search function

[soul05]

is it me or did the search function make searches broader? before the update, i'd be able to search something specific and itll give me at most 10 threads about it. now, if i look for the same thing, i'd get something like 10 pages instead.

i really liked the old search function, even though it would give me some old posts, it was still easier to find what you're looking for. now its like looking for a needle in a haystack.

 

[oldsoldier]

try using advanced search or tightening up your search terms. Without specifics I really can't help you.

 

[kiwivap]

I've found the same thing. Before the search results were specific - it would bring up threads with the search term in the thread titles, or the post in the thread specifically dealing with that topic. Now it brings up all sorts of threads and finding the actual topic means having to wade through pages of posts.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Same thing here. Is there anyway to get search results as posts, not threads?

 

[Snapdragon]

I've only been here for a couple of weeks and when I first signed on the search feature was awesome! Now I can't even find treads on drip tips!!! Very frustrating. I really enjoyed this forum and started to learn a lot. Now it just seems like an unproductive time-suck. In my experience Googling points you to more specific info on this site then you can actually find by searching here.

I sure hope that changes or new folks likely won't be able to find what they need.

 

[soul05]

im glad im not the only one!

but yeah...i pretty much stopped using the search option after its changed. i really cant find anything really referencing my search string. on top of that, it displays the search results as recently posted, so you'll find a lot of questions and not so much answers. ive reverted to searching what i need on google instead of through the website.

 

[antfuzz]

try using advanced search or tightening up your search terms. Without specifics I really can't help you.

I think what he's trying to say is the Google search box is missing again. I know this happened several times before after the site has been updated.

 

[smacuser]

I don't like this new search function either.

With the old Google assisted search, I was able to get straight to the info. Now, I need to back out of ECF and type my search in Google and add "e-cigarette-forum", instead of having to sift through what seems to be a ton of non-related topics.

Kind of a pain.

I feel I might need to look at other forums now to see if I can get faster information

 

[sonicdsl]

I don't like this new search function either.

With the old Google assisted search, I was able to get straight to the info. Now, I need to back out of ECF and type my search in Google and add "e-cigarette-forum", instead of having to sift through what seems to be a ton of non-related topics.

Kind of a pain.

I feel I might need to look at other forums now to see if I can get faster information

Have you tried the Advanced Search? It allows you to get pretty broad or specific.

 

[antfuzz]

For better search results using Google try using this.

vamo site:e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/

Replace "vamo" with whatever query you want.

ECF used to have this search box on the site but since the latest upgrade it disappeared.

 

[Cyrus Vap]

Thats good stuff ant

I really miss being able to get posts as my search results though

 

[smacuser]

Have you tried the Advanced Search? It allows you to get pretty broad or specific.

Yes I did, kinda-sorta. Maybe there's a real reason we can't have the google-assisted search anymore. I could make one inquiry and find what I'm looking for relatively easy. Do it now, and a ton of seemingly unrelated threads come up. Maybe it's me, but the advanced search requires a higher thought process I am, at times, unwilling to exercise.

 

[cbfairbanks]

Ok, good. I thought it was just me being a noob, but I agree with everyone else. When I am looking for something, I don't want to have to go to an advanced search function and think about what logarithm is going to be crunching my query in order to use only the specific words I want searched, or what words to tell it not to search, or anything like that. I should be able to type in "quick steeping methods" and get results that I can be relatively confident will be associated to what I want to read about. Getting back 10 pages that have to be sifted through is a pain in the posterior.

 

[tiburonfirst]

it doesn't look as if this thread is being monitored anymore - sarge is usually pretty quick to update on developments. caridwen posted around 2 weeks ago that the search function was still being worked on, but that was the last posted on this subject.
i know the google search was deemed an accomplishment and great improvement when it was implemented not all that long ago;
but anybody who's been here for a while knows very well what's possible with one version of vb might not be doable with the next ... sigh
let's hope sarge will provide an update for all of you who are missing the google search box

 

[oldsoldier]

Nothing new to say, its all been said before

ECF search works quite well if you feed it properly - like with Google GIGO applies.


As for the other stuff, there are still more updates in store and we are working on fixing things that are broken with the latest upgrade. ECF has a lot of custom coding so it is not always simple or quick to fix things.

The google search box was on one of the old, unsupported templates. Implementations on the new templates were problematic, as was evidenced by the reports and complaints we received over it redirecting to the google CSE page instead of going to the search.

We're working on fixing search but I can assure you it works very well, you just cant feed it wide terms and expect narrow answers, ECF has millions of posts that are indexed so you have to get specific in order to get good results. Use your GoogleFu and remember that your google results are weighted Google decides what it thinks you want based on your search history.