What Happened to Advanced Search?

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Specifically, the list in the "Search in Categories" box does not reflect the Forums or any subset thereof that I can see. It used to mimic the forum structure.

[TaoJones]

Try this:

[Feral Cement]

My "Advanced Search" is working fine, so long as I use the right keyword. After you click "AS" you'll see the list of sub-forums on the right side, down about a half a page.

Hope this helps.....

John

[Surveyor]

There is also this rather hideous looking link that works like a charm:

Cruisers & Sailing Forum

edit:
lol well it mysteriously transforms into a very attractive link...

[Chief Engineer]

I am not enamored of the search function

I may be using it incorrectly

[Chief Engineer]

Try advanced search yanmar 2gm

nothing

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Surveyor

There is also this rather hideous looking link that works like a charm:

Cruisers & Sailing Forum

edit:
lol well it mysteriously transforms into a very attractive link...

This accomplishes the same thing, but much faster, Surveyor. The link you're using is an old temporary way to use Google Custom Search before it was made a part of the Search function at CF.

[Chief Engineer]

Advanced search whole word Yanmar zero, zilch

what am I doing wrong?

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

Try advanced search yanmar 2gm

nothing

Try it in Google Custom Search, Chief. Surprise yourself!

The built-in vBulletin Search function is worse than useless, but the Google Custom Search is da bomb! http://www.google.com/cse?siteurl=ww...nmar+2gm&sa=Go

TaoJones

[Feral Cement]

I clicked "Advanced Search', then typed "Yanmar" in the keyword spot, hit "enter" and got the maximum 20 pages of posts that talk about Yanmars (at 25 per page, that's 500 hits).

I think it helps when you click on "Advanced Search" BEFORE you type in your search criteria.

John

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Feral Cement and Surveyor,
Thanks for your help but I don't usually have problems finding what I am searching for, especially with the built in Google function. After reading the replies to my original post, I performed a modest amount of forum sleuthing.

Here is what is freaky: The link TaoJones pointed out in the middle of the Search dropdown menu
(Cruisers & Sailing Forums - Search Forums) works fine.
The "Advanced Search" link at the bottom of the same list
(Links- Search) reflects the problem I first posted about. The "links" version appears to reflect a much older configuration of the Forums collective.

Given the widespread preference for Google search, perhaps those two php search functions/links should be disabled as no longer worth the effort to maintain. If the technical folks want a quick fix, just change the two hyperlink destinations to correspond.

[FrankZ]

Originally Posted by Feral Cement

I clicked "Advanced Search', then typed "Yanmar" in the keyword spot, hit "enter" and got the maximum 20 pages of posts that talk about Yanmars (at 25 per page, that's 500 hits).

I think it helps when you click on "Advanced Search" BEFORE you type in your search criteria.

John

And the search is limited to 500 hits.

[dacust]

If you want to do the same thing as advanced search, google custoM, etc., but without the limit to the number of returned results, try this.

In a regular Google search, put your search word(s) followed by a space, then the keword "site" followed by a colon, then www.cruisersforum.com

Like this:

yanmar site:www.cruisersforum.com

When I do it, I get:

About 26,400 results (0.36 seconds)

FYI: This technique that works for any site and you may find it useful.
FYI2: This technique may work on other search engines. Might be a different syntax.

-dan

[TaoJones]

The problem with your technique, dacust, is that your search term is too broad. If, instead of just typing yanmar, you type yanmar 2gm, the result is 167 not 26,400. I think that adding the additional detail enables one to drill down to more relevant results. It sure bears wading through 26,400 hits to find what you're looking for.

TaoJones

[dacust]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

The problem with your technique, dacust, is that your search term is too broad. If, instead of just typing yanmar, you type yanmar 2gm, the result is 167 not 26,400. I think that adding the additional detail enables one to drill down to more relevant results. It sure bears wading through 26,400 hits to find what you're looking for.

TaoJones

Yep. I was just showing that there is not limit to the number of results returned that way. Obviously you can narrow your results down by being more specific.

-dan