob thing (like myself, since I am still a noob...) can simply add a link to the google search function in their sig, it will make it easier for newcomers to the site to locate the information they require...
Sorry, I didn't make myself clear -
The Create a thread, or Reply to thread, message box would have this feature implemented - so even as the person was typing in their mundane question, it would provide a link to the answer right in front of them which they would hopefully click before actually posting their question.
I think the search function on this forum is partly to blame, as any search under about 5 letters simply doesn't work. To make it better there are a few options:
1. Make it search Google by default
2. Make it default to replying with Posts rather than Threads (as some threads are hundreds of posts long)
3. Make it search both the Wiki and the Forum (solved with Google)
IMHO, the search function should also include a link to google with the advanced search part already populated for searching in xda-devs... I know that there have been threads with the google links already posted, but they aren't stickies anywhere...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a google sticky alread. It just so happens to be 3 threads above this one
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=304582
1. Make it search Google by default
2. Make it default to replying with Posts rather than Threads (as some threads are hundreds of posts long)
3. Make it search both the Wiki and the Forum (solved with Google)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have a valid point Oli. I haev seen many posts with ppl voicing concerns about the search function, and I would tend to agree that it would help if it could be re-structured. Especially with the rate that this site is growing, some search function upgrading would be a good suggestion. However, just like finding any other type of info on the net, its all about your search skills. After spending enough time using the search tools, you find tricks and techniques to narrow your results. Im happy to see this thread, and hopfully the mods will combine their powers to find a way to simplify finding info here.
I am glad that there are ppl here that realize there is an issue with the search function... I also agree that there should not be a lot of stickies, but the BEST place for it, would be in the Search FAQ.... Have any of your read it... It is not that good and as a noob, doesn't show me the best way to implement it... It just says to use the search function... If I were top dog, I might change it a little, just to alleviate some of the darn stupid posts... maybe have it come up as a precursor to registering... Not that everyone will read it, but they will see it...
Just my .02 again... I'm gonna have to get some credit around here... these two pennies are gonna start to add up...
Hello there,
i've a request, or suggestion:
could you separate all the "NEW COOK, NEW MOD, NEW ROM" and all that kind of posts into a separate new forum called something like "artemis kitchen"?
because when it comes to use the search function, for example for "sms notification" 95% of the results are that kind of posts, which aren't talking about the problem I search, but just listing their features.
it's like searching technic information on google and getting as result the amazon.com webpage selling books which listed their index there.
if we could separate this posts somewhere else, users could filter their search option to exlude that forums from their search, thus getting much more accurate search results.
cheers
hmmm...
bump?
I have a post on this forum: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1714
It fell off the first page so, to find it, I entered my screen name into the 'search this forum' box. It returned nothing and brought me to an advance screen.
I then entered my user name into the search box on the advanced form labeled "SEARCH BY USER NAME".
Again, no results found.
Search isn't broken.Change the search term to something more general and try again...
POTATO!!!!
Right now, I keep seeing a cat reading a book when I try to search... :silly:
Prawesome said:
Search isn't broken.Change the search term to something more general and try again...
POTATO!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So when trying to find posts with my name in them, I should search for "General Synpax"? I was unaware of this promotion; I'm flattered.
The real problem is that the author field isn't included when the search is run, and it should be.
Really, why even bother having a site search functionality if it's going to be this bad. Just use Google.
synpax said:
So when trying to find posts with my name in them, I should search for "General Synpax"? I was unaware of this promotion; I'm flattered.
The real problem is that the author field isn't included when the search is run, and it should be.
Really, why even bother having a site search functionality if it's going to be this bad. Just use Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can search by author in Advanced Search.
synpax said:
So when trying to find posts with my name in them, I should search for "General Synpax"? I was unaware of this promotion; I'm flattered.
The real problem is that the author field isn't included when the search is run, and it should be.
Really, why even bother having a site search functionality if it's going to be this bad. Just use Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is by design - the vast majority of users want to search for keywords. If a user happens to share username with a keyword, they don't want to be inundated with their mindless musings in off topic...
If you want to find a post by a specific user, just hit the little cog for advanced search, where you can search based on username.
XDA has 4.6 million users, and 21 million posts, so search needs to be a little bit more specific to ensure that you can actually find things.
To find your own posts or threads, use the link to your own profile There's a button there to show all your posts and/or threads.
pulser_g2 said:
This is by design - the vast majority of users want to search for keywords. If a user happens to share username with a keyword, they don't want to be inundated with their mindless musings in off topic...
If you want to find a post by a specific user, just hit the little cog for advanced search, where you can search based on username.
XDA has 4.6 million users, and 21 million posts, so search needs to be a little bit more specific to ensure that you can actually find things.
To find your own posts or threads, use the link to your own profile There's a button there to show all your posts and/or threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answer.
As a web developer myself, we recently had this same issue come up. We shifted all the search to Bing. This both got us better results and eliminated one target for a DDoS attack.
I tried searching earlier today for: Zenithink (the brand name of my tablet), and didn't get any hits. At the time of this post there did seem to be a problem with the search, but it seems to be working now.
k.
Also, keep in mind that search results can be delayed up to 10 minutes:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/faq.php?faq=searchlight_search#faq_recent
Hi all. I would like to ask something please if any one else have the same expierence:
When I search something and I get some results, I have a problem when i chooose the link (Thread) .... I dont see the thread that i have clicked on, but I am lead to a different page...
Can anyone help me?
Thank you in advanced
It happens with me too.
Sent from my GT-I8160 using Tapatalk 2
This is going to be a moaning post, which falls in line with the topics of discussion in the forum description.
Like many of you most likely, I've been lurking, contributing if it makes sense, and relying on XDA for a long time. It feels like a decade by now. This is the most frustrated I've ever been with the Search functionality of the website. It's so bad, I'm writing this post, but also I feel like competing sites (there are none in reality) could lure forum users away with nothing more than an intuitive, easy to use search functionality.
For example, every single time you go to search something, XDA for some reason defaults to searching Everything. If I'm in a specific forum, and sought out that forum (which is the only way to get to something that you specifically need given the search won't produce it), why would I need to search the entire site seconds after entering that particular forum. I have not found a setting to allow me to set the default search to search specific forum and recall the previous site iteration as having the ability to easily within a click or two, search the forum itself for a specific thread.
Secondly, searching for items that have more than a single word is pointless. The query results are from all over the site, and largely not related. Additionally, the search results apparently don't believe in offering sort or filter capabilities post submission of a search query.
Third, do you really not follow a boolean logic? Taking the aforementioned example, if I use double quotes to signify a specific string or phrase, the query result is blank.
I'm going to keep adding to this because later because I need to go, but I loved this site, and I want to ensure this feedback is out there. Please for the love of god, do something about this.
Unfortunately, I tried to search for the ability to provide feedback directly and was unable to come up with anything. I shouldn't have to build a Google CSE or run a 'site:' search to produce a specific result on this website.
Just a couple of years ago, I could come into the site, enter a model number or SKU or something specific like that and immediately be able to access specific forums or threads. I just tried to search for SM-990 and nothing but Motorola results were produced. What?