Search Tips

[Tom Stormcrowe]

Here are some tips for using the new search engine.

- When doing an Advanced Search by term, you must be very specific about the terms you're searching for. Search may not recognize variations of words.

- Searching for a two-letter word works only in quotation marks or parentheses.

We're trying to improve it further, though and hopefully, as time goes, it will. The main issue is that the database is huge, and vBulletin's native search engine is even worse, because if it fails, it crashes the site. As we get updates, I'll try to pass them along here as quickly as I can. Also, if you find any search tricks that help make it more effective, do post them here.

[Randochap]

Search has become unusable. Navigating threads also problematic and frustrating. Keep getting database errors on posting.

Don't mind the new look but all these other glitches are spoiling things. Hope you can get it sorted soon.

[no1mad]

Tom knows that the search is AFU, and gave a tip on how to deal with it. This thread is not a b'iatch session. It's for helping each other out to find stuff and to keep us posted on the fixes to the search.

[OLDYELLR]

Tom, while your search tips ought to make sense, they don't really help.

In the past I was able to go to Advanced Search and select to see individual posts by a certain user in the last 2 weeks, for example, and I'd get pages of results, from which I could pick either the individual posts, or the threads.

Now, when I choose exactly the same parameters, all I get is maybe one result, and it looks like it's just a thread started by that user.

What happened? Isn't this new version supposed to be better, more stable and more powerful than the old one? As far as I'm concerned, the Search function is completely dysfunctional. May as well get rid of the button and cut down ob the clutter.

[daven1986]

go to google and type "site:bikeforums.net <search term>" it has found most things I have needed.

[OLDYELLR]

go to google and type "site:bikeforums.net <search term>" it has found most things I have needed.

That's a very cumbersome workaround and doesn't take me directly to the user's posts where I can reply to them. My point is that the search function worked very well with the previous vB version and now it's broken (or not configured properly). Shouldn't an "upgrade" be seamless? This one looks like the techies have to rebuild everything from square one. I sure hope vBulletin is not getting paid anything for this version. In fact, they should be paying Bike Forums some hefty development fees.

[barturtle]

Is it going to be fixed so that if you do get useful search results listed by "Post", you can click to go right to that post?

The way it works now if you search by "Post" it may give you a nice list of results, but taking you to the last post of a 25 page thread is a bit useless.

[Tom Stormcrowe]

We have a search engine specialist trying to fix it now. How long? I do not know, but we are working on it. It's already improved some. It used to return no results for a bit.

[George]

I'm not doing to bad with the searches, but I have to read through all of them, because they are not high lighted like they were before. Meaning the word that the search is about.

[Machka]

"The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search:
electrolytes"

So which is it? Is the word "electrolytes" too common to search on in the Training and Nutrition forum? Is the word too long? Is it too short? Whose idea was it that a person would not be able to search on the word "electrolytes" on a cycling forum??????????????

[axolotl]

We have a search engine specialist trying to fix it now. How long? I do not know, but we are working on it. It's already improved some. It used to return no results for a bit.

Can we have an update, please? The search function remains virtually useless. Is anyone still working on it? Is it expected to be fixed anytime in the near future?

Thank you.

[cooker]

I find that if I search for a post, I get the whole thread - hard to find one post in a 20 page thread.

[Jakedatc]

"This forum requires that you wait 30 seconds between searches. Please try again in 17 seconds."

This BS is also frustrating. You misspell a word or not search for the right term and you have to wait 30 seconds to try again.. what is the point in that? screw it.. i'll just post a new thread

[Machka]

I find that if I search for a post, I get the whole thread - hard to find one post in a 20 page thread.

Yep! I've got the same issue.

[botto]

correct.

[Camilo]

Search still seems to be defective. I've tried to save my preferences - search by posts (not threads), list by date in descending order. It doesn't save my preferences. (I do hit the "save preferences" button).

I don't know if the results are haphazardly defective or there is a pattern, but it won't pull up any of my own posts made since Sept. 2009.

I love this forum and hope the search function can be repaired. I'm wondering why it is so difficult? Other forums I use appear to use the same software and don't have these problems.

But, not intending to gripe too much - Good luck and thanks for your work.

[Tom Stormcrowe]

You used a single word search, is the issue. If you search "electrolytes, training and nutrition", you get results. I just did that search and got the following results, 68 in total, this is just the first page.

* Search
* Search Results

Search:

Keyword(s): electrolytes, Training and Nutrition

Page 1 of 4
1 2 3 4 Next

* Jump to page:

Search: Search took 1.5 seconds.

1.
Go to first new post "sports nutrition"
Posted By Richard Cranium in forum Training & Nutrition
* Replies: 9
* Views: 277

Last Post By:
Last Post: 02-26-03 08:35 PM
by RWTD Go to last post

2.
Go to first new post 12-mile ride + 3 gallons of water kills DC Cop
Posted By DCCommuter in forum Advocacy & Safety

2 Pages •
1 2

1 Deleted Post(s) 2 Attachment(s)
* Replies: 43
* Views: 1,670

Last Post By:
Last Post: 08-25-05 01:23 PM
by myates1980 Go to last post

3.
Go to first new post Advice please re distance training program
Posted By RFC in forum Long Distance Cycling
* Replies: 12
* Views: 410

Last Post By:
Last Post: 04-04-09 12:55 AM
by RFC Go to last post

4.
Go to first new post Age = Longer Warm-Ups??
Posted By Velo Fellow in forum Fifty Plus (50+)

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 40
* Views: 437

Last Post By:
Last Post: 08-30-08 01:51 AM
by lhbernhardt Go to last post

5.
Go to first new post Are SPIN classes good enough for training to do a metric?
Posted By cantdrv55 in forum Training & Nutrition
* Replies: 18
* Views: 428

Last Post By:
Last Post: 02-13-07 09:36 PM
by pityr Go to last post

6.
Go to first new post Bass Lake Powerhouse Double do I need my triple
Posted By longslow in forum Long Distance Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 38
* Views: 703

Last Post By:
Last Post: 10-21-08 05:43 PM
by Rick@OCRR Go to last post

7.
Go to first new post Bass Lake Powerhouse or Furnace Creek Doubles Anyone?
Posted By MTBMaven in forum Southern California
* Replies: 18
* Views: 280

Last Post By:
Last Post: 10-16-08 05:53 PM
by Rick@OCRR Go to last post

8.
Go to first new post Beach2Battleship Triathlon Race Report
Posted By tombiowami in forum Triathlon
* Replies: 2
* Views: 150

Last Post By:
Last Post: 11-04-08 11:27 AM
by caelric Go to last post

9.
Go to first new post Bonking to lose weight?
Posted By Smorgasbord42 in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 51
* Views: 1,280

Last Post By:
Last Post: 11-16-07 02:17 PM
by kensuf Go to last post

10.
Go to first new post calories burned, seem low
Posted By krazyderek in forum Road Cycling
* Replies: 18
* Views: 521

Last Post By:
Last Post: 03-10-06 11:13 AM
by Squint Go to last post

11.
Go to first new post Can the "Bonk" be undone?
Posted By donrhummy in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 44
* Views: 961

Last Post By:
Last Post: 05-19-06 03:37 AM
by DannoXYZ Go to last post

12.
Go to first new post Commuters = Elite Athletes??
Posted By Hydrated in forum Commuting

3 Pages •
1 2 3

* Replies: 70
* Views: 1,706

Last Post By:
Last Post: 02-04-08 11:54 AM
by orlick Go to last post

13.
Go to first new post Completed my first tri today
Posted By Shazaam in forum Triathlon
* Replies: 10
* Views: 176

Last Post By:
Last Post: 09-17-08 02:54 PM
by Shazaam Go to last post

14.
Go to first new post Cramping
Posted By Machka in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 31
* Views: 410

Last Post By:
Last Post: 01-13-10 09:02 AM
by Garfield Cat Go to last post

15.
Go to first new post Cyclist dies of Over-Hydration
Posted By tribe3 in forum Road Cycling
* Replies: 6
* Views: 403

Last Post By:
Last Post: 08-11-05 09:05 PM
by Guest Go to last post

16.
Go to first new post Do you drink/eat enough on longer rides?
Posted By patentcad in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 51
* Views: 791

Last Post By:
Last Post: 03-01-06 10:56 AM
by recursive Go to last post

17.
Go to first new post Does anyone drink just plain water?
Posted By cantdrv55 in forum Road Cycling

3 Pages •
1 2 3

1 Deleted Post(s)
* Replies: 74
* Views: 1,697

Last Post By:
Last Post: 08-24-07 01:04 PM
by Treker Go to last post

18.
Go to first new post Electrolytes and nutrition on long rides
Posted By chewybrian in forum Long Distance Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

1 Deleted Post(s)
* Replies: 40
* Views: 1,213

Last Post By:
Last Post: 01-26-09 11:11 PM
by ericgu Go to last post

19.
Go to first new post Electrolyte maintenance on long, hot rides
Posted By Uni-Vibe in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

* Replies: 46
* Views: 643

Last Post By:
Last Post: 01-16-10 09:46 PM
by clarkgriswold Go to last post

20.
Go to first new post Electrolyte use
Posted By JoelS in forum Road Cycling

2 Pages •
1 2

1 Deleted Post(s)
* Replies: 38
* Views: 1,067

Last Post By:
Last Post: 08-04-09 04:30 PM
by orcanova Go to last post

"The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search:
electrolytes"

So which is it? Is the word "electrolytes" too common to search on in the Training and Nutrition forum? Is the word too long? Is it too short? Whose idea was it that a person would not be able to search on the word "electrolytes" on a cycling forum??????????????

[botto]

why is a single word search such a difficult thing to do?

tom, it's been two months since we became vbulletins guinea pigs. do they plan on ever addressing the significant issues with the search engine?

[Tom Stormcrowe]

It has to do with the type of search algorithm and limiters. Single word search actually slows down the search so much that it times out and you get a null result. Adding additional qualifiers to narrow the search parameters makes the search operate more effectively. The search engine generally works when I use it, but at times, the indexing needs to be reset. That's been an issue for a long time now and was that way on the old software as well.

why is a single word search such a difficult thing to do?

tom, it's been two months since we became vbulletins guinea pigs. do they plan on ever addressing the significant issues with the search engine?

[botto]

It has to do with the type of search algorithm and limiters. Single word search actually slows down the search so much that it times out and you get a null result. Adding additional qualifiers to narrow the search parameters makes the search operate more effectively. The search engine generally works when I use it, but at times, the indexing needs to be reset. That's been an issue for a long time now and was that way on the old software as well.

the old software, warts and all, could run circles around the current search engine - which is useless.

[DannoXYZ]

How do we show individual posts in a long thread? It used to list by posts. Say I want to search for all the posts I made in a 50-page thread, I used to be able to search by my username and it would list the 1st line of each post so I can find the exact one. Now the list-by-posts only shows the title of the thread itself without any way of getting to the actual post. I can click on the thread-name and it takes me to the 1st page. Or I can click on the username and go to their profile. But no way to get to the actual post #27, 55, 92, etc.

[Erick L]

I can't use the search at all. It keeps telling me the words are too long, too short or too common wether I use one or multiple words.

[umd]

Hey, did you guys change the advanced search defaults to what I outlined in my "how to search" thread? If so, that's pretty cool and thanks for listening.

Edit: Doh, except now the results page sucks.

1 step forward, 2 steps back.

[docsurf]

Hi Tom,
Sorry if this has been addressed, but I didn't see it...I want to search for products made by Seattle Sports. It pulls up posts/threads with either word. I tried to use quotations, commas and plus (+) signs without luck. So how do I search with multiple words?

Thanks,
Doc