Newbies, junk lure threads and the search function.

[FD.]

I have been hanging around for a while now and I have noticed a few things.

Newbies, which I still consider myself compared to many of you, often ask about junk lures and other "stuff" that constantly bombards us on Saturday morning TV.

These questions are usually met with posts about how bad this stuff is and how many times it has been discussed then a curt reply to "search" and you will find out all about them. This is followed by a moderator with polite instructions to search and then the thread is closed.

My problem is with the search function itself. While it may be a piece of cake for you computer savy members, it is not at all user friendly to those of us with limited computer skills. I still have problems finding information using the search function.

Lastly, I wonder how many things other than "junk lures" have been discussed in hundreds of threads without being closed. I would imagine that nearly every topic is a repeat of something that has been discussed in detail in the past.

This might just be a rant on my part to be ignored, or maybe an opportunity to examine how to treat these threads in the future.

[Paul Roberts]

The search function is pretty unwieldy and limited in effectiveness. Try using Google, although you really do need to use a specific phrase (in "") for what you are looking for.

[Stringjam]

I don't trip over repeated topics......it's the nature of discussion forums.  

Although the same questions get asked over many times, there are new experiences or members that might have relevant info to add to the topic that may not have been around the last time it came up.  

If we only posted about things that have never been talked about, then this place (and most every discussion forum) would have to be shut down.  

[LooksLikeSinbad]

I'm not sure why you are having problems with the search function, it works well for me.  First, try checking the "Display only one result per thread?" box to eliminate repeat results.  And make sure you specify if you want to search the subject line, the message or both.

[BUCKEYEone]

I will say I agree that the search function can be confusing.  The easy and obvious (for newbies) way to search is to just type in what you want to search for in the search window next to the magnifying glass on the upper right.  However, it took me a couple of newbie posts and gentler "why don't you try searching for it" remarks before I figured out how much more beneficial it is to click on search (right between "help" and "members") on the toolbar.  I think a lot of folks, especially newbies just assume you get the same search results from the window search as you do by clicking the search tab.  My advice would be to simply take away the quick search window so everyone has to use the search tab

[-nick-]

I agree it's hard to get the specific answer your looking for when you use the search tool. Sometimes you can but most the time I try it I can't find exactly what I'm looking for.

[tyrius.]

The two biggest things that one must consider when searching this forum is that the default is set to select all posts within one thread that has the search terms.  One gets much better results if they limit this to one post per thread.  That's an option in the search function.

The second thing is that the default search time frame is only the past week.   That's not much history to be searching.  I typically always change that to at least a year.

Other than that, I wish I could type in a username in the By User field instead of opening the search by user and then typing in the name and clicking on it.

[Paul Roberts]

One gets much better results if they limit this to one post per thread.  That's an option in the search function.

Ahhhhh..that might help.

[Avalonjohn44]

Maybe the Mods can just block the word Banjo.  Especially in conjunction with the word minnow.

[SimonSays]

The two biggest things that one must consider when searching this forum is that the default is set to select all posts within one thread that has the search terms.  One gets much better results if they limit this to one post per thread.  That's an option in the search function.

The second thing is that the default search time frame is only the past week.   That's not much history to be searching.  I typically always change that to at least a year.

Other than that, I wish I could type in a username in the By User field instead of opening the search by user and then typing in the name and clicking on it.

Tyrius said it all, the secrets to running a search on the forums, searching 1 year back might take a little bit longer than searching the past week, so be patient!

[J Francho]

I just use google, and prefix my search terms with

www.bassresource.com: