Please disable Search-Engine-Friendly Archive: it makes it harder to search the site
 

Hi,

Thank you very much for running BikeForums.

I like to use Google Advanced Search to search BikeForums. But when I click on a search result link, I'm taken to an ugly page with tiny text which doesn't show which text is quoted and which isn't.

Could you please disable vBulletin's Search-Engine-Friendly Archive feature? It's easy to disable. And it's worth disabling. Wayne Luke, the head of vBulletin's tech support department, says it's "pretty much outlived its usefulness".

It's one extra click (View Full Version). Deal with it.

The site is also owned by a Google company, I think.

Archives like this use less storage bandwidth for the drive by readers that don't participate in the forums actively. These archives are bar none, the largest source of new members joining to get full forum function, so we don't have any plans in the near future to change this.

They do save bandwidth, but they're frustrating to read. In the archives, there's absolutely no indication of which text is quoted and which text is new.

So—it's true—you may be saving money on bandwidth.

But you're sending many new visitors to ugly, hard-to-read pages. How much later ad and subscription revenue are you losing because of that?


P.S. May I suggest you rename this thread to "Please disable Search-Engine-Friendly Archive: it makes it harder to search the site". I mistakenly entered just half a title at first.

there is a link to the full version on the archive link. I just use that.

We aren't. As I said, they are the largest source of new registrations we've got.

Everybody always says search is broken anyway, probably no need. :rolleyes: :D

Are you sure you wouldn't get even more new registrations if you didn't subject new visitors to the unpleasantness of trying to read archive threads?

Very funny. But seriously, I use Google to search BikeForums. And so every time I click on a search result, I get sent to an archive result. :(

And if I didn't have those when I registered in 2007, how would I have gotten up to speed?

This site has been through many format and platform changes in it's history and why would we want to discard our own history and breadth of knowledge?

Likewise...What is GOOGLE for then, pray tell?

PS They OWN us, I understand! That's who Internet Brands is. ;)

Rollfast, even if you disable the feature, every thread will still be visible to Google users. Yes, every thread—even dating back to the beginning of BikeForums. They will simply appear in a nicer way, with more color and formatting.

Knowing the history of BF, not every thread (even dating back to the beginning) will be displayed.