# The new search system- problems, observations, issues



## WebmasterAlex

Please use this thread to post any problems, observations or issues with the new search system


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## WebmasterKathy

Will the "New Posts" link be enabled again?


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## Dan Murphy

The 'advanced search' seems very limited, unless I am missing something.  It is quick though.

Also, just tried a search using my name and came up with nothing found.


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## mickman1962

I agree with Dan, it's pretty much useless.


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## donaldduck1967

I see no difference between search and advanced search


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## munchkin bunchkin

Still not working here.


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## EEYOREMAMA

I keep getting error messages.  If I click on "NEW POSTS," I receive the message *Searching has been disabled.*   Not working for me at all.


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## smjj

The only options are 'date thread was started' and 'revelency'. Both are useless. Please fix or bring back the old search. This one stinks!!!...smjj


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## Hank's R&R

I hate to say it but this new search's Advance Search is practically useless... I searched a term that would come up with 20-30 threads on the old search, but the new search only brought up 1.


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## PixiePop

I tried to do a search and came up with "search disabled".


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## steve_rob

smjj said:
			
		

> The only options are 'date thread was started' and 'revelency'. Both are useless. Please fix or bring back the old search. This one stinks!!!...smjj


Once you're on the Search page, if you can only see these two options, then you have to click on the "Advanced Search" link on this page to bring up the extra options such as what forum to search, search by username etc.

Though I would still like to see the "Search titles only" (e.g. not body text) option come back. I found that very useful.


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## EEYOREMAMA

It's not whether the search engine is working (which may be a problem), but I can't click on "New Posts".  This has been disabled.


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## NJBlackBerry

Yep - without "New Posts" the forum is difficult to use.  OK, impossible to use.


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## Dan Murphy

For Category Search, does the new system use some sort of AI to determine the logical category?  How does it know if something is 'Arts A Humanities', or 'Culture & Society' or 'Social Science', or other categories?  Sounds neat though.

Also, I thought the prior method of 'Date Searching' gave more choices, and also the 'before or after' was very useful; this seems to be only 'after'. 

Additionally, I thought the 'Least and Most' was very helpful at times, as was the 'Sort by' function.  And, as mentioned above, having searching choice of  total post or just title is missed, as is the choice of searching for posts that the user posted in, OP or not, or was the OP.

I have not tried it yet, not sure how accurate the member name has to be.  The prior system allowed you to uncheck the 'Exact Name' box, so if you, for example were searching for Dan Murphy, but did not know if I had an 'e' in my last name, you could enter 'dan murp' only, unchecked the 'Exact Name' box, and it would find me, maybe some others, but it would catch me too.

Searching within a thread does not work.

Overall, I say it is pretty rudimentary and basic.  It does seem to have speeded up the board operation.


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## hollydog

EEYOREMAMA said:
			
		

> I keep getting error messages.  If I click on "NEW POSTS," I receive the message *Searching has been disabled.*   Not working for me at all.



I'm also getting this message and can't do a new post.






Jennifer


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## mickman1962

steve_rob said:
			
		

> Once you're on the Search page, if you can only see these two options, then you have to click on the "Advanced Search" link on this page to bring up the extra options such as what forum to search, search by username etc.
> 
> Though I would still like to see the "Search titles only" (e.g. not body text) option come back. I found that very useful.




Except if I search by user name it always comes back with 0 results


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## BeccaGrace

It's not letting me search other posts by a user.  If you click on the user's name and then try to check their other posts it says the function is disabled and if you go into their member page the only option now is checking threads they started where it used to be threads they started and posts made.  This function is useful when you remember something someone said but can't recall where they said it and checking your own past posts.


Overall I'm finding the new search functions more trouble than they are worth.  Way too many messages telling me it's disabled or finding no matches when I know they exist. Very frustrating!


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## smjj

steve_rob said:
			
		

> Once you're on the Search page, if you can only see these two options, then you have to click on the "Advanced Search" link on this page to bring up the extra options such as what forum to search, search by username etc.
> 
> Though I would still like to see the "Search titles only" (e.g. not body text) option come back. I found that very useful.



Tried it. It still stinks. I search for my username and it comes up with no matches..smjj


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## Rhonda

smjj said:
			
		

> Tried it. It still stinks. I search for my username and it comes up with no matches..smjj



Same here.  I know there's a thread where my name is mentioned on the Resorts board, but when I do a search for the word "rhonda" it says there are no matches.


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## dee slack

if I search on a particular forum (ie parks) it says disabled, but if I search from the all forums (on the bar, above) it lets me search.

Also, I'm unable to find all posts from a particular person from the drop down list that appears when I click on their name.


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## BoardTracker

smjj said:
			
		

> Tried it. It still stinks. I search for my username and it comes up with no matches..smjj


Not sure what exactly you searched for but it does find results for your username. 



			
				Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> Also, just tried a search using my name and came up with nothing found.


There was a small bug affecting usernames with a space like yours, it has been fixed.


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## SplshMtn99

BeccaGrace said:
			
		

> It's not letting me search other posts by a user.  If you click on the user's name and then try to check their other posts it says the function is disabled and if you go into their member page the only option now is checking threads they started where it used to be threads they started and posts made.  This function is useful when you remember something someone said but can't recall where they said it and checking your own past posts.



Ditto!!!!   I used that feature/link CONSTANTLY!!!!

Will there be or is there a way to do this now that the link is gone?


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## smjj

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Not sure what exactly you searched for but it does find results for your username.
> 
> 
> There was a small bug affecting usernames with a space like yours, it has been fixed.



Just tried it again and still no luck. It gives me one result that was almost 1 month old. The old search was such that you could plug in your username and it would come back with threads you posted to in *date sequence*. It now has them displayed in no order that I can see. This function was very useful when you were gone for a week or so and wanted to search for post you had made or responded to...smjj


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## WebmasterKathy

smjj said:
			
		

> Tried it. It still stinks. I search for my username and it comes up with no matches..smjj





			
				BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Not sure what exactly you searched for but it does find results for your username.



When I search on username smjj, the most recent hit I get is from August 6. smjj obviously has posts on this thread (as well as many others more recent than the hit), and those are not found by the search. Not very helpful...


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## BoardTracker

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> When I search on username smjj, the most recent hit I get is from August 6. smjj obviously has posts on this thread (as well as many others more recent than the hit), and those are not found by the search. Not very helpful...



This is because it is a thread search not reply search. It will search all threads started by a user.


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## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> This is because it is a thread search not reply search. It will search all threads started by a user.


Not all that helpful, BT.  Many, many more people reply to threads rather than start them.  Many never start a thread, only reply.   Those folks are not searchable.  

As example, on Theme park board, there are (as of the moment) 96,644 threads listed, 1,099,128 replies; an 11.3:1 ratio.  And that is on a board where numbers of replies per thread are small.  On other boards, where the back and forth chatter goes on infinitum, the the thread:reply ratio would be even greater.  Many, many search items are missed that way, in fact, most.

Example, I did a search on you, BT, seeing as you have been around since '05, but have not started any threads, you can't be found.


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## WebmasterKathy

A search that only hits the starting post of each thread is not at all useful for me.


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## shortbun

Seach has been disabled 
that's the response I receive. Is there a new area to click on because I don't see any options to define the search.
Thanks!


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## smjj

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> A search that only hits the starting post of each thread is not at all useful for me.



 DITTO. As it is now, I will not be using it very much as if is inferior to the one it replaces. I want to see post I *responded to* not just the start of a thread...smjj


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

Is there some way to search by new/recent posts? I miss being able to search by New Posts!!!


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## kayeandjim00

I agree with the others - pretty much useless


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## mickeysgal

I used to do a search on my user name to see those posts that I've contributed to, but not subscribed to.  I can't seem to do that anymore.  Searching on my user name only shows those threads that I've _started_.  Apparently posting to a thread doesn't automatically subscribe you, so now what can I do to find those threads?


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## eeyoreiscool

By not being able to see all the posts that either others or I have replied to, I find the new searching useless for me as well.


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## GIOny

I agree these boards are useless without a "new posts" option  .  Is everyone talking about the "search" that is at the top of the thread next to "new Posts"?  Because there use to be one that was at the bottom of the page that you could enter a seach with key words or the persons name, that's the one I liked but I haven't had that in quite awhile (at least I haven't been able to find it).  I also liked when you could look at the bottom of the thread and there would be related threads.  All these features enhanced the boards.


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## pixiepower1971

Not being able to search for new posts really stinks. That is the fastest way to "catch up" with whats is going on or hot topics.


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## BoardTracker

The main aim of this search is to find info on a specific topic and since usually all posted replies should relate to the thread they are posted in you will find very relevant results when performing such a search.

Also you can further refine search by category and by forum and related forums giving you more ways to find info.

You can sort results by relevancy or by date so for example you can see the latest threads matching your search term. You can also restrict the scope of search by day, week, month, year or all time.. using this you can easily see/search all the threads posted in the last day.

You can search for threads by specific users including threads matching a search term, by a specifc user but searching for replies by users is limited at the moment although we are also working on this. 

Of course another 'feature' of this search is that all the processing is done on our servers which removes all the load issues from disboards normally caused by the internal search and should result in faster board performance in general.


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## NJBlackBerry

And if the search features (and New Posts) fail, it will most assuredly lessen the load on the servers as people give up and move on to another board, or at least spend less time on one.

When is "New Posts" going to work again?


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## EEYOREMAMA

NJBlackBerry said:
			
		

> And if the search features (and New Posts) fail, it will most assuredly lessen the load on the servers as people give up and move on to another board, or at least spend less time on one.
> 
> When is "New Posts" going to work again?



I was just about to click off when I saw your post.  Agree 100%


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

NJBlackBerry said:
			
		

> And if the search features (and New Posts) fail, it will most assuredly lessen the load on the servers as people give up and move on to another board, or at least spend less time on one.


Yep


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## NJBlackBerry

I guess that shows how serious this problem is - normally I am the thread killer


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## smjj

Well it looks as if the new search engine will do what it is intended to do. It will decrease the load on the server. It will decrease it because it does not function as people here would like it to and people will stop using it. Its just another case where others tell us what we need and don't listen to what we tell them we want. The only reason I used the search was to track my most resent post and that of others. It worked great and was very quick. That is what I want back and it seems I am not alone....smjj


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## Chuck S

We really need the "find all posts by user search option".


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## bengalbelle

NJBlackBerry said:
			
		

> And if the search features (and New Posts) fail, it will most assuredly lessen the load on the servers as people give up and move on to another board, or at least spend less time on one.
> 
> *When is "New Posts" going to work again*?


I wish someone would answer this question.


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## TeresaMc

Well I have found the search by topic somewhat useful....but that usefulness is far les that the "new posts" function.  If I had my choice I'd take the "new posts" function back in a heartbeat.  Without it the boards are very difficult to navigate......


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## minnie61650

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> The 'advanced search' seems very limited, unless I am missing something.  It is quick though.
> 
> Also, just tried a search using my name and came up with nothing found.




I agree. The search is way too limited!


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## minnie61650

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> A search that only hits the starting post of each thread is not at all useful for me.



ITA


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## travelbug

Chuck S said:
			
		

> We really need the "find all posts by user search option".


I agree!  That's what I've used the search function for almost every time.  The "advanced search"  doesn't seem at all advanced.


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## dpuck1998

Just like everyone else it seems, I used the search to find post I have been involved in.  Without the ability to search for those post the search feature is worthless to me.  Honestly, I can't spend the time trying to find all the post that I have posted to and without being able to search for them my posting days are numbered.


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## WebmasterAlex

Ok how about we reduce the stress level a few notches!
As I said this is new, we are working on it right now.
We do realize a  lot of these things are neccesary


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## Space Ranger

I don't like the new search. The advanced search is very limited.


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## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> The main aim of *this* search is to find info on a specific topic...


So, BT, would I be correct, when you refer to *this* search, to think your firm does have other searches available, ones that would be more relavant to this particular BB?

ETA---I just clicked on the 'Find More Posts By WB Alex' and it just brings me to a general search page.     I was going to see if he posted any links on any of the other boards to direct folks from them to respond here to get a more overall consensus of how the new search is working.  Can't do it.


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## agnes!

Honest opinion?  Welllllllll...I guess I don't really like it much.  What was wrong with the old Search engine?  

A couple of thoughts...
Just did a search and no posts past August 6th were showing up.
The Advanced Search doesn't seem very advanced to me.  I can't do a title/subject search as easily as I used to be able to do.
The "dog" is cute, but what exactly is his/her purpose?  Is it to slow posters down or something?  Were people hitting the "Search" button too often while beginning a Search and gumming up the system?    Really, I'm interested, I'd like to know.
This seems to be a "fix" that solves an internal issue affecting customer satisfaction but it also has the unwanted result of making the general technology in question less useful to the customer.

agnes!
PS - This is OT, but has anyone here "ever had a shock"  ?


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Ok how about we reduce the stress level a few notches!
> As I said this is new, we are working on it right now.
> We do realize a  lot of these things are neccesary



I don't see anybody stressing! Just the posting of honest observations, problems, and issues like you requested!


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## tmt martins

At lease the NEW POST is not disabled .

But what good does it do to just bring you to the general search.

I'm and most don't really stick to a certian thread or area of the forum .

You have also done such a great job at adding different ones as well now you have to go through each one to see if YOU CAN HELP or that it's something that can help you.

It does look like you will be getting a lot more hits and cross activity.It also will put more pressure on the MODS to move things around that don't belong or could get more answers that are in the wrong area as well.


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## mrFDNY

Hi all,
   Is there anyway that the "new post" option will be enabled again.Usally i log in and hit "new post" to see what's been happening that day or what i missed.


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## DizGeek

I got an idea....how about when we click on "new posts" its shows new posts instead of a search engine...and if we want to do a search, we click on "search"....works for me.


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## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> So, BT, would I be correct, when you refer to *this* search, to think your firm does have other searches available, ones that would be more relavant to this particular BB?
> 
> ETA---I just clicked on the 'Find More Posts By WB Alex' and it just brings me to a general search page.     I was going to see if he posted any links on any of the other boards to direct folks from them to respond here to get a more overall consensus of how the new search is working.  Can't do it.



By "this search" I was refering to boardtracker search specifically.

As Alex posted above this is a 'work in progress' in terms of integration. The features such as 'todays posts' or 'new posts' are not actually search functions even though in vbulletin they are handled by the search.php script so we are working on enabling those specific features here.


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## Dan Murphy

I see.  Thanks, BT.

Is there any method currently (I know I might be missing something) to find all posts from a particular poster?  We used to have the Member List function, but that has been disabled for a long time.  The most commonly used method to find a poster since then was to click on the link I mentioned a few posts prior, or click on the Public Profile link in a user's name, then click on the 'find all posts by user' or the 'find all threads started by user' links.


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## DVC Daisy

Chuck S said:
			
		

> We really need the "find all posts by user search option".




  And sometimes it is really, really needed!


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## BoardTracker

agnes! said:
			
		

> Just did a search and no posts past August 6th were showing up.


There are threads right up to today.. 



> The Advanced Search doesn't seem very advanced to me.  I can't do a title/subject search as easily as I used to be able to do.


How do you mean? To do such a search is even easier than before and will return much more relevant results.. you don't actually need to specify 'search only in titles' anymore since it will automatically search based on relevance and matches in titles result in higher relevance. Many of the options on the old search are simply not required to get relevant results with boardtracker search since its a proper search engine designed for full text searching of large amounts of data.



> The "dog" is cute, but what exactly is his/her purpose?  Is it to slow posters down or something?


It's just there to indicate that the search is in progress so you dont think its not working while the results are being fetched from our servers.


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## EEYOREMAMA

DizGeek said:
			
		

> I got an idea....how about when we click on "new posts" its shows new posts instead of a search engine...and if we want to do a search, we click on "search"....works for me.



I never thought I'd agree with a geek


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## CarolMN

Search does not work when I search for any posts with my screen name.

In old engine I could enter my screen name  and get back all posts I had made.  Generally limited it to one or two forums and a week.

When I use new system, it says it found no matches.  NOT TRUE!  I have definitely posted since last week, LOL.

Carol


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## Dan Murphy

I have a hypothetical (well actually, a somewhat periodic occurrence, not a hypo).

Let's say I come across a real new poster who has replied on a thread with a spam post.  In the past, I would report that post to the moderator folk on that board, and then do a quick search for more on other boards (most often there are more spams on other boards), using the 'find all posts by this poster' function, and then report those to those boards' respective moderator folk.  How would that be accomplished now, either for a regular folk like myself, or a moderator type folk even??  Spammer is only posting replies, not doing OP's.


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## BoardTracker

CarolMN said:
			
		

> Search does not work when I search for any posts with my screen name.
> 
> In old engine I could enter my screen name  and get back all posts I had made.  Generally limited it to one or two forums and a week.
> 
> When I use new system, it says it found no matches.  NOT TRUE!  I have definitely posted since last week, LOL.
> 
> Carol


I get 4 pages of threads for your username.. the board wont let me post the direct search link here as an example, but anyway make sure you are entering your username in the username box, not the search box.


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## disneyjunkie

Add me to the list of posters who miss the New Posts option.


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## Tinkerbells mom

I really, really miss the new posts search. Any way to get that back?


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## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> I have a hypothetical (well actually, a somewhat periodic occurrence, not a hypo).
> 
> Let's say I come across a real new poster who has replied on a thread with a spam post.  In the past, I would report that post to the moderator folk on that board, and then do a quick search for more on other boards (most often there are more spams on other boards), using the 'find all posts by this poster' function, and then report those to those boards' respective moderator folk.  How would that be accomplished now, either for a regular folk like myself, or a moderator type folk even??  Spammer is only posting replies, not doing OP's.


Well the system can be configured to allow admins/moderators to access all the old search functions as well as the new so finding all user posts can be done as normal for those.


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## Master Mason

add me to the list of folks that want the new post button back as it was...


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## WillCAD

I'll just chime in as one of those odd people who use Advanced Search to find all posts (either new threads OR replies) that I have made in order to keep up with the topics I am watching. And it's important that those posts be displayed in reverse chronological order.

I also find some of the configuration of the new search nonsensical. when you go to the Advanced Search page, why do you then have to click another button to actually see the advanced seach options? The page should automatically, by default, show all of the advanced searching options. After all, why would you go to the Advanced Search page if you didn't want to see the advanced search options?

And as for the availability of the database BT, try this one:

Enter WillCAD in the User Name box; set Sort Results By to Thread Start Date; select Find Posts from A Week Ago; leave Categories on All Categories; leave Search in Forums on Search All Open Forums.

*Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.*

Like CarolMN, I certainly have posted within the last week.

Sorry, guys, but this new search simply doesn't get the job done.


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## WebmasterKathy

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> I have a hypothetical (well actually, a somewhat periodic occurrence, not a hypo).
> 
> Let's say I come across a real new poster who has replied on a thread with a spam post.  In the past, I would report that post to the moderator folk on that board, and then do a quick search for more on other boards (most often there are more spams on other boards), using the 'find all posts by this poster' function, and then report those to those boards' respective moderator folk.  How would that be accomplished now, either for a regular folk like myself, or a moderator type folk even??  Spammer is only posting replies, not doing OP's.



Actually, you should only need to report a spammer once. The moderator type folk (not exactly sure what that means   ) can take it from there, regular posters don't need to (and shouldn't) play moderator or junior detective.


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## SplshMtn99

I agree with everything that everyone has said they miss & would like back.  Now THAT's a first!!!

I really miss not being able to find my replies to any threads.
I really miss not being able to find all posts by any users.

Ya know, sometimes its best to ask people what they would like BEFORE you change things.  I have no problem with the searches being performed by another company, but with the way they are NOT working for us, it's just useless.


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## WebmasterAlex

SplshMtn99 said:
			
		

> I agree with everything that everyone has said they miss & would like back. Now THAT's a first!!!
> 
> I really miss not being able to find my replies to any threads.
> I really miss not being able to find all posts by any users.
> 
> Ya know, sometimes its best to ask people what they would like BEFORE you change things. I have no problem with the searches being performed by another company, but with the way they are NOT working for us, it's just useless.


 
Well that's why I said we are working on it!
There is no way I could have explained how all this was going to work before we tried it, we had to just try it
Patience gang!


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## emmabelle

I'm not loving the new search engine because I have my favorite threads that I usually type my name into the search and get them, but now it's only going back to threads that I posted on back in July, nothing for August.


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## WebmasterKathy

Again, for everyone who's angry- this is something that was being tried out. If it's not doing what we need it to do, I'm sure we won't be using it. 

Someone earlier asked why we were tinkering with the search at all. The reason is that the regular search function is extremely processor intensive. Doing searches that way puts tremendous load on the server, and slows the boards down.

For that reason, Pete and Alex were looking to see if there might be a better solution that would allow us to search without slowing down the boards, causing timeouts, and generally frustrating everyone. When we take search off the server, the boards fly. That's why they were trying this out.


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## BoardTracker

WillCAD said:
			
		

> I'll just chime in as one of those odd people who use Advanced Search to find all posts (either new threads OR replies) that I have made in order to keep up with the topics I am watching. And it's important that those posts be displayed in reverse chronological order.
> 
> I also find some of the configuration of the new search nonsensical. when you go to the Advanced Search page, why do you then have to click another button to actually see the advanced seach options? The page should automatically, by default, show all of the advanced searching options. After all, why would you go to the Advanced Search page if you didn't want to see the advanced search options?



Well the reason is when you search you get the results page with the search form still on top and your previous search options/term stored so you can modify if needed to search again. The old search had no form on the results page and you would have to click back to the search page each time to search again. To have the full search options open would fill most of the page and so not look very nice above results. 



> And as for the availability of the database BT, try this one:
> 
> *Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.*
> 
> Like CarolMN, I certainly have posted within the last week.


Have you posted new threads in the last week though or only replies to threads started by others? If you have then its possible they have just not been indexed yet.. since ours is an external system we don't have access to the db on this board and it being a very big board it takes some time to get all the existing threads indexed - we actually just added 37 forums to the list today which were previously not covered and so our spiders need to 'catchup' with existing threads on those forums while also indexing new threads in parallel.


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## spokanemom

bring back the new posts search.


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## SplshMtn99

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Well that's why I said we are working on it!
> There is no way I could have explained how all this was going to work before we tried it, we had to just try it
> Patience gang!



Sorry.
You asked for replies.


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## SplshMtn99

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Again, for everyone who's angry- this is something that was being tried out. If it's not doing what we need it to do, I'm sure we won't be using it.
> 
> Someone earlier asked why we were tinkering with the search at all. The reason is that the regular search function is extremely processor intensive. Doing searches that way puts tremendous load on the server, and slows the boards down.
> 
> For that reason, Pete and Alex were looking to see if there might be a better solution that would allow us to search without slowing down the boards, causing timeouts, and generally frustrating everyone. When we take search off the server, the boards fly. That's why they were trying this out.



I wasn't angry.  Just replied like we were asked to.   

Thank you very much for explaining that this was something they are just trying.  If it was explained like that before, I apologize, I didn't see it or read it that way.

I completely understood the demand the search puts on the server.

Good luck.  I'll go away now.


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## mickeyfan2

When I hit "New Posts" I get a new page and then when it is done there are not threads.  What am I doing wrong?


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## WebmasterAlex

We are making progress

New posts and todays post should now be working for everyone!


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## MEG&MINNIE

mrFDNY said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> Is there anyway that the "new post" option will be enabled again.Usally i log in and hit "new post" to see what's been happening that day or what i missed.


ME too,that's how I've used these boards and enjoyed them in the past ...can't we get back the NEW POST option again?   I'm lost !!!


----------



## TeresaMc

Yippee!!!! The "new posts" is working!!!  And the board is lightining fast!!!!   Progress has been made!!!!!


----------



## MEG&MINNIE

Yaaayyy , I just tried NEW POSTS and it works ...oh ,I'm so happy now !!!


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Well the system can be configured to allow admins/moderators to access all the old search functions as well as the new so finding all user posts can be done as normal for those.


Well that sounds like the total solution!!  How about for just the regular folks?





			
				WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Actually, you should only need to report a spammer once. The moderator type folk (not exactly sure what that means   ) can take it from there, regular posters don't need to (and shouldn't) play moderator or junior detective.


Sorry for trying to be of help.    

Moderator type folk?  A lot here, not sure if it is current or not... http://www.wdwinfo.com/disteam/index.htm  Play?  Hardly.  Been there, done that, thank you.

BT, one more post and you should be able to post links, 10 seems like the magical number.

And BT, how about if you change that question I asked (my error), about a spammer or such, and make it just a plain ole poster, can a search be done for that?


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

The 'New Posts' function works again...yay!   

The new search function is MUCH improved and quicker!!!   

Thank you!


----------



## bengalbelle

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> We are making progress
> 
> New posts and todays post should now be working for everyone!


Thanks!


----------



## EEYOREMAMA

Thank you.  I was patient (sort of)

 

Now, everything seems to be working. Yay!!!


----------



## LadyBears

I didn't read this whole thread, so I don't know if this was said yet, so I am just copying & pasting what I wrote on another thread about the new search system (I saw the other thread before I saw a thread that led me to this thread!)



I can deal with change if its for the better - yes this search is faster, but I find it less effective. I like the old search better.
I searched for me & it only returned 3 results from 2004! 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




 If it does this for my name, then what is the point of searching for what I what if it isn't going to bring me to where I want to be??? This new search is useless!!


----------



## minnie61650

Since I use an EVC at Disney I am always on the lookout for guests who post questions about EVC's and or WC's.

I will try to answer any questions they have and then direct to the disABILITIES board. If I feel they need more expert help I will PM SueM in MN so she can add her expert advice. A lot of these guests do not start a thread to ask a question about WC/EVC use. These questions often pop up several posts into a thread.

With the advanced search the way it is I may miss a lot of those members.

I know WC/EVC is not the most important issue discussed on these boards but I felt like I was able to help some fellow DIS members become more prepared and a little less stressed when planning a Disney trip for a member of their party who has special needs.

I really counted on the search function and since only the first post in each thread is searched at present time I fear I will miss a lot of people I could have helped in a small way.

I hope you get the bugs worked out soon.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

ok you should now be able to find "all posts by a user"


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Alex, you sure? When I select "SEARCH" from the toolbar then go to advanced search and search on your username  I still seem to only get hits on threads that you started. And if I click your username in a post, I see the "find all threads started by this poster" but not the "find all posts" link.


----------



## dpuck1998

Maybe the admins can search by users post, but it doesn't appear that we can.  All I get when I search is threads that I have started and not threads that I have posted.  I cleared my cache and cookies to make sure I wasn't getting cached pages.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Okay, now I can find all posts by a user if I right click on thier username beside a post. Good deal!


----------



## dpuck1998

That would appear to work, however (at least me) we are still unable to search by user name (other than post I started).  I can get all my post but that isn't very helpful when I want to see all the threads I'm posting on and if there are any new posts on them.  Any word on that part yet??


----------



## BoardTracker

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> That would appear to work, however (at least me) we are still unable to search by user name (other than post I started).  I can get all my post but that isn't very helpful when I want to see all the threads I'm posting on and if there are any new posts on them.  Any word on that part yet??


You can view your subscribed threads. I think it is by default, that every thread you post in is added to your subscribed threads list. And you can even subscribe to a thread you want to keep track of even without posting to it.
I think that should address the need you specified. no?

http://www.disboards.com/subscription.php?do=viewsubscription


----------



## dpuck1998

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> You can view your subscribed threads. I think it is by default, that every thread you post in is added to your subscribed threads list. And you can even subscribe to a thread you want to keep track of even without posting to it.
> I think that should address the need you specified. no?
> 
> http://www.disboards.com/subscription.php?do=viewsubscription



My subscribed threads don't appear to contain very many of the threads that I am active in right now.  I think myself and many others would, in the past, search on our own user name in the advance search and it would bring up any thread that we had posted to previously.  For me that was pretty much the only thing I did with the search function.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck... click usercp  then click view all subscribed threads


----------



## Mom2Ashli

If I open my buddy list and click on someones User name to view their Profile - I do not get an option to view their posts.  Only the thread they started.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> dpuck... click usercp  then click view all subscribed threads



That is exactly what I had done.  Still doesn't show any of my recent posting activity.  Its very sparadic as to what it shows.  On top of that, I also have checked on other users post in the past.  Is that possible now?


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dpuck, try this:

Right there in your post, click on your username in the left pane, then select  "Show More Posts by xxxx". That should display all of your recent posts.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> dpuck, try this:
> 
> Right there in your post, click on your username in the left pane, then select  "Show More Posts by xxxx". That should display all of your recent posts.



I can do that, however it shows each post not the thread itself.  That makes it very difficult to see if the threads I am active in have any new posts.


----------



## dpuck1998

Let me try to see if I can do a better job explaining what I'm trying to do, and what I think a lot of people here do all the time.  I would like to be able to see when a thread that I have posted has activity.  In the past I put in my name and it brought up the most recently active threads that I had posted in at any point, not just started.  Let me know if that makes sense???


----------



## WebmasterAlex

I'm a bit confused. The subscribed thread thing is not part of search and should not have changed at all. It has always worked fine for me. As a matter of fact I never use search for that


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> Let me try to see if I can do a better job explaining what I'm trying to do, and what I think a lot of people here do all the time.  I would like to be able to see when a thread that I have posted has activity.  In the past I put in my name and it brought up the most recently active threads that I had posted in at any point, not just started.  Let me know if that makes sense???



Okay, then you definitely want to *subscribe* to those threads. That's exactly what the subscription function does.


----------



## dpuck1998

My UserCP, subscribed threads only shows 64 threads.  The most recent is 7-13-06.  It doesn't even show this thread.  In the past I have never used subscribed threads, instead I just search for my user name and bring up all the threads that I have been active in the past.  I can't imagine I'm the only person that has done this.  Am I hearing that I should subscribe to a thead and that I can't search on my user name anymore except to show threads that I have started??  I understand this is new, but I am hoping this funtion is being looked at, because for me at least it was the only thing I used the when searching.


----------



## tmt martins

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> My UserCP, subscribed threads only shows 64 threads.  The most recent is 7-13-06.  It doesn't even show this thread.  In the past I have never used subscribed threads, instead I just search for my user name and bring up all the threads that I have been active in the past.  I can't imagine I'm the only person that has done this.  Am I hearing that I should subscribe to a thead and that I can't search on my user name anymore except to show threads that I have started??  I understand this is new, but I am hoping this funtion is being looked at, because for me at least it was the only thing I used the when searching.




If using User CP sometimes it does just bring up a random selection of ST's but if you go to QUICK LINKS  and pull that down to ST it brings them all up.

And this has been way before the new search sw .

P.S.  Thanks for bringing back the New Post list.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> My UserCP, subscribed threads only shows 64 threads.  The most recent is 7-13-06.  It doesn't even show this thread.  In the past I have never used subscribed threads, instead I just search for my user name and bring up all the threads that I have been active in the past.  I can't imagine I'm the only person that has done this.  Am I hearing that I should subscribe to a thead and that I can't search on my user name anymore except to show threads that I have started??  I understand this is new, but I am hoping this funtion is being looked at, because for me at least it was the only thing I used the when searching.



Not exactly... right now, using the SEARCH button in the menu bar will only allow you to to show threads you have started. But clicking on your USER NAME and selecting "show all posts" will show all the posts you have made on any thread. 

What you really want is to subscribe to threads so you can easily see when new posts are made to those threads. 

Your current selection is to NOT automatically subscribe to threads you post in. If you go into your User CP and change this setting, every thread you post to from that point on will automatically be added to your subscriptions. 

You can subscribe to any thread, not just the ones you post in, by just clicking "thread options" and selecting "subscribe" in the header bar when you have that thread open.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> My UserCP, subscribed threads only shows 64 threads. The most recent is 7-13-06. It doesn't even show this thread. In the past I have never used subscribed threads, instead I just search for my user name and bring up all the threads that I have been active in the past. I can't imagine I'm the only person that has done this. Am I hearing that I should subscribe to a thead and that I can't search on my user name anymore except to show threads that I have started?? I understand this is new, but I am hoping this funtion is being looked at, because for me at least it was the only thing I used the when searching.


 
Actually I think that will work fine for most people. subscribing to the thread is the default option and you had to turn it off. Most people just leave the default


----------



## dpuck1998

So the jist here is that I won't be able to search for threads I've posted on any longer??  Is that correct?


----------



## dpuck1998

tmt martins said:
			
		

> If using User CP sometimes it does just bring up a random selection of ST's but if you go to QUICK LINKS  and pull that down to ST it brings them all up.
> 
> And this has been way before the new search sw .
> 
> P.S.  Thanks for bringing back the New Post list.



Nope same list..


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck, go in to your user cp. Change your option to "no email notification". It should work fine after that, if not let me know


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Actually I think that will work fine for most people. subscribing to the thread is the default option and you had to turn it off. Most people just leave the default



I guess I prefer to subscribe to threads manually.  The threads I subscribe to are ones that may/may not be active, but I want to be able to find easy later.  If I subscribed to all threads in which I post it would mean I would have to dig thru hundreds of threads to find specific ones that I like to keep handy (ie, phone numbers, etc.)


----------



## Mom2Ashli

Mom2Ashli said:
			
		

> If I open my buddy list and click on someones User name to view their Profile - I do not get an option to view their posts.  Only the thread they started.



anybody have an answer for this one?


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> dpuck, go in to your user cp. Change your option to "no email notification". It should work fine after that, if not let me know



I imagine that will work going forward, but I have lost contact with all the threads I've been following recently.

sidenote:  Thanks for working on this, hopefully I'm not coming off as being upset, just trying to help actually.  I fix computers for a living so I know how frustrating us "end users" can be sometimes


----------



## dpuck1998

Also, what if I want to find threads by a friend?  I know I can list the post by them, but I prefer to see the list of threads they have posted on, not everyone of the posts they have made...is that gone forever?


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Dpuck- 

You haven't lost contact with any threads. Just do the thing I told you about with your username, locate a thread you posted on that you want to keep in touch with in that list, and then subscribe to that thread. It's a one-time thing, and then that thread will forever be in your subscribed list. Go into your User CP and set the thing that will automatically subscribed to any thread you post to, and you won't have to worry about this again.

As far as finding threads friends have posted in... help me understand the reason you're doing this, and then we can figure out how you'll need to do it the new way. You can either see any threads they've started, or see any posts they've made and the threads they're in. You can then subscribe to those threads, too, if you like.

It's really not going to be hard.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Nothing is gone forever. 
Let me try to explain what is going on. 
For about 8 to 10 hours a day our servers are operating at maximum load. We have all seen the "server too busy" message or the frustratingly long time it takes to post or to browse. 
We are working on a plan to increase our server power but for a lot of technical reasons it's not going to happen very soon.
This is something that could really help.
Now I totally understand that a board with over a million posts that you can't search isn't much use.
We may, however, have to get used to doing things in a bit of a different way in the short term.
The boardtracker people are working on a version that will search all posts as well as other improvements. Their product is fairly new but they are working on it and we will be working with them in any way we can to improve things.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Dpuck-
> 
> You haven't lost contact with any threads. Just do the thing I told you about with your username, locate a thread you posted on that you want to keep in touch with in that list, and then subscribe to that thread. It's a one-time thing, and then that thread will forever be in your subscribed list. Go into your User CP and set the thing that will automatically subscribed to any thread you post to, and you won't have to worry about this again.
> 
> As far as finding threads friends have posted in... help me understand the reason you're doing this, and then we can figure out how you'll need to do it the new way. You can either see any threads they've started, or see any posts they've made and the threads they're in. You can then subscribe to those threads, too, if you like.
> 
> It's really not going to be hard.



Like I said earlier, I'd prefer not to have to subscribe to all the threads that I post in though.  If that is the only way I guess I will have to adjust.  Man I am just getting used to using Vista and now this   

As far as finding friends, I search for thier name and is shows me threads they have posted to so I can read the thread.  Just like searching for my name I could just look for post by them, but if they post 10 times in one thread I get time results instead of just listing the thread so I can look it over and see other peoples comments on the thread easier/quicker.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Nothing is gone forever.
> Let me try to explain what is going on.
> For about 8 to 10 hours a day our servers are operating at maximum load. We have all seen the "server too busy" message or the frustratingly long time it takes to post or to browse.
> We are working on a plan to increase our server power but for a lot of technical reasons it's not going to happen very soon.
> This is something that could really help.
> Now I totally understand that a board with over a million posts that you can't search isn't much use.
> We may, however, have to get used to doing things in a bit of a different way in the short term.
> The boardtracker people are working on a version that will search all posts as well as other improvements. Their product is fairly new but they are working on it and we will be working with them in any way we can to improve things.



Is that due to bandwidth or server load?  If its server load from searches, you might consider looking at some VMWare and load balancing.  VM can take one existing machine and let you setup several Virtual servers.  For example, you could setup one for operating seaches and the other for the board itself.  This would keep the boards running smooth and only lag out the search function when at full load. There are a lot of other details, but just something to investigate and think about.


----------



## TLHB70

Sorry, but I hate this new search engine.  
PLEASE go back to the old search.  I used the search option several times a day to keep up with certain threads I had replied to.  Now I cannot find them.  This new search only pulled up three threads I had originally posted, but not the many, many I have replied to.  Now I cannot get to them.   
PLEASE go back to the old search!!!!!  Now I don't know how to find the threads I replied to on Friday.  I had hoped to update myself with them today, see if I needed to reply to any information from the weekend, etc.  I can't find them!  Help me!


----------



## TLHB70

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> You haven't lost contact with any threads. Just do the thing I told you about with your username, locate a thread you posted on that you want to keep in touch with in that list, and then subscribe to that thread. It's a one-time thing, and then that thread will forever be in your subscribed list. Go into your User CP and set the thing that will automatically subscribed to any thread you post to, and you won't have to worry about this again.



I have gone to my userCP and cannot figure out how to fix the automatically subscribe thing.  How do I do it?
When I try to use the new search to find some of the threads I replied to a few days ago, it will not come up in the search.  What should I do?
There were about three I wanted to recheck today.
Please help me.
Thanks!


----------



## smjj

Here is what I used search for. The old search was VERY easy to use for this function. The results were in date sequence as well which was a big help. I feel that many posters here used search this way as well. 
I would plug in my username or someone elses username the results would come back with all post in a date sequence. This way I could look and see what post were responded to and what threads I had posted to. I like many here post on several forums and I sometimes can't remember what thread or forum I posted to. I sometimes may not return to forums for several days. This method of search was extremely helpful. So far I have not been impressed with the limited function of the new search or the way it presents it results if any are found at all...smjj


----------



## DizGeek

Why are they making awful changes? Now, when I go to my profile, I can only click on "threads STARTED by"....I need to see all my threads.


----------



## BoardTracker

DizGeek said:
			
		

> Why are they making awful changes? Now, when I go to my profile, I can only click on "threads STARTED by"....I need to see all my threads.



To see all your posts you can just click your name there in the left column and you will see a link to find all your posts.


----------



## DizGeek

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> To see all your posts you can just click your name there in the left column and you will see a link to find all your posts.



Whew....great! Thanks!


----------



## TLHB70

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> To see all your posts you can just click your name there in the left column and you will see a link to find all your posts.



Thanks!      I hadn't thought about that one.
That just helped a bunch!  I now was able to reply to all I missed over the weekend on threads I posted on Friday.  I also figured out how to subscribe to all that I reply to so that I can keep up with them on my user CP now!  Thanks!  I feel much better now!


----------



## BoardTracker

smjj said:
			
		

> Here is what I used search for. The old search was VERY easy to use for this function. The results were in date sequence as well which was a big help. I feel that many posters here used search this way as well.
> I would plug in my username or someone elses username the results would come back with all post in a date sequence. This way I could look and see what post were responded to and what threads I had posted to. I like many here post on several forums and I sometimes can't remember what thread or forum I posted to. I sometimes may not return to forums for several days. This method of search was extremely helpful. So far I have not been impressed with the limited function of the new search or the way it presents it results if any are found at all...smjj


To see all threads you posted in or subscribed to you can just click the subscription link..

http://www.disboards.com/subscription.php?

If your account is not set to subscribe by default then go to your UserCP and click 'edit optons' and there you will see the subscription setting. You can of course subscribe to any thread, not just those you post in - just click the 'thread tools' menu at the top of any thread and you will see the subscribe/unsubscribe link.

You can click your username in the left column next to any of your posts and you will see there a link which also returns all your posts.

To search for all your threads you can do it from your profile or from the search page and the results are already in date order. You can change order when doing searches from the search page by selecting 'relevancy' or 'thread start date' in the 'sort results by:' selection box.

BoardTracker search also offers advanced features not found in the vbulletin search such as stemming which means if you search for something like 'book' it will automatically also search for 'books' 'booking' 'booked' etc. and searches can also be refined further using categories, related forums, scope etc.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

smjj said:
			
		

> Here is what I used search for. The old search was VERY easy to use for this function. The results were in date sequence as well which was a big help. I feel that many posters here used search this way as well.
> I would plug in my username or someone elses username the results would come back with all post in a date sequence. This way I could look and see what post were responded to and what threads I had posted to. I like many here post on several forums and I sometimes can't remember what thread or forum I posted to. I sometimes may not return to forums for several days. This method of search was extremely helpful. So far I have not been impressed with the limited function of the new search or the way it presents it results if any are found at all...smjj


 
I am starting to realize how much search was used in that way. What you dont' realize is that using search to perform that function is extremely  hard on the boards. If a lot of people are doing that it would explain some of the load issues we are having. There is a subscribed post function that works fine and is designed for just this purpose.


----------



## smjj

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> I am starting to realize how much search was used in that way. What you dont' realize is that using search to perform that function is extremely  hard on the boards. If a lot of people are doing that it would explain some of the load issues we are having. There is a subscribed post function that works fine and is designed for just this purpose.



Can't the system be set up to disable search during the peak hours or say when some threahold is passed. This to me would be fine and I would understand it completely...smjj


----------



## WebmasterAlex

smjj said:
			
		

> Can't the system be set up to disable search during the peak hours or say when some threahold is passed. This to me would be fine and I would understand it completely...smjj


 
No it's not really possible to "switch" back and forth.
What's wrong with using the "subscribed threads" feature?


----------



## Dan Murphy

Good morning, BT.   

Is there a way to enter a person's name in search and locate all posts they have made, not just as OP's?  

Is there a way to enter a person's name and keyword, like 'Dan Murphy' and 'legacy', and find all posts Dan Murphy has made with the word 'dollar' in them, OP's as well as replies?    I know I, and many others here, will reference back to a thread they may have replied on weeks or months back, to help in responding to a current post, maybe with info or a link.  The previous vBulletin search would find just those posts, even highlighting the search word. 

Also, is there a way to search a partial name, if you know part of it, such as 'Dan Murp' but not all of it.  Another example, there are a lot of people here who use numbers in their name, like Dan Murphy1900.  If I want to find Dan Murphy, but forget if he had 1900 or 1800, I used to be able to enter Dan Murphy and uncheck the 'exact spelling' box.  It would find any names with Dan Murphy in them, with any characters following or not.

Is there anyway BoardTracker search can duplicate the functionality of the vBulletin search?


----------



## dpuck1998

I think I talked about that earlier, I used the subscribe to keep post that weren't active.  If I subscribed to every thread I posted in, my list would be very long and it would be hard for me to keep track of threads like phone numbers (for example).  This is a personnel pref and I know there are workarounds that are being put out there, but so far none of them function like many of us were used to in the past.  I feel like a broken record so I'll stop now.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Dan, 

Not at the moment, they are working on newer versions that will be post level.
One other thing to remember is why we are here. The most important thing is for people to be able to search on "Grand Floridian" or "All Star Sports" and get the information they need.


----------



## Mom2Ashli

Mom2Ashli said:
			
		

> If I open my buddy list and click on someones User name to view their Profile - I do not get an option to view their posts.  Only the thread they started.



Does anyone know if this option is going to be fixed to be the way it was?  Or is this going to be the norm?


The reason I am asking is the other day I wanted to check in on Kaylajr.  She is having some family issues with her Grandfather.  She is in my buddy list, I click on her name and it brings up her user profile.   And the option to see her last posts link was gone.  Only Threads started by her. 
Which didn't help me because I was looking for posts.


----------



## dpuck1998

I guess if thats the goal than it will work great.  I'm here to follow threads and talk to fellow disney "junkies".  The boards for me have just become an effort to track threads and it will slow me down and possible keep me from posting.  In good news, the boards will be faster...because they aren't being used as much.


----------



## dpuck1998

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> To see all your posts you can just click your name there in the left column and you will see a link to find all your posts.



However, you must dig thru ALL your post as each one is listed.  This is difficult to find threads that are updated.  Also, in the past you could see who the last poster was and the time of the last post so you could tell if there were new post to a specific thread.


----------



## BoardTracker

We would love to know a little more specifically what exactly you and others don't like about the search. It would help improve things better than just knowing someone 'hates' the search. 

I would like to summarize different issues relating to the search and other features mentioned above by members... 

As for specific actions you want to perform: 

To keep track of threads you posted in: Thread Subscription is most useful for that. Whenever you post to a thread it is added to your subscribed threads list. If you don't care about tracking a thread anymore, you can "unsubscribe" from it. 
If it doesn't work for you, you probably turned it off. To turn it on, go to your  "User CP" and under "Edit options", in the "Default Thread Subscription Mode", select something other than "Do not subscribe" 

Finding all posts of a user: A link to this is found when you click the name of a poster on the left side of a post they make. A link to this from the profile can be added as well (by the admin). 

Finding all threads started by a member: can be found in the profile, or can be searched in the search page - open the advanced panel and type in the exact name of the member. 

Searching all threads started by a member: can be searched in the search page - type in a search string and open the advanced panel and type in he exact name of the member. 

Searching (as opposed to 'finding') all posts of a member: This is currently not possible. 


Here are some aspects of the new search and are compared with the old search. 

We will begin with some shortcomings of the new search and compare them to the old search: 

Search in replies: At the moment this is not possible with BT search. BT search supplies Thread search rather only. Reply search is something that will be added in future versions. 

Search by user: As  indicated above, at the moment, user search is based on threads started, not including replies. 

While it was possible to some extent doing the above two functions, searching in the old system created a load with "side effects" in the form of the slow or unresponsive board you all experienced (see below explanation about the server load issues). This sometimes made searches not too useful. Combined with the lower relevancy search of the old system, which caused you to sometimes not find specific threads you were looking for, search in the old search system was limited to some extent. 

As for other aspects of advanced search, some of which were not possible in the old search system: 

Search by date/relevancy: BT search supports these features. In fact, relevancy in BT is far more accurate than the old internal search.  

Search by title: Given the higher relevancy of BT search, you don't need to specify "search in title" anymore. Threads with matching words in the title will be showing higher on the list when you search by relevancy. This simplifies finding the relevant threads. 

Multiple searches & Modify your search: In the old search you had to wait 60 seconds before trying another search. If you search for something and didn't find your results in the first time, and wanted to update the search term to try to get better results, you would have to go back to the search page (which lost you the search term you used), type in a new search term and wait a minute before trying again. With the new search you can simply update the search result that is already showing on the results page and try a second search right away. 

Faster search: Not only did you have to wait 60 seconds between searches, but searches were also very slow at times. It also created a server load when several people searched at the same time, which caused not only the search to be slow but also the other aspects of the board. The new search is faster (granted that it does not supply you with replies search at the moment), and does not affect the board's performence. The board is fast and responsive even if many other users search the board. 

Search in related forums: You can now select a specific forum to search on, but also tell the system to search in all related forums. This is an advanced feature which didn't exist in the old search. The related forums search includes in the search all other forums that are in the same category. If your selected forum is in "sports", all other forums in "sports" will be searched in as well. 

Stemming: When you search for a word, like cruise for example, BT search returns results for: cruises, cruising, cruised etc... This is something that didn't exist in the old search. This greatly helps in finding desired results when you don't remember exactly which form of the word was used or when you are looking for cruise related.  

Why is DisBoards making these changes? 
Text based search in the old system was very inefficient. There is no existing way to solve this internally and services like BoardTracker supply a solution for that need. 
The effect of the inefficiency of the old search was in creating a load on the CPUs of the board, which caused the board to become very slow. Certain aspects of the board were greatly affected, including messages you saw of "too busy", limiting intervals between page views (search, new posts and others) slow response time for viewing and replying to threads and others. 
This also limited the activity and growth of the board.  

How is this load created? 
When you use the old search, the database which performs the search becomes extremely loaded (meaning, the CPU is very busy). Once that happens, the database can not effectively handle other operations. This causes long waits on the web servers when fetching data or storing data into the database servers (such as reading or posting). This load is not something that is related to bandwidth or other aspects that can be addressed. This is a design issue that can not really be addressed internally. 

Suggestions to switch search off during peak times will not really help. 
For one, people will wait for search to come back on, and that will hurt the system even more, since once it is back on, everyone will try searching at the same time. This will only shift the peak time. 
The second problem is that if you can not search, your user satisfaction will greatly decrease. See how much some are annoyed that they can't search exactly how they used to.. now think how unsatisfied they/you will be when you can't search at all. 
With BT search, you can search whenever you want. Even if not exactly as you used to, and indeed changes require some adjusting, you can always search now, the board is faster and for most uses, the existing search is very useful. We would be happy to see examples where it is not, so we can better the search. 
Note though that full-text search mechanism is not the right way to do non-search operations such as keep track of threads you posted in. For this, as explained above, there are other and better mechanisms. 

We are always improving BT search and that is why it is important for us to hear exactly WHY you find it limited or not good enough, and to see examples for such limitations.


----------



## mom2of2

I like the new search.  I used it yesterday and found everything that I was looking for.

Thanks!!!


----------



## dpuck1998

^^^ Haven't I done that???  I feel like I've typed it 10 times.  This search just doesn't work for me.  I don't want to subscribe to threads for reasons I've explained already.  If I search for post by user by clicking on the users name I get a long list of EVERY post, not the thread itself.  Because of that I can't see if the thread has been posted to again since my last post.  Let me know if you need more information.


----------



## ksjayhawkfan

I actually like the search.  I have no use for searching for specific members, all I use it for is to search for information. So I click n advance search, then type the subject Im looking for (lets say "tux") then I go over to the right and I choose what forum I want to lookin (cruise forum) and hit search now.  All the topics come up and that is just perfect. The old search would always give me a server too busy error and I could never find anything without posting a new topic about a question that had been answered 80000 times.


----------



## smjj

BoardTracker: I tried reading your post above but it is a complex as your search engine. I have tried all the things suggested and it still does not give me what I want. I have used advance search several times. Read my post previous post on how I use the old search and try it. The results are just not accurate. The dates are all jumbled and its hard to find the ones I posted to the last 5 days when the threads are jumbled by relevency(whatever that is) and not listed by last posting date as the old search was. It seems your solution is to change the way I use this forum by subscribing to all threads I post to. It looks as if this is what I will have to do but what your are really saying is that your search is not a good as the old one and the way around it is to not use it but to subscribe to the threads....smjj


----------



## doubletrouble_vb

I was going to post that I couldn't find an individual post search (find all posts by a given user). But reading this thread helped with that. 

However this is not an intuitive approach to searching. I should be able to come up with this search without having to find a post by the user I want to follow first. And no, subscription is not the answer. If a person is posting a trip report over multiple threads subscription won't work.  Or if they are posting multiple times to a single thread I don't want to get subscription alerts everytime someone else posts on the thread. Oh and sometimes I want to find threads that I've posted in to see if anyone has replied since I've posted...again subscription doesn't help because I want to start with my own last post not with the very last or very first post.

Soooo...why can't the search for posts or threads by user be added to the main Board Tracker panel?

Aside from that I like the speed of the Board Tracker search.


----------



## Sandi

doubletrouble_vb said:
			
		

> I was going to post that I couldn't find an individual post search (find all posts by a given user). But reading this thread helped with that.
> 
> However this is not an intuitive approach to searching. I should be able to come up with this search without having to find a post by the user I want to follow first. And no, subscription is not the answer. If a person is posting a trip report over multiple threads subscription won't work.  Or if they are posting multiple times to a single thread I don't want to get subscription alerts everytime someone else posts on the thread. Oh and sometimes I want to find threads that I've posted in to see if anyone has replied since I've posted...again subscription doesn't help because I want to start with my own last post not with the very last or very first post.
> 
> Soooo...why can't the search for posts or threads by user be added to the main Board Tracker panel?
> 
> Aside from that I like the speed of the Board Tracker search.




This is my issue as well.  I appreciate all the work that went into the new search methodology, but I really don't want to subscribe to a bunch of threads.  I just want to be able to find threads where I've posted to see if there has been recent action or to see if someone has asked a question to which a response would be polite and appropriate.  Right now I feel like I've left a message that I'll respond, but now I can't.

Thanks!


----------



## WebmasterAlex

The issue is that subscribed threads exist for a reason. We often have over 2500 users on at the same time. If a bunch of those users start looking for their posts by searching, it can and does bring the boards to a screeching halt. The more people that are telling me they did this the more I'm realizing what a problem it was.  Right now I am looking at server loads that are half of what they were before the search switch and with just as many people on line.
I realize it might be a bit inconvenient to subscribe to threads but it really is helping the boards


----------



## agnes!

Is there a poll about this somewhere on the DIS?  Are DIS'ers generally positive about the Search engine change or not?

agnes!
PS - I am still only getting up to July 19 posts when I search for my username.


----------



## smjj

Is there another company that has a better search engine, one similar to the good one that was dumped? One that runs independent of your servers like this new tracker does? This one is just not cutting it. You will probably have less overhead but for the wrong reasons. Many few people will use it. I know I will not, it no longer does the job it use too..smjj


----------



## NJBlackBerry

I just got a Server Busy message so something isn't right....


----------



## dpuck1998

smjj said:
			
		

> Is there another company that has a better search engine, one similar to the good one that was dumped? One that runs independent of your servers like this new tracker does? This one is just not cutting it. You will probably have less overhead but for the wrong reasons. Many few people will use it. I know I will not, it no longer does the job it use too..smjj



thats where I'm at.  I haven't been able to view or respond to any post that I usually follow on a daily basis.  I know there are workarounds, but for me its just not worth it at the moment.


----------



## Dan Murphy

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Dan,
> 
> Not at the moment, they are working on newer versions that will be post level.
> One other thing to remember is why we are here. The most important thing is for people to be able to search on "Grand Floridian" or "All Star Sports" and get the information they need.


Hey Alex. 

Yes, I agree, that is the most important.  But as you know, and I know, and many others here know, the DIS has become more than just a catalog resource for many, many people here.  There are other sites out there that do that, but are not communities as such, just archives of information, like a library.   It is good too to include the people element along with the information element.

I can see the value of offiste search function if the DIS servers are not up to speed for the loads imposed, but the search engine as it is now, does lack a lot of the people element.  

I am happy though, that other ideas like this, are being looked at.


----------



## Caropooh

Just as an FYI, I use a Mac and when using IE, the advanced search function doesn't work. It brings you right back to the Advanced Search screen, with no posts showing. It doesn't even say that none were found. If I switch over to Safari, then it does pull up all posts started by the users.
Count me in as another memeber who used the search feature to find posts I(or someone else) had either started or had posted on. I have switched myself over to all threads subscribed(with no notification) but that still doesn't tell me if there are any new posts on a thread.(unless I set up my subsription that way) I miss the option of checking posts by other people.(not just ones started by them)
I do understand the reasoning behind the change, but count me in as one of the ones who misses the old "search."
Also, maybe you could post some were in laymans terms, how the new search feature works and different features of it. Also the subscibing to your threads. I found BT's a bit to technical to really understand.
Thanks!


----------



## agnes!

Board busy (or server too busy? whatever the message is) just came up for me.

agnes!


----------



## tink2020

I was just about to post something about this.  I'm not trying to complain or add fuel to anyone's fire, but I've had the server busy error significantly more often in the last few days than almost any time before.     Just wanted to make you aware.  I am also not really in favor of the new search engine, but am willing to learn with it if it will make the rest of the board run more efficiently.  As of yet, however, I see a decline in functioning, not an improvement.


----------



## Dan Murphy

I tried to use the 'Search This Thread' function on a thread; it did a search of the DIS, original posts of all threads.  It did not search the thread at all.


----------



## Sammie

If I right click on the UserName sometimes the menu will drop down to let me find Post by that person and sometimes it takes me directly to the person's Profile page and there you can only find threads started by that person.


----------



## tiggerlover

I don't have time to read all the posts, but wanted to add my two cents.  I don't like the look of the new search feature, it no longer gives you the option of jumping to a specific forum, just a specific thread.  And I don't like the preview of the last response either, too jumbled.  Again, just my two cents.


----------



## heidica

Haven't read everyone's post yet, but just wanted to say that I love the new search function for the mere fact that I CAN USE IT.  For months now I have not been able to search because the server is so busy.  So far I have only used it once, but it was sure nice to be able to search again.


----------



## Lisa0503

I used search all the time as I am planning my first trip to WDW in over a decade and I hate to ask the same question that has been asked several times before...   Anyway, I really do not like the new search feature.  I have not found it helpful AT ALL.   I did a search for Magical Beginings (the new preschool promo) and almost everything I got was from the DVC boards where they have a program with the same name as an incentive to buy into DVC.  Needless to say, it was not helpful at all    

Please bring the old search back!!!!


----------



## WillCAD

Okay, I'm trying, but for the record:

I'll be hitting the server EXTREMELY hard for the next couple of hours as I go back and subscribe to the last hundred or so threads that I posted in.

I'm also curious to know how much of a server hit will be caused when thousands of members configure their settings to automatically subscribe to any thread they post in - particularly when hundred are likely to accidentally configure their subscriptions to automatically send them an email every time a subscribed thread shows any activity.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Lisa0503 said:
			
		

> I used search all the time as I am planning my first trip to WDW in over a decade and I hate to ask the same question that has been asked several times before...   Anyway, I really do not like the new search feature.  I have not found it helpful AT ALL.   I did a search for Magical Beginings (the new preschool promo) and almost everything I got was from the DVC boards where they have a program with the same name as an incentive to buy into DVC.  Needless to say, it was not helpful at all
> 
> Please bring the old search back!!!!



Lisa- If you type "magical beginnings" in the search box, then click on advanced search and select the "Theme Parks Attractions and Strategies" forum as your target, you'll get lots of hits that are all about the Extra Magic Hours in Fantasyland that you're looking for.


----------



## dj2

i'm not happy that when you search for someone's posts it only lists threads created by that user.  i now have no easy way to check in on threads I've added to but didn't start.  

the old system not only showed all threads i'd posted on, but showed who the last poster was, so even if i wasn't logged in, i could tell if anything had been added.

i wish you'd go back to the old search system.  i'd prefer it being too busy sometimes to this system.

just my 2 cents.


----------



## agnes!

WillCAD said:
			
		

> Okay, I'm trying, but for the record:
> 
> I'll be hitting the server EXTREMELY hard for the next couple of hours as I go back and subscribe to the last hundred or so threads that I posted in.
> 
> I'm also curious to know how much of a server hit will be caused when thousands of members configure their settings to automatically subscribe to any thread they post in - particularly when hundred are likely to accidentally configure their subscriptions to automatically send them an email every time a subscribed thread shows any activity.




WillCAD - Good points.  

I don't know, all of "this"(subscribing, reconfiguring, having to get through  lines of instructions to do what used to seem fairly intuitive to a PC-wielding techno-illiterate) is sounding a bit too much like WORK  and not enough like FUN    .

I know the servers were groaning under the weight of all our DIS'ing, I understand that.  Just because I'm adverse to change doesn't mean I won't ultimately accept it and move on.

agnes!

PS - Just wanted to post my thoughts on the search engine changes issue according to the OP... "Please use this thread to post any problems, observations or issues with the new search system"


----------



## dpuck1998

I totally agree agnes!  Going thru an finding all the post that I was following and then subscribing is too much like work.  I love the DIS, but right now I haven't posted anywhere or even looked at other threads other than this one.  I wonder how many post/threads have been cut back since this new system?


----------



## raven69david

I liked it better when it didn't work. At least then i knew the results were not to be trusted. Now it's gone from bad to worse, i can find everything i DO NOT want to find.   

I'd say take it down, and then put something up that at least semi-functional that actually finds 1 result that partains to the search.


----------



## KristaTX

dj2 said:
			
		

> i now have no easy way to check in on threads I've added to but didn't start.



*To pull up a list of threads you have posted on or are subscribed to:*

*1) Make sure you are logged onto the DIS.

2) Click on"User CP"(on the far left of the little menu bar at the top, next to "FAQ")

3) Notice the first thing listed is "New subscribed threads".

4) At the bottom of the "New subscribed threads" section, click on "View all subscribed threads".

5) See the list of all the threads you are subscribed to, who posted to it last, what time they posted, etc. 
*

*(ETA:  Thanks to another poster, I just discovered that if you click on "Quick Links" in the menu at the top of any page, you can then click on "subscribed threads" and easily see a list of all your subscribed threads - that's even easier!  )*


ALSO, notice on that screen that there is a column labeled "notifications" that shows you what type of notifcations you are set to receive for threads.  
*If you want to change your notification/subscription status, you can easily do so for any thread you are subscribed to:*

*1) Check the box next to the thread(s) you want to change

2) Go down to the bottom of the page (just above the page numbers) where it says "Selected Threads", and use that little pull down menu to unsubscribe, change your notifiction method, etc.* (I don't know what the "folders" thing does)

I usually:
- don't worry about changing the e-mail notification status on "short-term" threads
- keep it set up to get e-mail notifications to any threads I'm particularly interested in seeing the replies to or that I have started myself.
- quickly turn off e-mail notifications to lengthy or ongoing threads (e.g. friendship group threads, game threads, threads I lose interest in)

But I keep my subscriptions to ALL threads I've ever subscribed to so that I can refer back to them at a later date. I am no longer swamped by e-mail notifications, but I still get notifications for those that I do want them for.


 If you want to subscribe to a thread but don't really have anything to say, you do not have to post to it.  All you have to do is:
*
1) Be logged in and open the thread you want to subscribe to. 

2) Click on "Thread tools" up at the top of the thread (right below the page #s). 

3) You will get a screen that lets you subscribe and set your notifications for that particular thread.*



I don't know if this is the best way to do this, but now that using someone's "user profile" page no longer provides a "find all posts" link, I have found that
*a way to find a list of posts by any certain poster is to:*

*1) Find any given post by that poster (once you find one, you might put that page in your browser favorites so that you can easily find a post by them again)

2) Left click on their name out to the left of their post (a little list of options will pop up under their name)

3) Click on "find more posts by so-and-so"

4) Voila!  See a list of posts by that user*  .



I don't have any advice for doing searches on topics, etc.

If anyone sees any errors in these methods, please tell me so I can fix them.  This is just how I am doing all this, and it might not be the only or best way.


----------



## erinch

Is there another external search engine which we could use to search for posts we've made when weren't subscribed, if we want to retrieve that info?

For instance, I'll often respond to a food allergy post (which is an area I've got some experience in) by doing a search on previous posts I've made, and then pasting the relevant information in to the new post. 

Since we didn't know this was coming, I didn't go back to "grab" posts I've made in the past which contain information I'm likely to use again.

So is there a crawler which would permit going back to find them?


----------



## dpuck1998

You bring up a good point.  Anyway we can have the old search back for a short time so we can subscribe to threads we have posted to in the past?  Right now it is way to much work to go find them all.


----------



## Dan Murphy

I was just looking for recent posts from a poster.  

First I had to find that person's profile.  Then I had to find an OP post that person made.  Then I had to click on the person's name.   Then click on the find more posts link.  Seems complicated.  Thankfully that person had made some OP's.


----------



## HappyCamperToo

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> You bring up a good point.  Anyway we can have the old search back for a short time so we can subscribe to threads we have posted to in the past?  Right now it is way to much work to go find them all.




YES!!!  I agree -- too much work to find old threads.

It would have been better if we'd had some notice that this change was going to take place--then we could have switched our settings over to "subscribe" for everything we posted on AND could have used the old search to look through threads we we'd posted on to see if we wanted to subscribe..

BTW--there's no maximum number of subscriptions, is there??


----------



## EWL

heidica said:
			
		

> Haven't read everyone's post yet, but just wanted to say that I love the new search function for the mere fact that I CAN USE IT.  For months now I have not been able to search because the server is so busy.  So far I have only used it once, but it was sure nice to be able to search again.



I AGREE!!      For ages, I would get "server busy" when trying to search... so far, NOT ONCE with the new search!  THANKS for trying out a new system!


----------



## phantom728

The new search system bites  .  I tried this morning and all I got was the dog telling me it was searching/loading.  After 5 minutes of seeing the dog fill with turqouise coloring, I finally just closed out and reopened and tried again, the same thing 3 times   .
It returns nothing at all and just keeps telling me it's loading the info....argh  !

Bring back the old search it was much better, more efficient and more user friendly!


----------



## betterlatethannever

Now that it has come to light WHY the servers are busy, it is probably time to do a teaching thread on all the navigational tools available and put it on all the forums.

From this thread it seems that there are many many posters who do not know the basics

what the blue box on the left of the title means 
what the blue box on the right of the title means
what the blue box all the way on the right of the thread means

Personally, I can't see how the posters (who search by user name in order to read recent posts) are using the search makes it user friendly.  With this method, don't they have to scan through the thread to find the last post they read?  

But then again, I still don't understand what the "Mark all posts read" does for me.  So I guess I would be a good candidate for the tutorial also.

Ed


----------



## dpuck1998

I think if you read through this thread you will see why we use the search by name funtion.  It has been explained many times through this discussion.


----------



## WillCAD

betterlatethannever said:
			
		

> Now that it has come to light WHY the servers are busy, it is probably time to do a teaching thread on all the navigational tools available and put it on all the forums.
> 
> From this thread it seems that there are many many posters who do not know the basics
> 
> what the blue box on the left of the title means
> what the blue box on the right of the title means
> what the blue box all the way on the right of the thread means
> 
> Personally, I can't see how the posters (who search by user name in order to read recent posts) are using the search makes it user friendly. With this method, don't they have to scan through the thread to find the last post they read?
> 
> But then again, I still don't understand what the "Mark all posts read" does for me. So I guess I would be a good candidate for the tutorial also.
> 
> Ed


 
Whenever I did a search for my own name to find all the threads I had posted in, the results were presented in a very useful manner:

1) They were in reverse chronological order, according to the latest activity in the thread.

2) Threads that had gotten new posts since I last viewed them were in bold.

3) The blue box to the left of the title would take me directly to the first post that I had not yet read.

These behaviors also occur when I go to my User CP and click on Subscribed Threads; however, Subscribed Threads are only useful if I am searching for threads based on MY participation; if I want to do a similar search for all posts made by someone else (because they mentioned something and I wanted to double-check it, but didn't subscribe to the thread), the old search would do that - the new search won't.


----------



## agnes!

*sigh*...
I know I'm repeating myself but this is all seeming a bit too much like work    and not enough like fun    ...

agnes!


----------



## julia & nicks mom

I have not read the whole thread and am not sure what the complaints are - but I find the new search useless

I am glad the search new posts was added 

but I post in a thread that has over 50000 posts and now I can't do a search of that thread, searches that I KNOW should pull up a certain thread are not - 

maybe this is possible but if so then there should be clear cut directions on how to use the new search function on each board

also - I think this will result in a lot of new threads that are asking the same questions over and over - resulting in no response or irritated responses - this will turn people off to the DIS and maybe cause server busy functions again since there will be a lot more threads!

I am sure this has all been discussed but I just wanted to throw my two cents in


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Great tips and how-to instructions, Krista!



			
				KristaTX said:
			
		

> *To pull up a list of threads you have posted on or are subscribed to:*
> 
> *1) Make sure you are logged onto the DIS.
> 
> 2) Click on"User CP"(on the far left of the little menu bar at the top, next to "FAQ")
> 
> 3) Notice the first thing listed is "New subscribed threads".
> 
> 4) At the bottom of the "New subscribed threads" section, click on "View all subscribed threads".
> 
> 5) See the list of all the threads you are subscribed to, who posted to it last, what time they posted, etc.
> *
> 
> *(ETA:  Thanks to another poster, I just discovered that if you click on "Quick Links" in the menu at the top of any page, you can then click on "subscribed threads" and easily see a list of all your subscribed threads - that's even easier!  )*
> 
> 
> ALSO, notice on that screen that there is a column labeled "notifications" that shows you what type of notifcations you are set to receive for threads.
> *If you want to change your notification/subscription status, you can easily do so for any thread you are subscribed to:*
> 
> *1) Check the box next to the thread(s) you want to change
> 
> 2) Go down to the bottom of the page (just above the page numbers) where it says "Selected Threads", and use that little pull down menu to unsubscribe, change your notifiction method, etc.* (I don't know what the "folders" thing does)
> 
> I usually:
> - don't worry about changing the e-mail notification status on "short-term" threads
> - keep it set up to get e-mail notifications to any threads I'm particularly interested in seeing the replies to or that I have started myself.
> - quickly turn off e-mail notifications to lengthy or ongoing threads (e.g. friendship group threads, game threads, threads I lose interest in)
> 
> But I keep my subscriptions to ALL threads I've ever subscribed to so that I can refer back to them at a later date. I am no longer swamped by e-mail notifications, but I still get notifications for those that I do want them for.
> 
> 
> If you want to subscribe to a thread but don't really have anything to say, you do not have to post to it.  All you have to do is:
> *
> 1) Be logged in and open the thread you want to subscribe to.
> 
> 2) Click on "Thread tools" up at the top of the thread (right below the page #s).
> 
> 3) You will get a screen that lets you subscribe and set your notifications for that particular thread.*
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know if this is the best way to do this, but now that using someone's "user profile" page no longer provides a "find all posts" link, I have found that
> *a way to find a list of posts by any certain poster is to:*
> 
> *1) Find any given post by that poster (once you find one, you might put that page in your browser favorites so that you can easily find a post by them again)
> 
> 2) Left click on their name out to the left of their post (a little list of options will pop up under their name)
> 
> 3) Click on "find more posts by so-and-so"
> 
> 4) Voila!  See a list of posts by that user*  .
> 
> 
> 
> I don't have any advice for doing searches on topics, etc.
> 
> If anyone sees any errors in these methods, please tell me so I can fix them.  This is just how I am doing all this, and it might not be the only or best way.


----------



## dpuck1998

Isn't that bit telling when we have a two page document for a "how to" ??


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> Isn't that bit telling when we have a two page document for a "how to" ??



It's a collection of tips and hints. You've made LOTS of posts here lamenting how much trouble subscribing to the threads you've posted to would be. Krista has been kind enough to spend time explaining how to do several different things that will make your life easier.

You may be posting merely to vent, but you've really spent a lot more time and energy here venting than it would have taken to go back and subscribe to the threads you say you want to follow.

We generally assume that posters on the Technical Support forum are here because they want to know how to *do* something, and we're happy that people who know how to do those things are willing to spend their time explaining how.


----------



## smjj

Shoot, I am done here. I guess I will just have to adjust to an inferior search engine and move along. Its quite clear by now this site is not going to go back, no matter how many regulars and the like complain about it...smjj


----------



## WillCAD

I don't know about anybody else, but I have noticed that this eleven-page thread is full of dozens of members saying, "This is how I used the old search, and the new search simply won't do what I need it to do", while various mods keep posting, "quit whining, you can easily use a new 32-step process to replicate the results of your old 2-step process." Methinks thou dost protest too much - the new search is simply inferior to the old one, and does not do what the members need it to do.

Yes, I understand that the old search put too great a load on the server and had to go. And yes, I understand the difficulties that IT people have in servicing users who want systems to do things they were not designed to do. But in this case, the old search WAS designed to do exactly what we were using it for, it was simply overwhelmed by sheer volume, and has been ditched in favor of something that doesn't have the same problem, because NOBODY IS ABLE TO USE IT!

Tech support is not just about explaining to people how to do things your way - it's also about CREATING new ways to do things when the old ways are inefficient. This new search engine is laughably inefficient. Sure, the old search is impractical because of the "server busy" messages, but instead of continually telling us to adapt and live with what you give us, why not try a different search service that gives us what we need and also eases the load on the server?

The old search worked, but was too intense for the server. The new search is great for the server, but doesn't work worth a snowball in Juneau. Can't you guys come up with something in between? Is there no room for compromise?


----------



## Mom2Ashli

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> I was just looking for recent posts from a poster.
> 
> First I had to find that person's profile.  Then I had to find an OP post that person made.  Then I had to click on the person's name.   Then click on the find more posts link.  Seems complicated.  Thankfully that person had made some OP's.





Dan I asked this question several pages back and still have not gotten an answer as to why I can search a user posts from a post they made but not from pulling up their profile from my buddy list.    

Plus even with the new search engine in place - I am still receiving "Server Busy Message" a lot the last couple of days.     



			
				Mom2Ashli said:
			
		

> If I open my buddy list and click on someones User name to view their Profile - I do not get an option to view their posts.  Only the thread they started.





			
				Mom2Ashli said:
			
		

> Does anyone know if this option is going to be fixed to be the way it was?  Or is this going to be the norm?
> 
> The reason I am asking is the other day I wanted to check in on Kaylajr.  She is having some family issues with her Grandfather.  She is in my buddy list, I click on her name and it brings up her user profile.   And the option to see her last posts link was gone.  Only Threads started by her.
> Which didn't help me because I was looking for posts.


----------



## mbb

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=14179454#post14179454


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> It's a collection of tips and hints. You've made LOTS of posts here lamenting how much trouble subscribing to the threads you've posted to would be. Krista has been kind enough to spend time explaining how to do several different things that will make your life easier.
> 
> You may be posting merely to vent, but you've really spent a lot more time and energy here venting than it would have taken to go back and subscribe to the threads you say you want to follow.
> 
> We generally assume that posters on the Technical Support forum are here because they want to know how to *do* something, and we're happy that people who know how to do those things are willing to spend their time explaining how.



Did I somehow attack Krista??  That he/she took the time creating a how to is appreciated.  It still however doesn't solve the issue.  If you read my post you will see that I don't want to subscribe to post.  Not only becasue of the time but for other reasons I tried to explain.  Maybe instead of going on the defensive you should read my post again and see my reasons for complaining.  Also, perhaps a thread asking for problems and issues shouldn't be created if you dont' really want to hear about these problems.   I would think that posters on this thread are doing what they were asked.  Commenting on problems, observations and issues with this new search system.  These comments are not personnel and not in anyway meant to complain to any specific person.  They are just what many of us users feel are the downfalls of this new system.


----------



## mickeyfan2

Sorry if this has already been asked.

When I click on a user I can only search for threads that person started but not all posts. Has that feature been removed?  How can I see other post to?


----------



## KristaTX

From something I posted a few pages back:



			
				KristaTX said:
			
		

> I don't know if this is the best way to do this, but now that using someone's "user profile" page no longer provides a "find all posts" link, I have found that
> *a way to find a list of posts by any certain poster is to:*
> 
> *1) Find any given post by that poster (once you find one, you might put that page in your browser favorites so that you can easily find a post by them again)
> 
> 2) Left click on their name out to the left of their post (a little list of options will pop up under their name)
> 
> 3) Click on "find more posts by so-and-so"
> 
> 4) Voila!  See a list of posts by that user*  .




Hope that helps!


----------



## julia & nicks mom

Krista - 

That is very helpful - but I would really like the webmasters to read this

*1) Find any given post by that poster (once you find one, you might put that page in your browser favorites so that you can easily find a post by them again)*

you would have to be able to find a post by this user - AND then to find them again easily the suggestion is to add them to your favorites

I don't know about anyone else - but my favorites is already filled to the gills - the last thing I need to do is add posters to the list!

as far as subscription threads - that is how I watch my posts - 

I automatically subscribe without email notification and then when I want to see what is going on - I go to USER CP to see what threads have more posts added to them - I don't know if this has been discussed as an easy way to see what is newly posted on threads you subscribe to - since I can't search this thread to see if the USER CP has been discussed at length


----------



## AUDramaQueen

I haven't read all of the comments here, but I use the search to see if someone has already asked the same question I have so I'm not starting a new post that someone has already asked and had answered. 

I can't search just on one forum or one thread. It searched all the forums and all the threads. Which is not useful at all.


----------



## betterlatethannever

AUDramaQueen said:
			
		

> ...I can't search just on one forum or one thread. It searched all the forums and all the threads. Which is not useful at all.



Click on "Search" at the top of the forum.
Click on "Advanced Search"
Click on "Advanced Search" (right below the "relevancy" pop up.

Then you can click on what forum you want.

Ed


----------



## Christmas Surprise

When I search on a just one  forum and it pulls up two pages of results, when I click on page 2 it searches all the forums (and gives me several pages of results) even when I make sure it still lists only one forum.  What am I doing wrong?


----------



## KristaTX

dpuck1998 - I'm a "her" .

julia & nick's mom -  Yes I know that is a problem.  Someone else will have to address that issue - I'm just doing it the way I know how to do it since the change.  I used to do it from my friends' user profiles. 

And this isn't directed at you specifically, but has anyone noticed how many of us are so concerned about being able to find posts by specific DISers ??  I find it kind of humorous that we're all stalkers.  I'm not worried about it, but I do occasionally like to see what my good buddies might be posting about.  For the most part (except for the occasional weirdo, obviously) there is nothing wrong with seeing what our friends have to say or are interested in.  

I admit it is harder now, unless we are all just missing something.  But I'm still able to find it relatively easily without collapsing from exhaustion.  It sort of sounds to me like the webmasters are still working the kinks out of this brand new system that is being tried out.  So say what you have to say, but relax.  It hasn't been _that_ long.  Sounds to me like this thread is a place for people to say what they like or don't like about Search, but give it a little time before you totally freak out and/or give up on the DIS.  

And by the way - when I posted those instructions, I didn't realize that so many people were not actually ever subscribing to ANY threads .  I always have subscribed just in case something like this ever happened, nevermind the fact that it's a whole lot easier way to find those threads than doing a search .  You don't have to get e-mail notifications, so I don't see what the purpose would be in not having automatic subscriptions turned on.  I guess people just thought you _had_ to get all those e-mail notifications but didn't want to ?


----------



## julia & nicks mom

Oh Krista

I "stalk" my DIS friends!!!   I am not embarrassed to admit it!!  I also use it to see if the poster has been around recently!!


----------



## Dan Murphy

KristaTX said:
			
		

> ......but has anyone noticed how many of us are so concerned about being able to find posts by specific DISers ??  I find it kind of humorous that we're all stalkers.  I'm not worried about it, but I do occasionally like to see what my good buddies might be posting about.  For the most part (except for the occasional weirdo, obviously) there is nothing wrong with seeing what our friends have to say or are interested in.......


Hi Krista.   I said something similar in this thread (I would quote it here but can't, I'd have to search for it but I can't search a thread   ) to one of the WM's (alex I think) and said this place (the DIS) has, to many folks, become more than just a repository of searchable facts, like a library, but rather importantly, a community of people, people who are interested in other people here.  I agree.


----------



## KristaTX




----------



## Mom2Ashli

KristaTX said:
			
		

> dpuck1998 - I'm a "her" .
> 
> julia & nick's mom -  Yes I know that is a problem.  *Someone else will have to address that issue * -
> 
> I Keep hoping that somebody will address this issue.
> 
> *And this isn't directed at you specifically, but has anyone noticed how many of us are so concerned about being able to find posts by specific DISers ??  I find it kind of humorous that we're all stalkers.  I'm not worried about it, but I do occasionally like to see what my good buddies might be posting about.  For the most part (except for the occasional weirdo, obviously) there is nothing wrong with seeing what our friends have to say or are interested in. *



Yep - I also stalk my DIS-Friends.  Especially when I know that somebody's Grandfather is very ill and in the hospital.  And she doesn't show up for a couple of days.  She is a Mod and involved in exchanges, so I was hoping that I could seach and see if she posted any updates on her family issues.

The Dis-boards has become a meeting place for me.  Not just a place to find information about WDW.   This is like a 2nd home and I care about my family.


----------



## agnes!

What Dan Murphy, Mom2Ashli, julia & nicks mom, AUDramaQueen, dpuck1998 said  .

agnes!


----------



## BoardTracker

Christmas Surprise said:
			
		

> When I search on a just one  forum and it pulls up two pages of results, when I click on page 2 it searches all the forums (and gives me several pages of results) even when I make sure it still lists only one forum.  What am I doing wrong?



Fixed.


----------



## Sammy

I didn't read through all 14 pages to see if this was addressed, but here's what I came across:  When I search by user name, it only brings up only the threads _started _ by the user....not all their posts.  I use this feature a lot to quickly search for all my own threads, and also the ones I have replied to.

Sammy


----------



## dpuck1998

Sammy said:
			
		

> I didn't read through all 14 pages to see if this was addressed, but here's what I came across:  When I search by user name, it only brings up only the threads _started _ by the user....not all their posts.  I use this feature a lot to quickly search for all my own threads, and also the ones I have replied to.
> 
> Sammy



Welcome to our club Sammy


----------



## Sammy

Thanks, dpuck! Nice to know I finally belong...LOL!


----------



## Sammy

Oops!  Double post!


----------



## doubletrouble_vb

One thing I don't like about Boardtracker is that search histories are clearly available on their website. What's up with that? It even shows up if you do a google search. It makes it way to easy to cross reference searches a user makes on the internet if it happens to go through BoardTracker. Fortunately my searches are harmless but one has an expectation of anonymity across forums that no longer exists.


Editted to add...

Upon further testing I realized this problem already existed within the Disboards. Any chance you can block webcrawlers from crawling through your website so thoroughly? I even see posts where it indicates I'm not logged in!!

Editting again...

The more I look at this the less I like it. Having once been a vbulletin admin the loss of control over my posts would have bothered me deeply. Worse still is the cross referencing aspects. And I've seen the explanations as posted here... http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13611&page=2 

Really I guess the only solution is to shift to lurking rather than posting. Too bad I have so many posts on this board already. Minimally you could at least not spider the member profiles!


----------



## BoardTracker

Search histories are not visible at all anywhere. All you see is threads posted which are searchable. There is no relation between posted threads and search history, its a completely different thing.


----------



## milkabum

Although this is faster, it is a much wider search- it's difficult to find specific posts in large threads and difficult to find a username.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

doubletrouble_vb said:
			
		

> One thing I don't like about Boardtracker is that search histories are clearly available on their website. What's up with that? It even shows up if you do a google search. It makes it way to easy to cross reference searches a user makes on the internet if it happens to go through BoardTracker. Fortunately my searches are harmless but one has an expectation of anonymity across forums that no longer exists.
> 
> 
> 
> Editted to add...
> 
> Upon further testing I realized this problem already existed within the Disboards. Any chance you can block webcrawlers from crawling through your website so thoroughly? I even see posts where it indicates I'm not logged in!!
> 
> Editting again...
> 
> The more I look at this the less I like it. Having once been a vbulletin admin the loss of control over my posts would have bothered me deeply. Worse still is the cross referencing aspects. And I've seen the explanations as posted here... http://www.theadminzone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13611&page=2
> 
> Really I guess the only solution is to shift to lurking rather than posting. Too bad I have so many posts on this board already. Minimally you could at least not spider the member profiles!


 
We are a public board. We are indexed by Google, Yahoo, etc etc. There's no difference. I'm not sure why we would NOT want our boards to be open and public. 

If you have something in your "public" profile what is the difference? Public is public.


----------



## seema

I concur with most of the responders to the thread that the new search function is less user-friendly and less useful than the old version. 

May I ask WebmasterAlex (or other moderators on this bulletin board) as to the theoretical advantages of the new search function, vs the older search function - both from a user's point of view, and from the bulletin board administrators' points of view.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

seema said:
			
		

> May I ask WebmasterAlex (or other moderators on this bulletin board) as to the theoretical advantages of the new search function, vs the older search function - both from a user's point of view, and from the bulletin board administrators' points of view.



I think Alex discussed this earlier, but the older search function was extremely server intensive, and put a huge load on the server. Posters frequently received time-out errors from the server due entirely to search activity.

The new search does not run on our forum servers at all, so has no impact on board performance. This has resulted in a HUGE performance improvement in terms of speed and reduction in the number of time outs received by users.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

seema said:
			
		

> I concur with most of the responders to the thread that the new search function is less user-friendly and less useful than the old version.
> 
> May I ask WebmasterAlex (or other moderators on this bulletin board) as to the theoretical advantages of the new search function, vs the older search function - both from a user's point of view, and from the bulletin board administrators' points of view.


 
There is no theoretical about it. Using this search has halved server loads, we are seeing a lot less "server too busy" messages.
Also I have learned some things from this. Apperantly a lot of people are searching for their own posts instead of using subscribed threads. That's a huge load problem. 
I think everybody needs to keep one thing in mind. The primary purpose of this site is to help people plan their Disney vacation. A search on "Grand Floridian" or "Ticket price" works fine and will help people that are trying to plan their vacation. It doesn't mean that I'm not very aware that a lot of people think of these boards as much more than that.  Certainly we support that and we will try to increase search options to support that.
We are working on that in 2 different ways. We are working on a plan that will seriously increase server power but that is several months off. 
Boardtracker is working on a post level search but that is also a ways off. 
It's going to take some time.


----------



## bicker

doubletrouble_vb said:
			
		

> Upon further testing I realized this problem already existed within the Disboards. Any chance you can block webcrawlers from crawling through your website so thoroughly?


Please don't!!!  I often use Google to find messages that I know I've read, that respond directly to a specific user question I encounter, and often that search utilizes the archived result pages found.


----------



## airhead

Not likin' the new search at all.........


----------



## doubletrouble_vb

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> We are a public board. We are indexed by Google, Yahoo, etc etc. There's no difference. I'm not sure why we would NOT want our boards to be open and public.
> 
> If you have something in your "public" profile what is the difference? Public is public.



There is a difference between public meaning no unusual barriers to access and public with reduced barriers to access. There are people on this board sharing very personal stories (that they shouldn't be). I'm sure their expectation is that it is open to anyone who enters the disboards through wdwinfo.com or disboards.com but that their thread is generally lost in the masses except to followers of the board they are posting on. But type sufficiently unique information in and suddenly they may have put themselves into an awkward circumstance via google or boardtrackers. But of course this isn't your problem, your problem is increasing traffic to your respective sites and reducing the load on your servers.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

doubletrouble_vb said:
			
		

> There is a difference between public meaning no unusual barriers to access and public with reduced barriers to access. There are people on this board sharing very personal stories (that they shouldn't be). I'm sure their expectation is that it is open to anyone who enters the disboards through wdwinfo.com or disboards.com but that their thread is generally lost in the masses except to followers of the board they are posting on. But type sufficiently unique information in and suddenly they may have put themselves into an awkward circumstance via google or boardtrackers. But of course this isn't your problem, your problem is increasing traffic to your respective sites and reducing the load on your servers.


 
Actually we are very sensitive to privacy issues. Privacy concerns (for example someone registers with their real name) is the one circumstance where we will change usernames. We have deleted many threads over privacy concerns.
But reality is this is a public board with 1000's of visitors a day. I don't see how anyone could expect that to be "private"
And yes I am very concerned over server load. I get far more complaints about "server too busy" than I ever have recieved about search.
I read that entire thread you linked too. It starts out with a pretty good attack but by  the end a lot of people are seeing it isn't a bad thing.


----------



## seema

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> There is no theoretical about it. Using this search has halved server loads, we are seeing a lot less "server too busy" messages.
> Also I have learned some things from this. Apperantly a lot of people are searching for their own posts instead of using subscribed threads. That's a huge load problem.
> I think everybody needs to keep one thing in mind. The primary purpose of this site is to help people plan their Disney vacation. A search on "Grand Floridian" or "Ticket price" works fine and will help people that are trying to plan their vacation. It doesn't mean that I'm not very aware that a lot of people think of these boards as much more than that.  Certainly we support that and we will try to increase search options to support that.
> We are working on that in 2 different ways. We are working on a plan that will seriously increase server power but that is several months off.
> Boardtracker is working on a post level search but that is also a ways off.
> It's going to take some time.



When I do a search, I do it per subject, or per the person posting the message. I may want to do either type of search, per the opening post of the thread, or per all posts of the thread. How can one, with the current search function (which was quite routine with the old search function), discriminate between the 2 latter types of searches?

I submit the the current search function, being less user-friendly than the previous version, may have contributed to the decreased server load - as there are less searches being performed now (compared to last week).

PS-Is there way of surveying the number of searches per unit time, being performed now, compared to last week with the old search function?


----------



## WebmasterKathy

seema said:
			
		

> I submit the the current search function, being less user-friendly than the previous version, may have contributed to the decreased server load - as there are less searches being performed now (compared to last week).



Since the new search does not run on our server, it absolutely is responsible for the decreased server load. The number of searches performed now is irrelevant to our performance.


----------



## Caropooh

So, is the "search" never going to work for those of us using a Mac and using IE? I know that I can use Safari, but prefer IE. It worked before we switched.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Caropooh said:
			
		

> So, is the "search" never going to work for those of us using a Mac and using IE? I know that I can use Safari, but prefer IE. It worked before we switched.


 
I didn't realize that it didn't, I will ask about that


----------



## dpuck1998

Caropooh said:
			
		

> So, is the "search" never going to work for those of us using a Mac and using IE? I know that I can use Safari, but prefer IE. It worked before we switched.



Thats what you get for using a mac    jk' macs are great..but if it wasn't for microsoft I wouldn't have a job fixing computers!!  Thanks BILL!!


----------



## tink2020

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> The new search does not run on our forum servers at all, so has no impact on board performance. This has resulted in a HUGE performance improvement in terms of speed and reduction in the number of time outs received by users.



Except, and I may be alone on this, but I don't see how....

I have used the board at the same time frames throughout the day as I always have, and I have received SIGNIFICANTLY more "server busy" pages than in the recent weeks before that


----------



## agnes!

tink2020 said:
			
		

> Except, and I may be alone on this, but I don't see how....
> 
> I have used the board at the same time frames throughout the day as I always have, and I have received SIGNIFICANTLY more "server busy" pages than in the recent weeks before that




I haven't noticed a significant drop-off in 'server busy' messages myself.  I think I've gotten about the same amount, maybe a bit more.
Perhaps that's because many DIS'ers are back-dating thread subscriptions of the threads they are still interested in following but did not start.
If the e-mail thread-subscription notifications have gone up, could the increased e-mails have put an extra load on the DIS-servers?  Or are the e-mails being run by BT as well?

agnes!


----------



## bicker

I've noticed a very substantial decrease in server busy messages over the past week or two.  It's very noticeable.


----------



## Caropooh

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> I didn't realize that it didn't, I will ask about that


Thanks! 
When I use the "search" or advanced search" it doesn't perform any function. It just brings me back to the search page where "key word" and 'relevency" are.
Also if you click on a members name in either a thread or a forum, you don't get the options of viewing other threads either started by them or posted on by them. You can only go to their profile.


----------



## chipscinderelly

Using IE and the new function works - but it won't let me search a thread which is frustrating as I know that in some of the larger meet threads there is specific information that I would like to pull without having to repost a question.


----------



## seema

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Since the new search does not run on our server, it absolutely is responsible for the decreased server load. The number of searches performed now is irrelevant to our performance.



The number of searches may be irrelevant to the server load and server performance; however, it must be important to the adminstrators of this bulletin board whether the new search function has maintained, increased, or decreased the number of searches that are being performed. If the number of searches has decreased, then this change should be a concern to the adminstrators; the usefulness of a valuable function of this bulletin board (ie the search function) should be considered to have decreased.


----------



## Sandi

What the heck is with the "category search" categories?  Arts & Humanities? Government and People?  How are those categories to be used in a helpful way for Disboard searches?


----------



## Dan Murphy

I am not sure either, Sandi, what those mean.   I do know, as seema mentioned, I too do almost no searches now.


----------



## agnes!

Are there any plans to run a poll about the BoardTracker system?

agnes!


----------



## TLHB70

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> I am not sure either, Sandi, what those mean.   I do know, as seema mentioned, I too do almost no searches now.



same here. 
I rarely search now.


----------



## taeja71

I can't search w/in a thread. Searching just that forum isn't specific enough. I'd like to be able to search a thread w/in the forum again.

(or if you can search w/in a thread, some one tell me how)


----------



## willis37862

I also don't like this new search engine. It's too limited. PLEASE bring back the old one.


----------



## JRawkSteady

I agree.  This search engine is incredibly pointless...  many times I just want to see what threads i have posted in, and now I cannot see this.

I've given up using this all together...


----------



## Sammy

I really do not like this new search....its basically useless as you can't search _within _ a thread.


----------



## willis37862

There seem to be plenty of us who don't like it. I hope that someone is listening.


----------



## jfulcer

never mind


----------



## jfulcer

JRawkSteady said:
			
		

> I agree.  This search engine is incredibly pointless...  many times I just want to see what threads i have posted in, and now I cannot see this.
> 
> I've given up using this all together...



Ok, just being the devils advocate here, but except for missing the last day or so (or more?  Which is, I assume, a problem and being worked on - I could be wrong)  but I can search for all your posts (and anyone's) by using the advanced search:

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=0&user=JRawkSteady&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1

Am I missing something?


----------



## smjj

I give up either I am really stupid or the new search engine is. It just isn't user friendly or nearly as good as the old one. Please go back. I think the reason the load on the server is less now is that most have just given up on it...smjj


----------



## agnes!

jfulcer said:
			
		

> Ok, just being the devils advocate here, but except for missing the last day or so (or more?  Which is, I assume, a problem and being worked on - I could be wrong)  but I can search for all your posts (and anyone's) by using the advanced search:
> 
> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=0&user=JRawkSteady&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
> 
> Am I missing something?



I think the Advanced-Search option only works for threads that you *start*.  IIRC(?), there are two workarounds to find threads you've posted in but not started.
1) left-click on your user-name when it appears(in the left-hand "box") in a thread, a drop-down menu will appear with "Find all posts by user"
2) subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to *any* thread you post to.  
An additional wrinkle is if you want to find an old thread that you didn't subscribe to but followed, well, that gets a little more complicated.  You have to go back to that thread after the fact and then subscribe.  
I think.

agnes!


----------



## Dan Murphy

agnes! said:
			
		

> .....An additional wrinkle is if you want to find an old thread that you didn't subscribe to but followed, well, that gets a little more complicated.  You have to go back to that thread after the fact and then subscribe.
> I think.
> 
> agnes!


Agnes, how would you actually find such a thread, in order to subscribe for the future, assuming it was more than a few days old and manually searching the first few pages of a forum, if you can recall the correct forum?


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> agnes! said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .....An additional wrinkle is if you want to find an old thread that you didn't subscribe to but followed, well, that gets a little more complicated.  You have to go back to that thread after the fact and then subscribe.
> I think.
> 
> agnes!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Agnes, how would you actually find such a thread, in order to subscribe for the future, assuming it was more than a few days old and manually searching the first few pages of a forum, if you can recall the correct forum?
Click to expand...


Well, how would you have found it before?

If you posted in it, do a search on your own username like Agnes described.

If you know who the OP of the thread was, or what the title of the thread was, use the new search tool to locate the thread.

If you know the name of another poster who posted in that thread, locate any of their posts and search on their username from that post.

Agnes's point is that you should use the subscribe function to mark any thread you want to follow- that's what that function is intended for.


----------



## agnes!

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> Agnes, how would you actually find such a thread, in order to subscribe for the future, assuming it was more than a few days old and manually searching the first few pages of a forum, if you can recall the correct forum?



Dan - 

Frankly?  I don't DIS as much anymore or follow older threads in the same way, so I'm not sure...I have completely lost track of some threads/users because I cannot remember posters' nicks...my poor addled brain just remembers their avatars or the great photos in their signatures(like the flying cat lol).

I do know that there are "work-arounds" that seem to accomplish what the original(intuitive/server-intensive) site search *used* to do, but they seem a bit too much like "work"  to me and not enough like *fun*  .  From now on, when you find any threads that you *think* you might be interested in following?  Well, subscribe!subscribe!subscribe  !  
In order to find the older threads that you might have "lost" and that pre-date the BoardTracker change-over, you will have to spend the time and do the various searches WebmasterKathy suggests. 

agnes!


----------



## HappyCamperToo

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Agnes's point is that you should use the subscribe function to mark any thread you want to follow- that's what that function is intended for.



Is there a subscription limit?


----------



## Dan Murphy

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Well, how would you have found it before?.........Agnes's point is that you should use the subscribe function to mark any thread you want to follow- that's what that function is intended for.


Well, WMK, quite honestly, I would have used search, or, if it was in one of the 569 threads I have currently in my subscription list (I have used that function since it has been available and tend not to unsubscribe), I would use that function.   

Sometimes there are just some threads that you recall something from, a word, a phrase, etc, where you had not necessarily wanted to follow the thread as such when first reading it, (actually maybe it meant nothing at the time), but subsequently, someone may be asking a question or similar where you do recall that previously viewed thought and were able to search, using a word, maybe a person, not an OP, but just a responder, and one could find it.   That's all, not a biggie.


			
				agnes! said:
			
		

> Dan......agnes!


Thanks, Agnes.



			
				HappyCamperToo said:
			
		

> Is there a subscription limit?


HCT, I know it is at least 569.


----------



## disneyjunkie

How do you search just one area?

I'm trying to find threads dealing with WDW during President's Day week.  With the old search engine I could search just the Trip planning forms.  I can't do that anymore.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

disneyjunkie said:
			
		

> How do you search just one area?
> 
> I'm trying to find threads dealing with WDW during President's Day week.  With the old search engine I could search just the Trip planning forms.  I can't do that anymore.



In the Search window, click the "advanced" link. This will let you specify a single forum (or a group of forums) to search.


----------



## disneyjunkie

Thanks Kathy

It looks like I was having trouble because I only clicked advance search once.


----------



## PanamaMike

I have almost 300 posts on the DIS.
This new search engine brings up only 20 of them.  The most recent one it shows is May 22 and the next one is Jan 19, 2005
Bring back the old system or fix this one.
Please.


----------



## agnes!

PanamaMike - 

BoardTracker as a system will probably never have the same features as the original DIS website search.  The original search engine on the DIS was apparently too server-intensive, causing performance problems.  BoardTracker relies on an independent database using "spiders" to harvest information.  For more information on BoardTracker, go check out their website (BoardTracker.com, I believe).

If you want to find all your previous posts, here'[s the work-around I've seen posted.  Left-click on your user-name to the left in this or any other thread.  There will be a drop-down menu, one of the choices will be "Find more posts by [username]".  Click on that & you'll find the 280+posts on the threads you have participated in.  If you utilize BoardTracker's Advanced Search feature, you will only be able to find threads that *you* have started.

There is a New Search poll *somewhere* on the Community Board, but I don't feel like searching for it right now  .

Good luck,
agnes!


----------



## MPeter

How do you search just within a particular thread that you are currently reading?  Using the Search Thread option doesn't seem to work.


----------



## Dan Murphy

From what I have been able to figure out from trying to work with it when they changed the search here, MPeter, I do not think you can search a thread.   I do think that new search only looks at the original post of a thread and ignores the replies.  That is what it seems like to me.   

From what I have read though, I think you could find a post with your name as the poster (not from your profile, that only works on threads you started) then you could search on your name, find all your posts you have made, then scroll through the pages of your posts and see if you have any posted on that thread.  Not sure how valuable that is, or practical if you have very many posts.

I have not looked at it for a few weeks now though, have not really used it lately either.  It is a pretty rudimentary search engine from what I can see.  Maybe they have changed it and improved it, I have not looked though.


----------



## agnes!

MPeter - 

Pretty much what Dan said  .

agnes!
PS - Oh, I have noticed a new box down at the bottom with (somewhat) "Related Threads" (but after taking a look at what pops up I'm not sure just how relevant the relations *are*...)


----------



## dj2

is there any way to find posts by a user farther back than the past 500?  i was trying to find a list of chef phone numbers that i'd posted on the disabilities board a few years ago, and it doesn't go back that far, only to 500 posts.  then i posted again, and it still went to 500 (not 501), so i think the limit is in number of posts pulled, not a specific cut-off date.  any way to see those old posts?


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dj2-  I can't help with the search functionality, but I did find the thread I think you're looking for:  
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=575236

Hope that helps!


----------



## dj2

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> dj2-  I can't help with the search functionality, but I did find the thread I think you're looking for:
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=575236
> 
> Hope that helps!



thanks.  yes, that was one of them.  what did you do to find it?  is it a procedure that non-webmasters can use?


----------



## jfulcer

If it's a really old thread, use google.  Type this is in the google search box:

MAGIC KINGDOM Executive Chef site:disboards.com  Click for link 

that will find the words "MAGIC KINGDOM Executive Chef" but will only search disboards.com.

Don't undersestimate google for your searching needs.  They index this board too ya know.


----------



## BoardTracker

jfulcer said:
			
		

> If it's a really old thread, use google.  Type this is in the google search box:
> 
> MAGIC KINGDOM Executive Chef site:disboards.com  Click for link
> 
> that will find the words "MAGIC KINGDOM Executive Chef" but will only search disboards.com.
> 
> Don't undersestimate google for your searching needs.  They index this board too ya know.


What's wrong with: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.p...utive+chef&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1 ?


----------



## WillCAD

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> What's wrong with: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=MAGIC+KINGDOM+Executive+chef&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1 ?


 
There re 17 pages in this thread telling you what's wrong with it. Read a few.


----------



## BoardTracker

WillCAD said:
			
		

> There re 17 pages in this thread telling you what's wrong with it. Read a few.


We have, thoroughly. The question still stands then.. What do you get in google search that gives you any benefit? I understand some would like to search posts-by-user, but this is not supplied by google as well. 

On top of that however:
Google does not cover most of the threads in this site, BoardTracker does. 
Google only adds threads once every few weeks, BoardTracker does this in near real time.
Google doesn't allow you to search threads in the last day/month/year etc.. BoardTracker does.
Google does not allow you to limit search to a specific forum, BoardTracker does.
Google does not allow you to search threads started by a specific user, BoardTracker does.

I understand some may want more features (the main or only one we can see is the search posts by user, in order to see where you posted).. This is what the 17 pages are mostly about. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

However besides that, and not that there is anything wrong with it whatsoever, but simply not as useful imho... why would you want to search for "MAGIC KINGDOM Executive Chef" in Google rather?


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> What's wrong with: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.p...utive+chef&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1 ?


Hey, BT, good morning, great to see you again.   

I notice that the quoted BT search found 13 listings, whereas the Google search from jfulcer (hi Jeff  ) located 107.  Would the difference be that BT is searching only OP's on the disboards, whereas Google is searching all posts, OP's and replies, on the disboards?   And if those four search words did not happen to be in an OP, would BT have missed a post that they happened to be if in a reply?  

Seems neither is fine honed, one maybe somewhat overly restrictive, only searching a limited pool, OP's, whereas the other, maybe a bit more expansive, possibly too much so, searching all, OP's and replies.  

Is there a way to maybe have a happy medium, adding in several more database searching operatives, maybe like the previous vBulletin search used, to make the BT search a more functional and usable search engine?  I just looked at the main disboards page and it shows thread count to be 1,049,072, post count to be 12,879,219.   Assuming that the former number is included in the latter number (post count inclusive of OP's), it would indicate that, if BT only searches OP's, that BT is missing a bit over 91% of the board content, searching roughly 9%.  If that is the case, it would seem that BT, and the disboard members, are missing a lot of searching pool and potential.  I might have that assumption (yes, I know that old 'assume' thing, LOL ) incorrect, but that is the way it seems to operate. 

Just thinking out loud here, hoping to, as item number two in the OP's posting of this thread asked for, _observations_.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> Hey, BT, good morning, great to see you again.
> 
> I notice that the quoted BT search found 13 listings, whereas the Google search from jfulcer (hi Jeff  ) located 107.  Would the difference be that BT is searching only OP's on the disboards, whereas Google is searching all posts, OP's and replies, on the disboards?   And if those four search words did not happen to be in an OP, would BT have missed a post that they happened to be if in a reply?
> 
> Seems neither is fine honed, one maybe somewhat overly restrictive, only searching a limited pool, OP's, whereas the other, maybe a bit more expansive, possibly too much so, searching all, OP's and replies.
> 
> Is there a way to maybe have a happy medium, adding in several more database searching operatives, maybe like the previous vBulletin search used, to make the BT search a more functional and usable search engine?  I just looked at the main disboards page and it shows thread count to be 1,049,072, post count to be 12,879,219.   Assuming that the former number is included in the latter number (post count inclusive of OP's), it would indicate that, if BT only searches OP's, that BT is missing a bit over 91% of the board content, searching roughly 9%.  If that is the case, it would seem that BT, and the disboard members, are missing a lot of searching pool and potential.  I might have that assumption (yes, I know that old 'assume' thing, LOL ) incorrect, but that is the way it seems to operate.
> 
> Just thinking out loud here, hoping to, as item number two in the OP's posting of this thread asked for, _observations_.



Hi Dan
The answer is as follows..

Google search does not search the posts but rather pages.
This means a lot of things:

1. Search google for : 'Random acts of kindness' in Disboards.. and what do you get? over 8000 results.
http://www.google.com/search?q=site...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
How come? Because this text appears in your signiture. Is that what you want to find when you search for threads? Usually not. You are looking for discussion. Not signitures and surrounding text.
Another example is - if you were looking for something like: first prize
The word "first" appears on every page in Disboards, because it is there in the link of "view first unread post". But when you want to find 'first prize' you want to find threads about that issue, not because the word happened to be on the page outside the discussion
BoardTracker on the other hand searches in the post only. Granted, at the moment only the first post, but most times it will be more accurate than the entire page anyway.

2. BoardTracker covers all the threads on a board. Indeed, missing content in the replies at the moment (which will be resolved in the future) but this is compared to google which covers about 25% of the threads (at most). This means that 3 out of 4 threads can not be found in google at all.
Yes, you do 'see' 107 results in google BUT it doesn't mean the thread is about the subject you were searching, for the reason described in point #1 and for the reason that will soon be described in #3. the 13 listings in BoardTracker are threads that absolutely (and relevantly) contain what you were looking for.

3. Searching in a full page is not only less relevant because of the search in the surrounding text (thread tools, signitures, ads etc..) but also because of searching across posts.
If you search for magic kingdom chef, you might get results in google when someone asks about magic kingdom (with no relation to chef) and someone in reply #5 answeres with the word chef (for whatever other reason). Searching a page rather than posts, creates irrelevancy since what you DO want to know is of threads about what you are looking for, not pages containing all the words across different posts.

Most times, not all, what people are looking for can be judged by the fiirst post. In that, BoardTracker is currently very effective. With the ability to search within a forum and search within a date range, BoardTracker is an effective tool, more than other search alternatives such as google and others.
As we acknowledged already, there is a value in including replies, and we will add this. Hopefully sooner than later. It requires planning and safe execution, and it will take some time, but we will get there. Still, even then, it will not be the 'perfect' solution, but frankly, there isn't such thing. But we are trying to get as close to possible to that


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> ......Most times, not all, what people are looking for can be judged by the fiirst post.....As we acknowledged already, there is a value in including replies, and we will add this. Hopefully sooner than later. It requires planning and safe execution, and it will take some time, but we will get there. Still, even then, it will not be the 'perfect' solution, but frankly, there isn't such thing. But we are trying to get as close to possible to that


I do think, BT, that it has been expressed here that most people are interested in actually looking beyond that OP.  Just my observation.  

And good to know that is in the future, agreeably and hopefully, not the distant future.   

I agree the previous vBulletin search was not perfect, nor is even Google, Yahoo, Info, Lycos, MSN, or Windows Live, but it did seem leaps and bounds ahead of the BT search.  Again, just my observation. 

Thanks for working to improve your service.


----------



## agnes!

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> What's wrong with: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.p...utive+chef&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1 ?



I'm sure I don't know, I'm just a DIS'er  .  It might help if you would analyze the data & then point out what's *right* with it.  Perhaps compare the two search results side-by-side with "*good* hits", "mis-fires?", etc

IMO, though, doing off-site searches like Google reduces any possible loads on the site servers.  So if a DIS'er uses BT or if they use Google, the DIS site & the servers themselves have less down-time.  
And that is a good thing.

agnes!


----------



## SeaSpray

I would like to see the old Search function brought back.


----------



## jfulcer

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Hi Dan
> The answer is as follows..
> 
> Google search does not search the posts but rather pages.
> This means a lot of things:



BT - I offered the Google search as an addition - not as a 'final answer'.  Your board search does not cover everything, and would NOT find this topic.  Google MAY.  There is a 99% chance yours will not - only if it's the original post.

I have to say, I was pleased with the results the google search came up with.  Yes, they are not as '_relevant_' but I would propose that your search is not relevant either as it is missing things.



			
				BoardTracker said:
			
		

> 1. Search google for : 'Random acts of kindness' in Disboards.. and what do you get? over 8000 results.
> http://www.google.com/search?q=site...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
> How come? Because this text appears in your signiture. Is that what you want to find when you search for threads? Usually not. You are looking for discussion. Not signitures and surrounding text.
> Another example is - if you were looking for something like: first prize
> The word "first" appears on every page in Disboards, because it is there in the link of "view first unread post". But when you want to find 'first prize' you want to find threads about that issue, not because the word happened to be on the page outside the discussion
> BoardTracker on the other hand searches in the post only. Granted, at the moment only the first post, but most times it will be more accurate than the entire page anyway.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BoardTracker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 2. BoardTracker covers all the threads on a board.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ahh, but it's not.  While it covers the threads, it doesn't cover _all the content_ on all the threads.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BoardTracker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Indeed, missing content in the replies at the moment (which will be resolved in the future) but this is compared to google which covers about 25% of the threads (at most). This means that 3 out of 4 threads can not be found in google at all.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yeah, but minus the ability to not find it via the built in search, isn't it a good idea to attempt to help someone?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BoardTracker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you search for magic kingdom chef, you might get results in google when someone asks about magic kingdom (with no relation to chef)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I suppose you could always search like this:  +"Magic Kingdom" +chef
> (http://www.google.com/search?source...&rlz=1B2GGGL_enUS176&q=+"Magic+Kingdom"++chef)
> 
> Oops!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BoardTracker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Most times, not all, what people are looking for can be judged by the fiirst post. In that, BoardTracker is currently very effective.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's 100% effective at searching the first post.  But what if someone posted a message like this:
> 
> Hiya, I'm looking for pictures of the stuff and explosions in the sky in disneyworld at night, where can I find them?
> 
> Now, someone else comes along a month later and thinks to themselves, hey - I wish I could find pictures of Wishes at night at the Magic Kingdom. Even though dozens of DISers may have replied with a correct and lots of links to pictures, that post will never come up.
> 
> I know, my example is stupid.  But in fact, I would venture to guess people come to this board looking for things about Disney they 'may have heard of' and not know how to spell/request what they are looking for right away.  At least a reply search would give them other choices...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BoardTracker said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> With the ability to search within a forum and search within a date range, BoardTracker is an effective tool, more than other search alternatives such as google and others.
> As we acknowledged already, there is a value in including replies, and we will add this. Hopefully sooner than later. It requires planning and safe execution, and it will take some time, but we will get there.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I _really_ want to see what kind of search you can come up with that is not going to drag your servers down like they did for the DISboards.
> 
> DISboards is one of MANY that you support.  I'm not sure how you can provide that kind of ability for all of them.  You server cost go up, your bandwidth costs go up, and I dunno if the boards will be willing to pay the extra $$$ it will cost.
> 
> I'm not even sure that a Google search appliance word work for something like this....
> 
> I actually think that everyone is hoping that the current fervor will die down and people will just 'live' with the current search.  I think that may actually happen.  But that's at the cost of people going to other Disney boards that they can search and that's sad.
Click to expand...


----------



## dpuck1998

jfulcer said:
			
		

> I actually think that everyone is hoping that the current fervor will die down and people will just 'live' with the current search.  I think that may actually happen.  But that's at the cost of people going to other Disney boards that they can search and that's sad.




Great Post


----------



## travelbug

When I click on "Advanced Search" and type in my own user name, sometimes it will show my past threads that I started.  Other times (about 50% of the time), it will do nothing except go back to the original blank little search screen.  Why is that??

While I'm really glad that the current search function does not bog down the server, I'm disappointed in the unreliability of the new search (see above paragraph) and how inefficient it is to use, regardless of speed.  

Unless I'm missing a huge short cut somewhere, when I want to revisit old threads I posted to but did not start, I have to do all these steps:

1. Select Search Forums
2. Click on Advanced Search
3. Type in my own user name, and hope I get something (see above)
4. Click on one of the threads I started
5. Click on my user name when it shows up, and select "show additional posts"

The old search, while slower, took 2 steps:
1. Select Search Forums
2. Type in my user name to see ALL threads, whether I started them or just posted to them.   No subscribing necessary.

Same difference when I want to view threads another user has posted to but not started.  

Is this the end of the world?  No.  Am I impressed with the new search?  No.  Am I glad to have more speed but less useability?  No.  Useability means more to me than speed.


----------



## mill4023

The new search system is terrible.
What exactly was the problem with the old search?
I know it timed out if you did a regular search, but 99% of the time, people only want to search thread titles anyway, so why not bring back the old search and default it to titles only instead of titles and body.


----------



## BoardTracker

travelbug said:
			
		

> When I click on "Advanced Search" and type in my own user name, sometimes it will show my past threads that I started.  Other times (about 50% of the time), it will do nothing except go back to the original blank little search screen.  Why is that??


Can you send me the URL (via PM or here in this thread) of such a page they you say comes up empty 50% of the time?


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:
			
		

> The new search system is terrible.
> What exactly was the problem with the old search?
> I know it timed out if you did a regular search, but 99% of the time, people only want to search thread titles anyway, so why not bring back the old search and default it to titles only instead of titles and body.


If all you need to do is search the titles of the threads, I fail to see how the new search is not perfect for you. Can you tell me what doesn't it do well for that need which you say is 99% of what searches are about?


----------



## travelbug

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Can you send me the URL (via PM or here in this thread) of such a page they you say comes up empty 50% of the time?


Sure, let me see if I can explain this more clearly.  When I click on "Advanced Search",
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php 
and enter my user name in the user name box, sometimes it will successfully show my past threads.  But other times, all it does is shrink back down to the very first search screen (without the search by user or search by forums section).  I try that procedure repeatedly and it just repeatedly shrinks back to the original search screen.  Then I may go back an hour later or whenever, and it will suddenly work, when I'm doing everything exactly the same.

I just tried the advanced search a minute ago, and it worked.  But when I tried it repeatedly earlier today, it did the non-response thing.  

Does that explain the problem more clearly?  I hope you can help!


----------



## BoardTracker

travelbug said:
			
		

> Sure, let me see if I can explain this more clearly.  When I click on "Advanced Search",
> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php
> and enter my user name in the user name box, sometimes it will successfully show my past threads.  But other times, all it does is shrink back down to the very first search screen (without the search by user or search by forums section).  I try that procedure repeatedly and it just repeatedly shrinks back to the original search screen.  Then I may go back an hour later or whenever, and it will suddenly work, when I'm doing everything exactly the same.
> 
> I just tried the advanced search a minute ago, and it worked.  But when I tried it repeatedly earlier today, it did the non-response thing.
> 
> Does that explain the problem more clearly?  I hope you can help!



When you do that you should see the following URL at the top:http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=travelbug&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1

Do you always see that?

If so, do you then see a page without the dog showing in the result area filling in with color like an hourglass? (indicating the results are being loaded)?

It would help to know if you see the above URL in your browser's adress bar and if so, if you see the dog progress indicator or see just an empty page.

I tried the above URL several times and it worked consistently. 
We would like to see why you have a problem and fix it.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> If all you need to do is search the titles of the threads, I fail to see how the new search is not perfect for you.


Ummmmm, maybe because it doesn't allow you to do that. 
And because it doesn't allow you to search only for the exact word you typed in.

Do a search for the word "business".
What you get are threads with titles like:
"driving from resorts"
"ohanas for breakfast"
because one of the posts in the thread has the word "busy" in it.


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:
			
		

> Ummmmm, maybe because it doesn't allow you to do that.
> And because it doesn't allow you to search only for the exact word you typed in.
> 
> Do a search for the word "business".
> What you get are threads with titles like:
> "driving from resorts"
> "ohanas for breakfast"
> because one of the posts in the thread has the word "busy" in it.



The system uses word stemming to also find matches on all variations of the words in the search term which is (usually  ) a very handy feature which most search engines use. For example with stemming if you search for 'park' the system will also search for parks, parking, parked etc.

In the case of 'business' it was also matching busy which was not too useful and we have updated the stemming db to fix that as you will see if you search for it now.

Also you can enclose search terms in quotes to search for more exact matches which in the case of "business" would have returned those threads specifically about business rather than busy or other variations.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> The system uses word stemming to also find matches on all variations of the words in the search term which is (usually  ) a very handy feature which most search engines use. For example with stemming if you search for 'park' the system will also search for parks, parking, parked etc.
> 
> In the case of 'business' it was also matching busy which was not too useful and we have updated the stemming db to fix that as you will see if you search for it now.
> 
> Also you can enclose search terms in quotes to search for more exact matches which in the case of "business" would have returned those threads specifically about business rather than busy or other variations.


And now if I search for busy, I get results about business.  Yes, you can fix that as well, but unless you are going to fix the db for EVERY single possible word, you are only fixing it for one particular search and not the millions of possible searches that could occur.

IMO, the search should default to only looking for the actual word entered and should give the option to search for related words.  I shouldn't have to use quotes to tell it that I only want to search for what I said I wanted to search for.

And you still haven't addressed the issue of not being able to limit the search only to thread titles.  The default should be to only look for the words in the thread title, then there should be an option to include entire posts.

The rest of my complaints are here:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234498

One more complaint:  The person addressing our complaints has a vested interest in blowing off our complaints and convincing the board admins to continue to use this poorly designed product.


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:
			
		

> And now if I search for busy, I get results about business.  Yes, you can fix that as well, but unless you are going to fix the db for EVERY single possible word, you are only fixing it for one particular search and not the millions of possible searches that could occur.


Fixed that one as well.
Whatever needs fixing and we can fix, we will. I don't think it's a bad thing.



			
				mill4023 said:
			
		

> IMO, the search should default to only looking for the actual word entered and should give the option to search for related words.  I shouldn't have to use quotes to tell it that I only want to search for what I said I wanted to search for.


Stemming exists allow people to find something they are looking for even if the exact use of the words are not what you typed. If you are looking for a - waterworld tours - it might be of great value to show results for -waterworld tour - as well. 
If you want to use an exact word, you can use quotes around it.



			
				mill4023 said:
			
		

> And you still haven't addressed the issue of not being able to limit the search only to thread titles.  The default should be to only look for the words in the thread title, then there should be an option to include entire posts.


I think we actually said it once or twice, Try to search for something and the first things you will see matches in the title.If you are looking for "Disneyland report"  the first results you will get are those with such words in the title. It pretty much negates the need to allow title limit, since the relevancy of the search negates the need for such seperate function.





			
				mill4023 said:
			
		

> The rest of my complaints are here:
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234498
> 
> One more complaint:  The person addressing our complaints has a vested interest in blowing off our complaints and convincing the board admins to continue to use this poorly designed product.


Was your complaint about "Business" dealt with or blowen off? It wasn't blowen off, was it? 
The people replying to your complaints are here to either explain things or correct things when it is possible.
It is not polite or encouraging to attack someone who is trying to help and make things better.


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> ......Stemming exists allow people to find something they are looking for even if the exact use of the words are not what you typed. If you are looking for a - waterworld tours - it might be of great value to show results for -waterworld tour - as well.
> If you want to use an exact word, you can use quotes around it......


Hi again, BT. 

Can you address 'stemming' as it would apply to board users here. Under the old search, if I was looking for you, BoardTracker, but only knew you had the name Board and T something or other, I could put in _boardt_ and check off that it was not a complete name.  It would find ALL posts (not just OP's) of yours, plus any other board member whose name started with boardt.  A nice, VERY useful feature, since the Members List has been unavailable for ages.

Also, any ETA for being able to search beyond OP's, on into replies also.


jfulcer, excellent observations and input, as always.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

mill4023 said:
			
		

> One more complaint: The person addressing our complaints has a vested interest in blowing off our complaints and convincing the board admins to continue to use this poorly designed product.


 
Ok first off nobody is going to convince me of anything. The new search has certain advantages and disadvantages. Overall the complaint level has been fairly low to be honest.
A lot of the problems turned out to be people using search in ways it was never intended, for example people searching on their own posts instead of subscribing to threads, thats abusing our servers.
It has helped load problems quite a bit and the problems are getting sorted out slowly but surely.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> Hi again, BT.
> 
> Can you address 'stemming' as it would apply to board users here. Under the old search, if I was looking for you, BoardTracker, but only knew you had the name Board and T something or other, I could put in _boardt_ and check off that it was not a complete name.  It would find ALL posts (not just OP's) of yours, plus any other board member whose name started with boardt.  A nice, VERY useful feature, since the Members List has been unavailable for ages.
> 
> Also, any ETA for being able to search beyond OP's, on into replies also.
> 
> 
> jfulcer, excellent observations and input, as always.


Actually what stemming is has nothing to do with usernames. What you refer to is partial username match. We will look into adding it in the next search release. No ETA on that yet.

No ETA on the search in replies as well. It is being adressed and the solution requires very careful implementation.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Was your complaint about "Business" dealt with or blowen off? It wasn't blowen off, was it?
> The people replying to your complaints are here to either explain things or correct things when it is possible.
> It is not polite or encouraging to attack someone who is trying to help and make things better.


First off, I'm sorry if I came across as attacking you.  I didn't mean to.  I was only pointing out the bias.  Second, yes, in a way, my complaint about "Business" was blown off.  Sure, you made changes for one search word, but my complaint was about the search technique in general.  And to that, you just responded with the fact that I could quote the word.  I already explained why I thought that was a poor solution.

I'll have to read my other thread and see if you addressed the other issues.

Like I said, I'm sorry if I came across as attacking you.  I didn't mean to.  As a professional software developer, I am just very sensitive to poor, unintuitive design.  Things like typing a search term, clicking go, then having to type the search term again.  Things like clicking search when you are in a specific forum and having to take the extra step of selecting the forum you want to search in.  Things like clicking "Advanced Search" and having to click "Advanced Search" again on the next page.

I haven't spent enough time with it to evaluate the "relevancy" sorting, but I will say that I've never seen a relevancy ordering scheme that worked well.


----------



## travelbug

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> When you do that you should see the following URL at the top:http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=travelbug&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
> 
> Do you always see that?
> 
> If so, do you then see a page without the dog showing in the result area filling in with color like an hourglass? (indicating the results are being loaded)?
> 
> It would help to know if you see the above URL in your browser's adress bar and if so, if you see the dog progress indicator or see just an empty page.
> 
> I tried the above URL several times and it worked consistently.
> We would like to see why you have a problem and fix it.


If the search is working, I do see the URL you posted, as well as the dog and the expected list of threads.  If it "decides" not to work, the only URL I ever see is the one I posted.  There is no dog.  When I type my user name in the box under "search by user", the only thing that happens is that the "search by user" and "search by forum" sections get hidden.  I'm left with only the first basic search starting point.  

There is no pattern or predictability to when the search works for me and when it doesn't.  So far it's been about half and half.  Thanks, Board Tracker, for trying to help me get this figured out.


----------



## BoardTracker

travelbug said:
			
		

> If the search is working, I do see the URL you posted, as well as the dog and the expected list of threads.  If it "decides" not to work, the only URL I ever see is the one I posted.  There is no dog.  When I type my user name in the box under "search by user", the only thing that happens is that the "search by user" and "search by forum" sections get hidden.  I'm left with only the first basic search starting point.
> 
> There is no pattern or predictability to when the search works for me and when it doesn't.  So far it's been about half and half.  Thanks, Board Tracker, for trying to help me get this figured out.


If the URL you get to is http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php it means that there was no search requested yet. If you get there after you typed in some details in the search page and clicked "search" it is very strange. It might be a bug with the browser or something else, but it is not related to BoardTracker since up to this point as you describe, BoardTracker system is not yet involved. BoardTracker is only 'involved' where there are extra parameters after the searchbt.php.
If on the other hand you do get to the URL I described and don't see results (which is not the case as I understand from you), then it might indicate a problem. 
To better identify the problem you are having we will have to trace back what you do to get to that "empty" URL, so we can try to recreate it in a test environment.


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:
			
		

> First off, I'm sorry if I came across as attacking you.  I didn't mean to.  I was only pointing out the bias.  Second, yes, in a way, my complaint about "Business" was blown off.  Sure, you made changes for one search word, but my complaint was about the search technique in general.  And to that, you just responded with the fact that I could quote the word.  I already explained why I thought that was a poor solution.
> 
> I'll have to read my other thread and see if you addressed the other issues.
> 
> Like I said, I'm sorry if I came across as attacking you.  I didn't mean to.  As a professional software developer, I am just very sensitive to poor, unintuitive design.  Things like typing a search term, clicking go, then having to type the search term again.  Things like clicking search when you are in a specific forum and having to take the extra step of selecting the forum you want to search in.  Things like clicking "Advanced Search" and having to click "Advanced Search" again on the next page.
> 
> I haven't spent enough time with it to evaluate the "relevancy" sorting, but I will say that I've never seen a relevancy ordering scheme that worked well.


The stemming is a common feature on the good search engines. A smart search engine uses stemming. Search engines that don't use stemming are considered "basic". Google uses stemming. Yahoo does, Ask does etc..
So it's not a design flaw but an advanced and needed feature in our opinion. It makes sense to show you a thread titled "Going to waterwold" when you searched for "go to waterworld" for example. So.. disabling stemming will degrade the value of BoardTracker, in our opinion. The idea of quotes to get a specific word is quite an easy one to use IF you don't get relevant results for your search with stemming. Indeed 'business' should have not forked to 'busy' etc.. and now it is fixed. IF now you still get irrelevant results, let us know and we will look into it.

As for the bias you referred to. It is not a bias when a representative of BoardTracker is trying to help or explain how things are with regards to BoardTracker. Is it? 
When something is not right, BoardTracker representative does acknowledge that. When something needs fixing we say so and even more than say... do so.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> The stemming is a common feature on the good search engines. A smart search engine uses stemming. Search engines that don't use stemming are considered "basic". Google uses stemming. Yahoo does, Ask does etc..
> So it's not a design flaw but an advanced and needed feature in our opinion. It makes sense to show you a thread titled "Going to waterwold" when you searched for "go to waterworld" for example. So.. disabling stemming will degrade the value of BoardTracker, in our opinion. The idea of quotes to get a specific word is quite an easy one to use IF you don't get relevant results for your search with stemming. Indeed 'business' should have not forked to 'busy' etc.. and now it is fixed. IF now you still get irrelevant results, let us know and we will look into it.
> 
> As for the bias you referred to. It is not a bias when a representative of BoardTracker is trying to help or explain how things are with regards to BoardTracker. Is it?
> When something is not right, BoardTracker representative does acknowledge that. When something needs fixing we say so and even more than say... do so.


I appreciate your explanation.  I am not disagreeing that stemming can be useful.  But I do think that searching a forum is inherently different from searching the web.  Even though using quotes to specify exact matches only is common in other search engines, I think having a radio button option to choose between "exact" and "similar" would be more user friendly.

I also still think that if you click the "search this forum" link while looking at a particular forum (Theme Parks and Attractions, for example), then the default behavior of the search should be to ONLY look in the Theme Parks and Attractions forum.

The process of clicking "search this forum", entering a word, and clicking "Go" is still not working correctly.  It did finally work for me one time this morning, but every other time I try it, it just takes me to the default search page with nothing entered and no search results: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php

EDIT: OK, let me clarify.  While looking at a specific forum area, there are two search links.  One at the top that just says "search" and one right above the list of threads that says "search this forum".  The "search" link does appear to work correctly and go to the search page with the search term already filled in and results displayed.  But the "search this forum" is doing what I described above.  It's just going to the generic search page without displaying results or having the search term entered already.

IMO, the "search" link should default to searching all forums, while the "search this forum" should default to searching only the specific forum you are looking at.


----------



## agnes!

"Search this forum" actually doesn't (well - at least it *didn't* the last time I tried it).

agnes!


----------



## mill4023

I took a look at the html and the form action for "search this forum" is still set to search.php instead of searchbt.php like the other "search" link.


----------



## dpuck1998

Just give mill, agnes and I the code and we'll get it going


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:
			
		

> I appreciate your explanation.  I am not disagreeing that stemming can be useful.  But I do think that searching a forum is inherently different from searching the web.  Even though using quotes to specify exact matches only is common in other search engines, I think having a radio button option to choose between "exact" and "similar" would be more user friendly.


We can look into adding stem-off option in the future. However, even if we did, I doubt it would be turned on by default, even if the option was left for the board admins. If you still think it would be nice to have that option somewhere (maybe in advanced, although then it would be more hassle than quotes) let me know.



			
				mill4023 said:
			
		

> I also still think that if you click the "search this forum" link while looking at a particular forum (Theme Parks and Attractions, for example), then the default behavior of the search should be to ONLY look in the Theme Parks and Attractions forum.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mill4023 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The process of clicking "search this forum", entering a word, and clicking "Go" is still not working correctly.  It did finally work for me one time this morning, but every other time I try it, it just takes me to the default search page with nothing entered and no search results: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php
> 
> EDIT: OK, let me clarify.  While looking at a specific forum area, there are two search links.  One at the top that just says "search" and one right above the list of threads that says "search this forum".  The "search" link does appear to work correctly and go to the search page with the search term already filled in and results displayed.  But the "search this forum" is doing what I described above.  It's just going to the generic search page without displaying results or having the search term entered already.
> 
> IMO, the "search" link should default to searching all forums, while the "search this forum" should default to searching only the specific forum you are looking at.
> 
> 
> 
> As Mill and Angus noticed, the search-this-forum links to search.hph rather than to searchbt.php This is why it never worked if you tried it. It should never work by the way. Not really possible that it sometimes worked.
> 
> I agree. It would be handy to have the ability to search directly from there.
> We will look at ways to make it possible and will talk to WebmAsterAlex about implementing it, potentially before the next version's release. However, it is up to alex as the changes should take place here on the board.
Click to expand...


----------



## agnes!

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> mill4023 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also still think that if you click the "search this forum" link while looking at a particular forum (Theme Parks and Attractions, for example), then the default behavior of the search should be to ONLY look in the Theme Parks and Attractions forum.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As Mill and Angus noticed, the search-this-forum links to search.hph rather than to searchbt.php This is why it never worked if you tried it. It should never work by the way. Not really possible that it sometimes worked.
> 
> I agree. It would be handy to have the ability to search directly from there.
> We will look at ways to make it possible and will talk to WebmAsterAlex about implementing it, potentially before the next version's release. However, it is up to alex as the changes should take place here on the board.
Click to expand...



If "Search this forum" does not actually work, shouldn't that drop-down possibly be disabled/deleted completely?

agnes!
PS - It's "agnes" not "Angus", but don't worry - happens all the time.


----------



## BoardTracker

agnes! said:
			
		

> If "Search this forum" does not actually work, shouldn't that drop-down possibly be disabled/deleted completely?
> 
> agnes!
> PS - It's "agnes" not "Angus", but don't worry - happens all the time.


I stand corrected about the "agnes" 

Disabling the dropdown menu (or correcting it's operation) is up to the site admins. But I agree, if not working, it makes sense to disable it.


----------



## WillCAD

agnes! said:
			
		

> PS - It's "agnes" not "Angus", but don't worry - happens all the time.


 
He's just stemming your name Agnes.


----------



## karensi

Count me in as one of those who do not like the new search system. I know that I have posted,3-4 times, within the last week, yet when I do a search,searching under "username"  to find a post that I have written, it comes up with no matches. I know that is wrong, as I know I have posted within the time period I am searching.


----------



## travelbug

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> If the URL you get to is http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php it means that there was no search requested yet. If you get there after you typed in some details in the search page and clicked "search" it is very strange. It might be a bug with the browser or something else, but it is not related to BoardTracker since up to this point as you describe, BoardTracker system is not yet involved. BoardTracker is only 'involved' where there are extra parameters after the searchbt.php.
> If on the other hand you do get to the URL I described and don't see results (which is not the case as I understand from you), then it might indicate a problem.
> To better identify the problem you are having we will have to trace back what you do to get to that "empty" URL, so we can try to recreate it in a test environment.


OK, it's doing it again.  I just clicked on Advanced Search, typed in my user name, clicked on Search Now, and it wouldn't go through.  The Search by User and Search by Forum sections disappeared, but this time I was left with this URL :
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=0&user=travelbug&scope=0&cat=1&frm=-1

This is different, because before this, the URL didn't change.  This time it did change, but the search didn't go through. 

Thanks for anything you can figure out for me.


----------



## travelbug

By the way, BoardTracker, I tried to PM you so that everyone else doesn't have to read about my specific problem.  But the message came up that you are not receiving private messages.  Thought you'd want to know that since earlier in this thread, you offered that I could PM you.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> I stand corrected about the "agnes"
> 
> Disabling the dropdown menu (or correcting it's operation) is up to the site admins. But I agree, if not working, it makes sense to disable it.



Is searchbt.php not setup to read querystring or hidden field values that are passed to it?

Because that is the only difference there should be between "Search" and "Search this forum".  The "Search this forum" menu was setup to pass the forum id in a hidden field so the search page would know which forum to search.


----------



## mill4023

I assume you guys are working on some changes, since the "Search" link now throws an error:
line: 261
Char: 2
Error: 'Search_Tag_Link_Type' is undefined
Code:0


----------



## dpuck1998

Hopefully its being worked on, since its not working at all.  Also, just wanna throw this back out there again.  I am indeed now subscribing to threads and that does help me keep track of threads I'm involved in at this time.  However, I wanted to search for threads from another user, that they may be involved in, and of course I only get threads that they started.  I know this has been discussed at great detail, but just wanted to keep it a live topic.


----------



## BoardTracker

Oops   
The glitch you experienced was due to an backend script upgrade of the search system. 
It should be working now.

dpuck1998: The subject you refer to is alive and will be adressed (even if you don't try to keep it alive) since we as well think it is important to offer such search capability. However, even then, when you find a thread you want to track on an ongoing basis, it makes sense to subscribe to the thread rather than search for it time and again. Consider subscription as "bookmarks" basically. Searching is excellent for finding things. But for keeping track of places you frequent, bookmarks are but more useful.

mill4023: BT's search is technically capable of receiving parameters from calling pages. However it requires to update the calling pages and clearly we do not have access to updating those. It is up to the site owners. However, they seem to be doing quite a good job so far as I have yet to get a "too busy" error from the site. Hope it will not considered biased of us to at least acknowledge the good changes and results.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Boardtracker, it's still broken (or broken again.)

When I search now, I'm getting hits that are on other forums instead of on the DISboards.


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> ......However, they seem to be doing quite a good job so far as I have yet to get a "too busy" error from the site. Hope it will not considered biased of us to at least acknowledge the good changes and results.


I still get 'too busy' error mesages.


----------



## dpuck1998

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> dpuck1998: The subject you refer to is alive and will be adressed (even if you don't try to keep it alive) since we as well think it is important to offer such search capability. However, even then, when you find a thread you want to track on an ongoing basis, it makes sense to subscribe to the thread rather than search for it time and again. Consider subscription as "bookmarks" basically. Searching is excellent for finding things. But for keeping track of places you frequent, bookmarks are but more useful.



I have now learned to subscribe to them.  Took some re-learning ;-)  There are still times that I would like to find post that a specific user has commented on though and look through ALL the post by that person takes a long time.  Just my 2 cents.   That and searching in a specific forum.


----------



## jfulcer

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Searching is excellent for finding things.



Unless it's in a reply to the thread - in which case the BT searcher does not find anything.  But I'm beating a dead horse.



			
				BoardTracker said:
			
		

> But for keeping track of places you frequent, bookmarks are but more useful.



I know Alex doesn't like it, but I (and others) do use the search to find what we posted to.  I'm not a frequent poster, so my post count isn't as high, - but let's use Dan Murphy as an example - he posts on average 25 times a day.  If he would subscribe to every thread he posts to, can you imagine how very quickly his 'subscription' list becomed unmanageable?  Wouldn't it be really cool if he could search threads where people quoted him or asked him a question?  Those may not be subscribed and he'll never see.  

So we're sorry if we used the search to find our threads Alex.  I'm also sorry that I can't search to see if anyone asked me a question, or quoted me, or mentioned me in passing.  It reduces my 'happiness' factor..


----------



## agnes!

Over the past week I've seen "server busy" messages several times as well (not within the past couple of days though).

agnes!


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Oops
> The glitch you experienced was due to an backend script upgrade of the search system.
> It should be working now.
> 
> mill4023: BT's search is technically capable of receiving parameters from calling pages. However it requires to update the calling pages and clearly we do not have access to updating those. It is up to the site owners. However, they seem to be doing quite a good job so far as I have yet to get a "too busy" error from the site. Hope it will not considered biased of us to at least acknowledge the good changes and results.


I understand.  Hopefully, you guys can work with Alex to get the "Search this forum" link working.

The "Search this forum" link already has the forum number in a hidden input field.
for instance, in the resorts forum, the "search this forum" form contains these input fields:
<input type="hidden" name="forumchoice" value="12" />
<input type="hidden" name="childforums" value="1" />
<input type="text" class="bginput" name="query" size="20" />

So all the "Go" button needs to do is get the value of "bginput" and the value of "forumchoice" and put them in the querystring like this:
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=polynesian&frm=12

Hmmm, maybe someone is working on it right now because I'm now getting this error from the "search this forum" link:
'1' is null or not an object


----------



## Dan Murphy

Currently, I am in a User's profile, clicking on the 'Find all threads started by...' so I can find an OP of that person so I can click on their name and find all posts by that person (I think that is the current logic) and when clicking on the 'Find all threads started by...', BT just sits there and looks back at me, doing nothing, not even the cute BT dog.  Any ideas?


----------



## Dan Murphy

Is search, looking for a member, currently busted??


----------



## UP Disney

I am trying to use the advanced search feature to find threads started by an individual.  I type in their name in the user name field.  Make sure it is for any date and click Search now.  I get absolutely nothing.  It comes back to the search screen.  I have done this many times and if there aren't any threads, I at least see the dog and it tells me there are no posts.  This is not even searching.  Is the search broken?


----------



## BoardTracker

UP Disney: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=0&user=UP+Disney&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1

Dan Murphy: http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=0&user=Dan+Murphy&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1

Should be working.
Let me know if it works for you.


----------



## mickeymousemom

Just found this thread(never used this forum).....I'm looking for a specific poster to show my DD the pic in her signature.  I know I've spelled the name right(even tried a couple different variations of it) but no matter what I search or how I search it, it comes up with nothing....just sort of sits there or tells me no matches.  I even used other methods and different keywords, just to see if the thing worked at all...I got no matches to anything I searched.  Help!


----------



## mickeymousemom

UP Disney said:
			
		

> I am trying to use the advanced search feature to find threads started by an individual.  I type in their name in the user name field.  Make sure it is for any date and click Search now.  I get absolutely nothing.  It comes back to the search screen.  I have done this many times and if there aren't any threads, I at least see the dog and it tells me there are no posts.  This is not even searching.  Is the search broken?





This is the exact problem I'm having.


----------



## Dan Murphy

mickeymousemom said:
			
		

> Just found this thread(never used this forum).....I'm looking for a specific poster to show my DD the pic in her signature.  I know I've spelled the name right(even tried a couple different variations of it) but no matter what I search or how I search it, it comes up with nothing....just sort of sits there or tells me no matches.  I even used other methods and different keywords, just to see if the thing worked at all...I got no matches to anything I searched.  Help!


If the poster never did an original post, mickeymousemom, I do not think the new search engine can find that person.  Not sure, but over the past 5 weeks, that is how I understand it.


----------



## mickeymousemom

Okay.  Well..I'm pretty sure this poster has been on here for quite some time...sure she's had an original post somewhere, though maybe not.  I know that it seemed(last night) no matter WHAT I searched(using key words like "disney")...it would tell me there were no matches.  Maybe I'm not doing something right.  I know that for now I really liked the old way to search better.   

Thanks!


----------



## TammyAlphabet

My search feature doesn't work at all.  How can I fix this?


----------



## disneyjunkie

I'm trying to search the DCL board for theads about the Mediterrean cruises.

When I click on search, it only pulls up TWO threads.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

disneyjunkie said:
			
		

> I'm trying to search the DCL board for theads about the Mediterrean cruises.
> 
> When I click on search, it only pulls up TWO threads.



Be sure you're spelling *Mediterranean* correctly in that search- I get 72 threads when I do that search.


----------



## disneyjunkie

It worked when I used MED.

Of course it helps if your spelling is correct.


----------



## agnes!

mickeymousemom said:
			
		

> Okay.  Well..I'm pretty sure this poster has been on here for quite some time...sure she's had an original post somewhere, though maybe not.  I know that it seemed(last night) no matter WHAT I searched(using key words like "disney")...it would tell me there were no matches.  Maybe I'm not doing something right.  I know that for now I really liked the old way to search better.
> 
> Thanks!



Some previous posters in this htread have said that it is possible to Google a site to find info, not sure if that's any better for your purposes than BoardTracker or not.

Good luck,
agnes!
PS - PM me of you like, maybe we can find your missing poster...


----------



## jctwizzer

WebmasterAlex said:
			
		

> Please use this thread to post any problems, observations or issues with the new search system




one word: useless...

in a polite society, this would be called a piece of crap
JMHO


----------



## WebmasterAlex

jctwizzer said:
			
		

> one word: useless...
> 
> in a polite society, this would be called a piece of crap
> JMHO


 
You are welcome to your opinion but unless you want to be specific, it's really tough to give it much weight


----------



## TammyAlphabet

TammyAlphabet said:
			
		

> My search feature doesn't work at all.  How can I fix this?



Can anyone help me?  Please?


----------



## TLHB70

I just returned from my week trip to WDW.  I met one fellow DISer while there.  She spotted my lime green Mickey head and said hello.  I wanted to send her a PM since I am now home.  I have used the new search engine searching her screen name so that I can find a post by her and send her a PM.  The search keeps coming up with no results.  What can I do to find her?????


----------



## BoardTracker

TammyAlphabet said:
			
		

> Can anyone help me?  Please?


Can you tell me exactly what you do and what is the result of it?
Try to be as specific as possible and indicate whar URL you get to after you attempt to search.


----------



## agnes!

TammyAlphabet said:
			
		

> Can anyone help me?  Please?




Who/what are you looking for?

agnes!


----------



## agnes!

TLHB70 said:
			
		

> I just returned from my week trip to WDW.  I met one fellow DISer while there.  She spotted my lime green Mickey head and said hello.  I wanted to send her a PM since I am now home.  I have used the new search engine searching her screen name so that I can find a post by her and send her a PM.  The search keeps coming up with no results.  What can I do to find her?????




Did she tell you what Forums she frequents?  Maybe you could post an "In Search of [username]" on that forum.  Or you could post your "In Search of" on the Community Board, lots of people post or lurk there.  Since there is so much activity there, you'll probably have to bump it up every so often.  
If your DIS'er did not start any threads, the only other thing I can think of is to Google her username + "disboards.com", but I'm not sure how to do that.  Maybe someone else can PM you how you'll need to construct your Google Search resuest?

good luck,
agnes!


----------



## TLHB70

agnes! said:
			
		

> Did she tell you what Forums she frequents?  Maybe you could post an "In Search of [username]" on that forum.  Or you could post your "In Search of" on the Community Board, lots of people post or lurk there.  Since there is so much activity there, you'll probably have to bump it up every so often.
> If your DIS'er did not start any threads, the only other thing I can think of is to Google her username + "disboards.com", but I'm not sure how to do that.  Maybe someone else can PM you how you'll need to construct your Google Search resuest?
> 
> good luck,
> agnes!


No.  She didn't tell me what board she frequents.  She did say that she just found the boards for this trip so she is still somewhat new.
Her name is Hollie Poppins if anyone can help me find her.
Thanks!


----------



## dpuck1998

Anyone else getting server busy messages today?  I've gotten several.


----------



## TammyAlphabet

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Can you tell me exactly what you do and what is the result of it?
> Try to be as specific as possible and indicate whar URL you get to after you attempt to search.



I think I have figured out the problem.  I was using Mozilla Firefox as the browser and it wouldn't even try to search.  With internet explorer, it works fine.  Thanks!


----------



## BoardTracker

TammyAlphabet said:
			
		

> I think I have figured out the problem.  I was using Mozilla Firefox as the browser and it wouldn't even try to search.  With internet explorer, it works fine.  Thanks!


It should work find with Firefox as well.
Let me know if you face any problem with it in the future.


----------



## Dan Murphy

TLHB70 said:
			
		

> No.  She didn't tell me what board she frequents.  She did say that she just found the boards for this trip so she is still somewhat new.
> Her name is Hollie Poppins if anyone can help me find her.
> Thanks!


I think that if your new friend has not started any threads as of yet, and only replied (not too unusual, BTW), you will not be able to find her, TLHB70, through search.  From what I have been able to figure out, you would need to page through boards and threads you might think she has posted in and on.  A tough task, yes.  But the folks at BT have said the reply search feature is on the plate, but do need to be careful about it and the rollout.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

TLHB70 said:
			
		

> No.  She didn't tell me what board she frequents.  She did say that she just found the boards for this trip so she is still somewhat new.
> Her name is Hollie Poppins if anyone can help me find her.
> Thanks!



Here's a thread begun by HolliePoppins: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1225870


----------



## lucky1

I have been unable to use the advanced search to find a username that has not started a thread, but is just posting to a reply?    Is there something else I must do to find reply posts by username?


----------



## TammyAlphabet

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> It should work find with Firefox as well.
> Let me know if you face any problem with it in the future.



Does not work with Firefox at all.  When I use the drop down search, and type in a search, it automatically goes to advanced search without choosing advanced search.  Then when I try to search again from that window, it does nothing and goes nowhere, no results, not even trying to search at all.  Like it doesn't recognize that a search was initiated.

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=little+foot&order=0&user=&scope=0&cat=1&frm=-1

This is the url that I got when I put in little foot, but it doesn't give any results, just kinda blinks and does nothing.

I tried today at work, and the search function works in internet explorer.  But here, on my home computer, it doesn't work even in internet explorer.  Could this be a parental control or firewall issue?


----------



## betterlatethannever

lucky1 said:
			
		

> I have been unable to use the advanced search to find a username that has not started a thread, but is just posting to a reply?    Is there something else I must do to find reply posts by username?



From what i understand, you use the search to find a (any) thread started by the user.
Go to that thread.
Left click on the person's username.
On the drop down menu that appears, click on "find more posts by this user".

Ed


----------



## TLHB70

WebmasterKathy said:
			
		

> Here's a thread begun by HolliePoppins: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1225870


Thank you!!!!!!   I was putting a space between the two names.  I guess that is why I couldn't get anything to come up.
Thanks!


----------



## Imzadi

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> The question still stands then.. What do you get in google search that gives you any benefit?



Why does this very popular thread on Desperate Housewives not appear in the DIS search whether I use "Desperate Housewives" or "Official Desperate Housewives"? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=723502 

With 2,448 posts & 61,665 viewings it is an important thread to be left out.

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=Desperate%20Housewives&&frm=33&&relfrms=1&&cat=1&page=1&order=0&scope=4 

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=Desperate+Housewives&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=33&relfrms=1 

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=Official+Desperate+Housewives&order=0&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=33&relfrms=1 

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.p...&order=1&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=33&relfrms=1 


It does, however show up as number one when I do a google search using www.disboards.com as the domain:
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=Official+Desperate+Housewives+&num=50&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=lang_en&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=www.disboards.com&as_rights=&safe=images 

It's also a good thing I bookmarked it.

I heard a quote recently that, "Certain people will so not understand something when the _not_ understanding directly affects their welfare or benefits them." 

Admit it, you really have no intention or desire to change the search feature. It really doesn't matter how many complain here. Most don't because of it. We simply do Google searches instead of complaining to deaf/biased ears.


----------



## agnes!

I'm a little puzzled...when I did a search for that thread, BoardTracker did not give me the actual title for the thread, BT gave *just "Desperate Housewives" without "Official" or "thread" or any of the other words of the complete title.  Does BT select only two words as its titles in the searches?

agnes!


----------



## BoardTracker

Imzadi: BT covers most of DisBoards but not yet all. It is a gradual process that out of consideration to DisBoards server resources does not happen immediately. eventually almost all threads are covered. This will be the case with DisBoards as well. Even then, some threads might be missing, but likely few in numbers.


agnes: No, BT doesn't select only two.
Words don't have to appear in the title. They can be in the thread post itself. Shown threads DO have all three words, in title or post.


----------



## HappyCamperToo

Is it possible to add a column to the search results showing which board the thread is from?


----------



## BoardTracker

HappyCamperToo said:
			
		

> Is it possible to add a column to the search results showing which board the thread is from?


Not in the current version


----------



## travelbug

I'm trying to do a search by my own user name.  The little dog "fills up" over and over and over, but nothing else ever happens.  I had the same trouble 2 days ago.  What's going on?


----------



## BoardTracker

travelbug said:
			
		

> I'm trying to do a search by my own user name.  The little dog "fills up" over and over and over, but nothing else ever happens.  I had the same trouble 2 days ago.  What's going on?


http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=travelbug&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
The link above doesn't work for you?


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=travelbug&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
> The link above doesn't work for you?


Today it does, for a few days it did not.

See also.......

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1245621


----------



## travelbug

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=travelbug&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
> The link above doesn't work for you?


Unfortunately, no.  I just now tried an advanced search with my own user name.  This time I didn't even get the little dog.  Nothing happened at all, except that the search by user and search by forum sections disappeared.  Same problem I was having when I posted earlier in this thread.  It seemed to get solved, but then a few days ago I just got the little dog filling up repeatedly with nothing else.  Now I'm back to square one.  Kinda frustrating.


----------



## BoardTracker

travelbug said:
			
		

> Unfortunately, no.  I just now tried an advanced search with my own user name.  This time I didn't even get the little dog.  Nothing happened at all, except that the search by user and search by forum sections disappeared.  Same problem I was having when I posted earlier in this thread.  It seemed to get solved, but then a few days ago I just got the little dog filling up repeatedly with nothing else.  Now I'm back to square one.  Kinda frustrating.


Strange. seems to work for me on various different browsers.
If you don't see the dog, try refreshing the page. it could be communication problem in loading the search script. Let me know if you got it to work.


----------



## dpuck1998

I'm doing a search and most of the links returned give me the following error.

Invalid Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster

Also, what is the "Search Tag" suppose to do?  Doesn't seem to return anything different than the regular search.


----------



## Dan Murphy

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> I'm doing a search and most of the links returned give me the following error.
> 
> Invalid Thread specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster
> 
> Also, what is the "Search Tag" suppose to do?  Doesn't seem to return anything different than the regular search.


I'm not sure, maybe BT knows.


----------



## mill4023

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> Also, what is the "Search Tag" suppose to do?  Doesn't seem to return anything different than the regular search.


If I understand it correctly, when you create a new thread, you can add certain words as search tags.  Then when someone does a search, they can enter words in the search tags box and it will return any threads that had those words added as search tags.

If that is accurate, I think that 99% of the people will never add search tags to their threads, so it will be useless.


----------



## Caropooh

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Strange. seems to work for me on various different browsers.
> If you don't see the dog, try refreshing the page. it could be communication problem in loading the search script. Let me know if you got it to work.


I had brought this to the attention of Alex when the new search went into effect. I can't search using IE on an eMac. Whether I use advanced search or not, it just brings me back to the original search page, no searching done. I never see the dog. It will work on Safari, but I prefer IE.


----------



## dpuck1998

So is the thread now dead?  Are we wasting time posting here now?


----------



## agnes!

I don't know dpuck, haven't seen BoardTracker post on here lately, was your last question answered?
Kinda OT to your last post but the "tag" search feature doesn't seem to work as well for me as I had hoped it would.

agnes!


----------



## agnes!

Anyone?

agnes!


----------



## dpuck1998

agnes, looks like this thread is now dead.  Guess were stuck with this sorry search engine.  We'll live ;-)


----------



## Dan Murphy

Any new developments, BT, in improving the search?  Just wondering how those were coming along.


----------



## Dan Murphy

Any updates on the folksonomy ?


----------



## dpuck1998

Good Luck getting any answers.


----------



## BoardTracker

Actually there will be some updates in the near future


----------



## Dan Murphy

Hey, BT, great to see you again.   Welcome back.      We've missed you around these parts.   Stop by and say hello once in awhile, I see you are here most days.   

Looking forward to those near future updates (hopefully improvements) to make your new search engine more usable and effective.   I think most, myself included, have pretty much given up on using it, finding it to be so very rudimentary in its results.   But that's great to hear, those updates coming, much appreciated.  

Best of the Season to you and your family, BT, and if we don't see you again before then, a very Happy New Year too.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:
			
		

> ...(hopefully improvements)...


Major improvements


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:
			
		

> Major improvements


    Fabulous, BT.     I, along with many others, anxiously await the improvements.  It's been a tough go here with your search these past few months, so anything will be great.    

Again, thanks for all you do here and good wishes of the Season to you and family.


----------



## smjj

I can only hope there are major improvements. I had completely given up on the "new, not improved" search engine that DIS went to. It just was not anything close to the old one as far as usefullness..smjj


----------



## dpuck1998

smjj said:
			
		

> I can only hope there are major improvements. I had completely given up on the "new, not improved" search engine that DIS went to. It just was not anything close to the old one as far as usefullness..smjj



But no server busy messages...well not as often....I still get them on occasion.


----------



## smjj

dpuck1998 said:
			
		

> But no server busy messages...well not as often....I still get them on occasion.


I got them so little, It did not concern me. I sometimes wonder if the reason we don't get them as much now is that most people who used the old search just finally gave up like I did out of pure furstration with the new one..smjj


----------



## dpuck1998

smjj said:
			
		

> I got them so little, It did not concern me. I sometimes wonder if the reason we don't get them as much now is that most people who used the old search just finally gave up like I did out of pure furstration with the new one..smjj



That was my point, but I was just trying not to say it


----------



## jfulcer

So, it's the new year now, really it's kinda like the 'near future'.  Are there any reports on the 'major improvements' that the koalas were working on that are supposed to be showing up?


----------



## WebmasterAlex

jfulcer said:


> So, it's the new year now, really it's kinda like the 'near future'.  Are there any reports on the 'major improvements' that the koalas were working on that are supposed to be showing up?



Patience is a virtue


----------



## jfulcer

Dan Murphy said:


> Hey, BT, great to see you again.   Welcome back.      We've missed you around these parts.   Stop by and say hello once in awhile, I see you are here most days.



Hmmm, interesting things you find when you search a little.  Boardtracker is officially a spider, or in their terminology, a 'koala' (because they are cute an cuddly).  It indexes the boards by actually being logged in as a user, and monitoring the new posts.  I assume this is why it doesn't see replies right now because it just looks for new posts.  The Boardtracker user serves the purpose of them being able to post and reply/etc in addition to being what indexes the posts.



Dan Murphy said:


> Looking forward to those near future updates (hopefully improvements) to make your new search engine more usable and effective.   I think most, myself included, have pretty much given up on using it, finding it to be so very rudimentary in its results.   But that's great to hear, those updates coming, much appreciated.



They do say on their web site that something new is coming - as Webmaster Alex just confirmed by replying to my post.  Again,  more information - but Boardtracker has been around for quite some time (2 or more years?  I'm not sure how far back).  It is based in Tel Aviv and was developed by a guy named Ron Kass.  

I excitedly look forward to these new improvements.  I thought for a little while there that old search was back, but was wrong...


----------



## orljustin

I'm not reading through this whole post, but with regards to the search engine...

It's useless 99% of the time.  I want to use it to see the threads I've posted to:
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?user=orljustin

I get 5 posts from last year.

Half the time the page returns nothing, and doesn't say anything why.   It's like you never entered something.

No wonder people post the same thread topics over and over again.  Can't find anything.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

orljustin said:


> I'm not reading through this whole post, but with regards to the search engine...
> 
> It's useless 99% of the time.  I want to use it to see the threads I've posted to:
> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?user=orljustin
> 
> I get 5 posts from last year.
> 
> Half the time the page returns nothing, and doesn't say anything why.   It's like you never entered something.
> 
> No wonder people post the same thread topics over and over again.  Can't find anything.



orljustin- Go to your user control panel and then subscribed threads. No need to use search at all to find your posts


----------



## jfulcer

WebmasterAlex said:


> orljustin- Go to your user control panel and then subscribed threads. No need to use search at all to find your posts



This is, of course, if you have subscribed to all your threads.  

Until the koalas get busy, you can always try google, as it will index more of your posts than boardtracker will at the moment.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Adisboards.com+orljustin&btnG=Google+Search


----------



## Dan Murphy

Koalas?


----------



## travelbug

Dan Murphy said:


> Koalas?


Dan, look at post #362 in this thread where jfulcer explains the koala thing.  Or check out this link :
http://www.boardtracker.com/cgi-bin/boards/index.pl?page=4

HTH!


----------



## bengalbelle

WebmasterAlex said:


> orljustin- Go to your user control panel and then subscribed threads. No need to use search at all to find your posts


How is this useful?  I post in a thread with thousands of pages.  I wanted to find a specific post I made only a few days before, but with the amount of traffic on the thread, it took me forever!  I could have found it in just a minute with the old "find all posts" feature.

Why can't we have the old search feature while this one tries to get out of the stone age?  (I'd search your previous posts to see if you had already answered this if I could  ).

The "new posts" is the way I used to surf the boards, but I find it very hard to use now.  It no longer shows which board the post is on (for example, sometimes a title looked interesting (like banned, LOL) only to find out it's on the VMK board.  On the old new posts I could see that right away and skip over it.  Now you have to click on the thread to find out which board it's coming from.  Also, why are the page numbers at the top of the page?  I scroll down to look at the topics, and then I have to scroll back up to go to the next page.

Finally, the new posts feature doesn't really work.  I've clicked on it, read a few threads, then clicked it again.  I got the exact same search as before.  I then went to a specific board to see if there really weren't any new topics, and there were plenty.  They just didn't show up in the search.  I've also seen a thread that said it had 0 replies when it really had 5-6 (no they weren't all posted between the time I clicked on new posts and then clicked on the thread).

Please, please dump this new search  !


----------



## WebmasterAlex

bengalbelle said:


> How is this useful?  I post in a thread with thousands of pages.  I wanted to find a specific post I made only a few days before, but with the amount of traffic on the thread, it took me forever!  I could have found it in just a minute with the old "find all posts" feature.
> 
> Why can't we have the old search feature while this one tries to get out of the stone age?  (I'd search your previous posts to see if you had already answered this if I could  ).
> 
> The "new posts" is the way I used to surf the boards, but I find it very hard to use now.  It no longer shows which board the post is on (for example, sometimes a title looked interesting (like banned, LOL) only to find out it's on the VMK board.  On the old new posts I could see that right away and skip over it.  Now you have to click on the thread to find out which board it's coming from.  Also, why are the page numbers at the top of the page?  I scroll down to look at the topics, and then I have to scroll back up to go to the next page.
> 
> Finally, the new posts feature doesn't really work.  I've clicked on it, read a few threads, then clicked it again.  I got the exact same search as before.  I then went to a specific board to see if there really weren't any new topics, and there were plenty.  They just didn't show up in the search.  I've also seen a thread that said it had 0 replies when it really had 5-6 (no they weren't all posted between the time I clicked on new posts and then clicked on the thread).
> 
> Please, please dump this new search  !



Unless you know how databases work I understand it's not easy  to understand. Searching causing extremely high loads on the boards and using them in the manner you are describing is a server killer.
I could have 50 people reading and posting for every person running around continuously searching.
Putting the regular search back right now would increase the load to the point of making the boards unusable for a good part of the day.
It's not going to happen for now


----------



## bengalbelle

WebmasterAlex said:


> Unless you know how databases work I understand it's not easy  to understand. Searching causing extremely high loads on the boards and *using them in the manner you are describing *is a server killer.
> I could have 50 people reading and posting for every person running around continuously searching.
> Putting the regular search back right now would increase the load to the point of making the boards unusable for a good part of the day.
> It's not going to happen for now



All of the ways I described, or just searching for all posts?  Will/can the new posts function be improved, or is that part of the problem to?

Oh, and another search issue I'd like to ask about:  searching by username.  Does it not allow you to search with partial usernames anymore?  There are hundreds of variations of tinker bell, for example.  Previously I could search "tink" and it would bring up all names with tink in it.  I tried that the other day and it didn't work.  It also wouldn't search for a username with & in it.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

All of the ways you described.
They are working on increasing search functionality


----------



## Deb & Bill

WebmasterAlex said:


> All of the ways you described.
> They are working on increasing search functionality



Thanks, Alex.  I'm looking forward to that.  Appreciate all that you do.


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

Glad to see there is a support group for the frustration of the new search engine.  I didn't read all 25 pages, but from what I think I understand, things are supposed to get better?  Is there a timeline for this?  1 month, 6 months...?


----------



## WillCAD

DisneyWorld Delight said:


> Glad to see there is a support group for the frustration of the new search engine. I didn't read all 25 pages, but from what I think I understand, things are supposed to get better? Is there a timeline for this? 1 month, 6 months...?


 
Well, this thread was begun on 8/20/2006, almost 5 months ago. You can draw your own conclusions from that.


----------



## TraceyL

REally missing the 'search for all posts bythis user' function


----------



## phorsenuf

I really miss the find new post feature.  Add me to the group that used these boards that way.  It takes too long now to have to go through every board topic to find anything I may find useful.


----------



## DVCconvert

I wish we could once again search on a basis of "all posts" by a given member - not just search those posts started by a given poster.


----------



## jfulcer

Will someone just think of the Koalas?  





Bindi can help feed the Koalas!


----------



## jfulcer

WebmasterAlex said:


> Unless you know how databases work I understand it's not easy  to understand. Searching causing extremely high loads on the boards and using them in the manner you are describing is a server killer.
> I could have 50 people reading and posting for every person running around continuously searching.
> Putting the regular search back right now would increase the load to the point of making the boards unusable for a good part of the day.
> It's not going to happen for now



An optimized database server could do this with one hand tied behind it's back.  But of course money doesn't grow on trees.  This is one area that mysql shows it's weaknesses, IMHO.


----------



## katallo

I've had difficulty with searching for previous posts and was told to read this thread.  I honestly, don't have time to review all of these posts but will check back to see if the problem is resolved.  Each time I click on my user name, I receive a "no previous posts" message.


----------



## GailT

This seach thing is useless, I will not be checking in here as much. Although these boards have been very helpful in my trip planning to both DW and DL I can't be bothered nor do I have the time to search a zillions threads to find the one I would want to read. What happened to the old search, I hate this one?


----------



## LeeAnn

*Having Trouble w/ Search Feature* 
A few weeks ago, I had trouble posting to this site. It would tell that my message was too short. Needed another character. Would do that but no luck. No post. Tried for days. Went to other sites and had no trouble.

One day, it worked again. Horray!

NOW, I want to find my posts. Don't want to ask the same questions. I have always used the Advance Search and search by User Name. Worked fine for yrs. Now, it tells me that there's nothing found. Not possible.

When I do the search by the title, it lists posts and my post shows as Unnamed. Why? And why now?

Also, I tried it by clicking on my User Name and "Find All Post by LeeAnn" and nothing.

Advanced Search Feature works on other sites so I don't think it's my computer.

Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do?

Thanks.


----------



## labattblue

The following links from the "my profile" page return no results...

Find all posts by <your username>
Find all threads started by <your username>


----------



## dawgsgirl

I can't find anything much at all with the search feature.  I have been hanging around here since 2003.  I LOVED to do searches.  Now it is worthless.  Please do something to fix it!!!


----------



## travelbug

As more and more time goes by with no improvement on a non-operational search function, the less hopeful I'm getting that it will ever return at all.  I really miss it.


----------



## dpuck1998

Since this thread started quite a while ago and there doesn't seem to be much interest in the issues I wouldn't hold your breath.  Seems the goal of keeping the searchs from overloading the servers might be better solved with just turning off the search feature.  It would be almost as good as using boardtracker.  Maybe we can go back to the old search but only during "slow" times on the board....if those exist anymore.


----------



## Threehearts

It really is a shame that I have to rely on Google to research posts/posters/me.  I've been a member since 1999 and would be willing to chip in financially to get the search to work as it had in the past.  I definitely use this site much less due to the tech difficulties.  Susan


----------



## Dan Murphy

labattblue said:


> The following links from the "my profile" page return no results...
> 
> Find all posts by <your username>
> Find all threads started by <your username>


The new BT search will not find all posts by username, as it does ignore all replies.  As for finding all threads started by username, I have found that it depends on how and where you enter the BT search thing, sometimes it will find OP's (and as said before, no replies), other times it finds none.  I have found Google to be the choice for me.



dpuck1998 said:


> Since this thread started quite a while ago and there doesn't seem to be much interest in the issues I wouldn't hold your breath.......


dpuck, I did see here (see quoted below), back in mid December, that BT person stopped by to say hello, and did say major updates were coming in the near future.   Not sure how big _major_ is or when _near future_ is, but seems like maybe there is still hope.   I do know that since that person's visit some weeks back, one of the changes I have seen implemented is to return nothing at times on a search, not even OP's.  Not always, as it is inconsistent, sometimes OP's will show up, but hopefully that was not a major update.



BoardTracker said:


> Actually there will be some updates in the near future





BoardTracker said:


> Major improvements


----------



## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> dpuck, I did see here (see quoted below), back in mid December, that BT person stopped by to say hello, and did say major updates were coming in the near future.   Not sure how big _major_ is or when _near future_ is, but seems like maybe there is still hope.   I do know that since that person's visit some weeks back, one of the changes I have seen implemented is to return nothing at times on a search, not even OP's.  Not always, as it is inconsistent, sometimes OP's will show up, but hopefully that was not a major update.



1 step forward 2 steps back....but someone forgot the 1 step forward


----------



## norcalmouse

It was nice when I could find my own posts but seeing
as how the search function is no longer available for all 
intents, add me to the growing list of grumbling users. 

Or is there a trick to finding your own posts if you didn't
subscribe to the thread?


----------



## dpuck1998

norcalmouse said:


> It was nice when I could find my own posts but seeing
> as how the search function is no longer available for all
> intents, add me to the growing list of grumbling users.
> 
> Or is there a trick to finding your own posts if you didn't
> subscribe to the thread?



Nope, you have to subscribe from here on out.  I lost track 
of a lot of threads I followed in the past.


----------



## Dan Murphy

norcalmouse said:


> .....Or is there a trick to finding your own posts if you didn't subscribe to the thread?



 A lot of patience and manual searching...forum by forum, page by page, thread by thread, post by post.


----------



## dpuck1998

ain't that a grand way to do it Dan   I can't even find my old trip report from last year that I would like to read.  No word from anyone on if/when they are going to make it work.  I just don't get it, just turn off the search feature if its worthless.


----------



## dpuck1998

BTW, is it possible to find post from another user at all now?  Even threads they started or all their posts?  Other than using a good search engine like google???


----------



## lurkyloo

OK, several people have mentioned resorting to Google now that the search function is so crummy, but how do I use Google to search for all posts by one person? Do I type in their username and "DIS" or something? Any tips would be appreciated!


----------



## raven69david

The search on this site is the WORST EVER!!!!!  It's totally awful and never works. I did a search under my name for posts in 07, it gave me one thread and the rest were on '06. ***? I've posted more than half a dozen times regarding my new trip for MVMCP in 07. None found. AWFUL!!!

Someone please dump this search engine and use something else...ANYTHING at this point would help.


----------



## dpuck1998

raven69david said:


> The search on this site is the WORST EVER!!!!!  It's totally awful and never works. I did a search under my name for posts in 07, it gave me one thread and the rest were on '06. ***? I've posted more than half a dozen times regarding my new trip for MVMCP in 07. None found. AWFUL!!!
> 
> Someone please dump this search engine and use something else...ANYTHING at this point would help.



Agree raven, but it seems this is more of a "vent" thread now.  No one has responded in quite some time.


----------



## Threehearts

People on the boards are accusing others of "being a hoax" since when they search for the poster's other threads nothing comes up.  Shouldn't DISBoards admin. do something about the situation?  Should we start another thread to bring these continuing issues to the top?  Thanks.  Threehearts(Susan)


----------



## WebmasterKathy

No, we have plenty of threads complaining about the search function already.

At this point, I'm not seeing any questions, just the same complaints we've tried to address earlier in this thread. 

This has become just a vent thread, and there's really nothing we can add or solve.


----------



## lurkyloo

How do I use Google to search for all replies by a poster, as suggested by some in this thread....?

Thanks!


----------



## Dan Murphy

Give this a look.  http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/refinesearch.html#domain      It will not find all, but better than nothing.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterKathy said:


> No, we have plenty of threads complaining about the search function already.
> 
> At this point, I'm not seeing any questions, just the same complaints we've tried to address earlier in this thread.
> 
> This has become just a vent thread, and there's really nothing we can add or solve.



If your still taking question I have one.  I have a friend that I'd like to keep up with.  User name MickaMaizie.  I can subscribe to thread if I find them, but how do I know when this user starts a new thread or responds on another thread?  Is there anyway to find their post now?  Find all post doesn't seem to work.  Google returns only a few post.  Is there anyway to find new post by a user anymore??


----------



## dpuck1998

For example, this search returns nothing

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?user=MickaMaizie

This is when I goto "find all post by user" from mickamaizie user name.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

dpuck1998 said:


> ... how do I know when this user starts a new thread or responds on another thread?  Is there anyway to find their post now?  Find all post doesn't seem to work.  Google returns only a few post.  Is there anyway to find new post by a user anymore??



No, the search here indexes only the first post of each thread. If your friend was the thread starter, it will probably find her post. If she just replied, it probably won't.


----------



## Dan Murphy

It does seem to be selective as to when it will find OP's.  I went through this thread, clicking on names I know who have OP's; you, WM kathy, alex, jfulcer, a few others.  On some it will find OP's, others it will not.  On some, I clicked on same names on different posts, sometimes it finds OP's, others not.  Not consistent at all.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterKathy said:


> No, the search here indexes only the first post of each thread. If your friend was the thread starter, it will probably find her post. If she just replied, it probably won't.



Nope, doesn't show those either.  Even when boardtracker started I was able to find all threads a user had posted.  It seems like functionality has been taken away.  Is that the case??  I can't locate a post by any user and the moment...thread starter or not.


----------



## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> It does seem to be selective as to when it will find OP's.  I went through this thread, clicking on names I know who have OP's; you, WM kathy, alex, jfulcer, a few others.  On some it will find OP's, others it will not.  On some, I clicked on same names on different posts, sometimes it finds OP's, others not.  Not consistent at all.



What he said....thats what is sooo fustrating.  It doesn't seem to work as advertised much less the things that it doesn't do.  Hopefully bringing the issue to light will help the problem.  Thanks for the help btw, been a while since we've heard from anyone


----------



## BoardTracker

The reason user search no longer works is due to the new profile system that was installed here recently which 'broke' user search by disrupting the method we use to detect usernames. Also on the new profile pages the links to user post/thread search are now incorrect and would need to be changed to point to the new search system. 

We will however be releasing a new version of boardtracker and our search mod hopefully in the next 10 days or so which will solve such problems and also add much more functionality.


----------



## lurkyloo

Hey, everybody! Dan Murphy showed me how to search for all posts by a particular poster using Google. I thought I'd post it here for people like me who are newbies and don't know how to do it:

In Google, type in the poster's name followed by this phrase

site:www.disboards.com

I Googled myself and got just about every post I've ever made (which is... kinda scary!).

Thanks Dan!


----------



## Gina Loves Disney

I am new here but I can't get the search option to work at all, I can't see all of the users posts or search words, nothing


----------



## fivefordisney

I miss the old functionality!!! 

This board's just not easy anymore...can't search old posts...can't just click on new posts...

I miss the old board...


----------



## BibbidyBobbidyBoo

lurkyloo said:


> Hey, everybody! Dan Murphy showed me how to search for all posts by a particular poster using Google. I thought I'd post it here for people like me who are newbies and don't know how to do it:
> 
> In Google, type in the poster's name followed by this phrase
> 
> site:www.disboards.com
> 
> I Googled myself and got just about every post I've ever made (which is... kinda scary!).
> 
> Thanks Dan!



Thanks, tried that but unfortunately it isn't helpful. It's showing my posts from back in 2003! I just want to see my posts in the last month or so and be able to go back to threads I've posted on and see if someone has responded to me or asked me any questions/etc. Without search I can't do that and doing it by google, as I said, shows them all out of order starting back in 2003.  Not helpful for what I need.


----------



## Claire L

Search is still not working and the layout is very confusing if you want to go to advanced 

Claire


----------



## travelbug

BoardTracker said:


> We will however be releasing a new version of boardtracker and our search mod hopefully in the next 10 days or so which will solve such problems and also add much more functionality.


If I'm counting correctly, I think it's been 12 days now.  I'm anxiously waiting for this new version of boardtracker that will actually work!   

Any update??  Thanks!


----------



## NotSoLittleMermaid

I thought I was doing something majorly wrong because I couldn't get any results using the Search function, but it appears from this thread that it's not me.  I haven't read all the pages, just the most recent posts.  I gather that something is supposed to be fixed and working soon?  I did try the Google thing but as others have said, it didn't work for what I wanted to find.


----------



## Mainebound

lurkyloo said:


> Hey, everybody! Dan Murphy showed me how to search for all posts by a particular poster using Google. I thought I'd post it here for people like me who are newbies and don't know how to do it:
> 
> In Google, type in the poster's name followed by this phrase
> 
> site:www.disboards.com
> 
> I Googled myself and got just about every post I've ever made (which is... kinda scary!).
> 
> Thanks Dan!



I discovered this accidentally. You can also go directly to www.boardtracker.com and do it.

but I find soem DIS users' threads cannot be found this way. why not? Is there a way to obscure your threads?


----------



## Mom2Ashli

I can't seem to get the Search function to work at all the last couple of days.


----------



## Laurabearz

WebmasterKathy said:


> No, the search here indexes only the first post of each thread. If your friend was the thread starter, it will probably find her post. If she just replied, it probably won't.




Ok my question is Will we ever be able to search for all the posts from a user like we used too? If so when?


----------



## Night-train

Another vote for the old search facility.  The new one is such a pain that I simply won't use it.  Get it sorted guys!  Please!!!!


----------



## donaldbuzz&minnie

What they said!!!  

I used to use the old search function to get some idea of how trustworthy another DISer might be re: renting points, etc.  I assume that the people who are trying to sort this out are volunteers, so I don't want to sound like an ingrate, but if there's anyway to get the old functionality back, a little pixie dust PLEEEASE-E-E-E!!!


----------



## WillCAD

BoardTracker said:


> The reason user search no longer works is due to the new profile system that was installed here recently which 'broke' user search by disrupting the method we use to detect usernames. Also on the new profile pages the links to user post/thread search are now incorrect and would need to be changed to point to the new search system.
> 
> We will however be releasing a new version of boardtracker and our search mod hopefully in the next 10 days or so which will solve such problems and also add much more functionality.


 
It's been 17 days. No change, no added functionality, and the search function still will not find posts by user name _at all_.

Of course, it's been 6 months since the BoardTracker search debuted, and there have been 28 pages of people complaining about it in this thread, and no substantive changes have been made.

I'm unsubscribing from this thread, because it's obviously useless to complain, comment, or feedback in any way.


----------



## fivefordisney

Soooooo sad.  This was the BEST site.  Now, it's just a bit frustrating...

I joined Tour Guide Mike for our August trip and his message boards work like the DIS used to.  So simple...of course, not as much traffic as the DIS. Hmmm.  Do you think anyone who is in charge really reads this thread?  It doesn't seem like it.

Oh, well.

I love change...but only if it's good change.

This does not feel like good change.


----------



## Dan Murphy

fivefordisney said:


> .....Do you think anyone who is in charge really reads this thread?  It doesn't seem like it.....


Well, not sure about 'in charge', but they must read it; I had a post deleted back two weeks ago, stated as being 'argumentative and sarcastic', and gained a few points for it, LOL.  Not sure what it was yet that I said was offensive (as it was deleted).   I have asked several times to the deleter/giver, but as of yet, have not heard back.    But  I guess that would indicate that somebody, 'in charge' or sort of 'in charge' does read this thread periodically.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Alex posted a lot about the search issues, I've posted and answered questions, and WebmasterPete even weighed in here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=16393671&postcount=8

BoardTracker isn't part of the DISboards; he's just a rep for the outside search function we've been using.

There's really nothing else that we can tell you right now... this thread really became just one long vent session ages ago.

Go back and read Pete's post. That's really the whole story. We're looking at options, and we'll let you know when we have one.


----------



## Threehearts

Not all DISers read every individual board so that may be one reason why there are so many questions.  It is encouraging that the administrators are still actively searching for solutions to the search board issues.  I was not clear that the tech board thread was just  a vent thread.  I was actually under the impression that action might be taken since there were recent mod posts about fixing the search.  Well anyhow, thanks for your update.  I'm sure all of the complaining gets very old, very fast.  Threehearts


----------



## fivefordisney

WebmasterKathy said:


> Alex posted a lot about the search issues, I've posted and answered questions, and WebmasterPete even weighed in here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=16393671&postcount=8
> 
> BoardTracker isn't part of the DISboards; he's just a rep for the outside search function we've been using.
> 
> There's really nothing else that we can tell you right now... this thread really became just one long vent session ages ago.
> 
> Go back and read Pete's post. That's really the whole story. We're looking at options, and we'll let you know when we have one.



Thank you for acknowledging our posts.  It's a start, I guess! Hopefully, you understand that the minor inconveniences of the old system were heads and shoulders above what we have now...in my very humble opinion.  I really love the DIS and don't frequent message boards...the DIS was my first and I joined TGM just very recently. 

I hope this gets squared away and that the Boardtracker people get to see the posts in this thread.

Thanks again...


----------



## smjj

WebmasterKathy said:


> Alex posted a lot about the search issues, I've posted and answered questions, and WebmasterPete even weighed in here: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=16393671&postcount=8
> 
> BoardTracker isn't part of the DISboards; he's just a rep for the outside search function we've been using.
> 
> There's really nothing else that we can tell you right now... this thread really became just one long vent session ages ago.
> 
> Go back and read Pete's post. That's really the whole story. We're looking at options, and we'll let you know when we have one.




Why can't you bring back the old search while you continue to look into fixing the current one. It is quite apparent that this is a hot issue with many here and like me, it seems that it is taking forever to get resolved...smjj


----------



## mickman1962

or better yet, just disable search so people don't get so pissed off


----------



## willis37862

smjj said:


> *Why can't you bring back the old search while you **continue to look into fixing the current one.* It is quite apparent that this is a hot issue with many here and like me, it seems that it is taking forever to get resolved...smjj



Yes I agree.  I miss the old one.


----------



## willis37862

WillCAD said:


> It's been 17 days. No change, no added functionality, and the search function still will not find posts by user name _at all_.
> 
> Of course, it's been 6 months since the BoardTracker search debuted, and there have been 28 pages of people complaining about it in this thread, and no substantive changes have been made.
> 
> I'm unsubscribing from this thread,* because it's obviously useless to complain, **comment, or feedback in any way.*



That seems to be the sad truth.


----------



## Laurabearz

If you read the statement by Pete that Kathy Linked you too, you will see this is an issue about server strain... the DIS was often overloading it's servers, bring the DIS to a crawl.. servers cost a lot ot run and maintain. Are you a site sponser? Do you help pay for the DIS? I do, but most people dont. The rest of money it costs to run the DIS is paid for by Pete (of course the DIS also helps his business, but it's a business and money needs to be allocated correctly or one goes out of business)

I HATE that I can't search posts by user. HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT. But I understand that it is gone.... and if Pete can find a reasonable way to get it back, he will. May not happen right away, but there is nothing we can do about it, and complaining about it really doesnt help. 

I trust that 'they' want that search feature back... but I also know that money plays a factor..

So good thoughts that it will be back... but I am not holding my breath


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Sometimes it takes a little longer to solve problems than other times
But don't we always solve them?
Patience folks I'm working on it


----------



## smjj

Laurabearz said:


> complaining about it really doesnt help.



If this thread did not exist then Pete would assume all is good and well in Pleasantville. This thread I think is important because it shows people want a good search engine not a poor imitation of one. It also shows what features we miss so they can go in that direction. I for one was not aware of the slow down issues until it was brought up here. I used it all the time and NEVER experienced it..smjj


----------



## dpuck1998

smjj said:


> If this thread did not exist then Pete would assume all is good and well in Pleasantville. This thread I think is important because it shows people want a good search engine not a poor imitation of one.



Well said.  I think that sometimes the admins get a little defensive of any negative comments made about thier "baby" and I can understand that.  But we all want what is best for the DIS too...thats why we try to offer feedback when things don't work.


----------



## Laurabearz

It's the 'tone' of a lot of the posts on this thread that isnt needed... but I guess I am alone in that thinking... You all go ahead and gripe away... I'll leave you alone.


----------



## travelbug

I guess this is what I am finding to be pretty disappointing:

On Dec. 17 -


BoardTracker said:


> Actually there will be some updates in the near future


On Dec. 18 -


BoardTracker said:


> Major improvements


On Feb. 7 -


BoardTracker said:


> We will however be releasing a new version of boardtracker and our search mod hopefully in the next 10 days or so which will solve such problems and also add much more functionality.



I love the DISboards and appreciate the privilege of being able to use them.  I certainly want to be patient as WebmasterAlex has asked all of us to be.  But I keep watching for the improvements that BoardTracker has been talking about for months now, and they don't materialize.  It's hard not to be disappointed and somewhat skeptical.

But I'm taking everyone at their word that they are still in the hunt on this.  I'll keep on optimistically checking the search function every few days, and hope for the best.


----------



## travelbug

I decided that one positive thing I could do as a solution is sought is to become a board sponsor.  Maybe if more of us did so, it would help fund a new search engine.

But I just looked all over the place and can't seem to find where on these boards I go in order to sign up as a board sponsor.  Feeling kinda stupid because it's probably somewhere obvious that I'm just missing.

Can anyone point the way?  Thanks!


----------



## Dan Murphy

travelbug said:


> .......Can anyone point the way?  Thanks!


Maybe  

J/K

Honestly, I am a sponsor, 3 or 4 times over, and have no idea where to find it anymore.   I am sure somebody in charge will be able to point the way.


----------



## Sk8Leigh

I just went to look for it, too, and couldn't find it. It used to be very prominent. I think that's another think you need to do, webmasters, is make it easier to sponsor.   I did finally find it when I wanted to renew recently, but now I have no idea how I did it.


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

It was mentioned that maybe this was the way it is supposed to work by design.  The thought being that the cruelty and stalking on the boards was in excess and made much easier by the earlier, (before Board Tracker (_or B.B.T. as I will now refer to it_)) simple link to search function.  

So, now, troublemakers cannot make as much trouble, and we all will give up looking for a user friendly search function that is accurate.  

Eventually, if it takes long enough, we will give up.  I am getting to that point.  I just don't search anymore.  Remember when people would get so upset and reply, "well if you had searched...you'd have brough up 100 threads on this very subject..."  I don't even bother anymore.  I mention things that have been stated 100 times and don't unsubscribe to any thread I cannot possibly live without.  

Food for thought.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Hey gang?
Did you see my earlier post? I'm working on it!


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:


> Hey gang?
> Did you see my earlier post? I'm working on it!



We did....or at least I did...THANKS!

I know now that I've been here quite a while I would consider being a sponser.  I've gotten so much from the boards, and the podcast, that when the search is fully functional and I can find my old threads life would be good.  I'm not trying to "bribe" you, but without being able to search the site is much less usable. I'll wait with baited breath until your able to get her up and running again...then I'll send some money


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck1998 said:


> We did....or at least I did...THANKS!
> 
> I know now that I've been here quite a while I would consider being a sponser.  I've gotten so much from the boards, and the podcast, that when the search is fully functional and I can find my old threads life would be good.  I'm not trying to "bribe" you, but without being able to search the site is much less usable. I'll wait with baited breath until your able to get her up and running again...then I'll send some money



You can always send payment to:
Webmaster Alex
2344 Wishing I was in Disney Lane
Somewhere, FL 12345


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:


> You can always send payment to:
> Webmaster Alex
> 2344 Wishing I was in Disney Lane
> Somewhere, FL 12345



I'll send a check..post dated..signed Walt Disney...for 1 million.

Don't Cash it until Walt is reanimated


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

WebmasterAlex said:


> You can always send payment to:
> Webmaster Alex
> 2344 Wishing I was in Disney Lane
> Somewhere, FL 12345



 

WM Alex,  I am sorry for my impatience.  It is just so frustrating to have something right in your hands and then it taken away.  

For instance, I can't/won't go thru life without deoderant.  Before it was invented, you didn't realize there was a better solution to all the foul BO.  It was just life.  Once it caught on, well, now I wouldn't dream of going a day without it. 

We wouldn't know what we were missing, it we hadn't already experienced it.  I suppose we are somewhat spoiled on these here DISboards.  (I don't belong anywhere else, so this is all I know.)


----------



## travelbug

WebmasterAlex said:


> Hey gang?
> Did you see my earlier post? I'm working on it!


I did see it.  In fact, I referenced it in my post.  I'm a little confused by how much depends on BoardTracker finding a solution vs. the mods finding a solution.  

Alex, I can't find where I go on the boards to sign up to be a board sponsor.  Can you help?  Thanks!


----------



## WebmasterAlex

http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htm

Give me a month and we should be able to greatly improve search


----------



## travelbug

WebmasterAlex said:


> http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htm
> 
> Give me a month and we should be able to greatly improve search


Awesome!  Thanks, Alex.


----------



## Threehearts

Wonderful, Alex!  Threehearts(Susan)


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:


> http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htm
> 
> Give me a month and we should be able to greatly improve search



Just for giggles, can you give some of us techies and rundown and the issues?  Feel free to speak in nerd...I'm well versed...


----------



## MaryAnnDVC

Dan Murphy said:


> Maybe
> 
> J/K


Good one, Dan!


----------



## JimVL

WebmasterAlex said:


> http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htmQUOTE]
> I don't write a lot, but I read A LOT! I clicked the link, but I saw paypal, and I don't have an account. I love on-line banking. Is there a way I could pay that way, or even the old fashioned way; you know, a check and a stamp. Thank you so much for this site! I'll PM this too.
> Jim


----------



## travelbug

JimVL said:


> WebmasterAlex said:
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htmQUOTE]
> I clicked the link, but I saw paypal, and I don't have an account.
> 
> 
> 
> Same here.  I don't have any interest in opening a paypal account at this time either.  I'm wondering if it's possible to pay online by credit card.
Click to expand...


----------



## dpuck1998

Just send me your credit card numbers and I'll be happy to organize the payment


----------



## travelbug

dpuck1998 said:


> Just send me your credit card numbers and I'll be happy to organize the payment


 And you probably have a bridge you'd like to sell me too, right?


----------



## dpuck1998

travelbug said:


> And you probably have a bridge you'd like to sell me too, right?



Actually that isn't far from true....my wife actually sells bridges for a living...no joke


----------



## dpuck1998

BoardTracker said:


> The reason user search no longer works is due to the new profile system that was installed here recently which 'broke' user search by disrupting the method we use to detect usernames. Also on the new profile pages the links to user post/thread search are now incorrect and would need to be changed to point to the new search system.
> 
> We will however be releasing a new version of boardtracker and our search mod hopefully in the next 10 days or so which will solve such problems and also add much more functionality.



Its been a month now...any news for us??  I know I know it was Feb...a really short month..but a guy can hope.


----------



## leahannpen

I'm sorry I'm not reading through all these pages. What IS the DEAL with this crapola seach non-feature? Holy-moly is it terrible...well, non-exsistant!

Is this EVER going to be fixed?     

YUCK-O!!


----------



## agnes!

leahannpen said:


> I'm sorry I'm not reading through all these pages. What IS the DEAL with this crapola seach non-feature? Holy-moly is it terrible...well, non-exsistant!
> 
> Is this EVER going to be fixed?
> 
> YUCK-O!!



Some folks have success using Google to just do a site-search.

agnes!


----------



## thomprod

WebmasterAlex said:


> http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/index.htm
> 
> Give me a month and we should be able to greatly improve search



Alex, sorry for being so impatient.  The search function worked previously, but is currently not doing everything it is supposed to do.  Is it possible to delete the option to "find all posts by <username>", so that people don't  try to use it and continue to be dissapointed, like me?

Or, can you post a notice on the search page that explains what works, what doesn't and informs users when we might expect all of the functions listed to actually work?  

Slightly OT, I read and post on the Howard Forums boards, which uses the same software that the DIS board used to use.  Their Search functions still work just fine.  I understand that when you upgrade software, you sometimes lose some features that you used to have and gain new ones.  I just think you owe it to the users to explain things better.


----------



## DisMN

> The thought being that the cruelty and stalking on the boards was in excess and made much easier by the earlier, (before Board Tracker (_or B.B.T. as I will now refer to it_)) simple link to search function.
> 
> So, now, troublemakers cannot make as much trouble, and we all will give up looking for a user friendly search function that is accurate.



and



> If you read the statement by Pete that Kathy Linked you too, you will see this is an issue about server strain... the DIS was often overloading it's servers, bring the DIS to a crawl.. servers cost a lot ot run and maintain.




It has seemed to me for some time now that people who use the DIS not for Disney information, but instead use it for stalking someone, might be putting a strain on the resources here. On one hand I miss the search function but on the other hand I _am_ fine with knowing the stalkers are inconvenienced or hindered in their games.

I was wondering something though. Could a search feature be put on just certain forums? I mean would it be necessary to have it on the CB? If you could just put it on the forums where Disney/park/travel info was _needed_ would that be less strain on the server?


----------



## smjj

DisMN said:


> It has seemed to me for some time now that people who use the DIS not for Disney information, but instead use it for stalking someone, might be putting a strain on the resources here. On one hand I miss the search function but on the other hand I _am_ fine with knowing the stalkers are inconvenienced or hindered in their games.



I am sorry, I just will not buy that as a reason to replace a good search engine with one that is clearly inferior. The strain on the resourses maybe, but not to prevent stalkers and the such. I just don't buy it...smjj


----------



## WebmasterAlex

smjj said:


> I am sorry, I just will not buy that as a reason to replace a good search engine with one that is clearly inferior. The strain on the resourses maybe, but not to prevent stalkers and the such. I just don't buy it...smjj



I'm glad to see common sense prevail! 
It's all about the server load and any thoughts that we are manipulating the search system because of "stalkers" is just...just...just.. wrong


----------



## WebmasterAlex

ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!

We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
In other words we are going back to the old search!
It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck1998 said:


> Just for giggles, can you give some of us techies and rundown and the issues?  Feel free to speak in nerd...I'm well versed...


Simple..server load
Put 3000 simultaneous users on a single Mysql database server and it's pretty loaded.. Add full text search and it crawls to a halt
What we are going to do is replicate the Mysql to a slave server (as soon as I can figure out how the heck they do that  )  and we will have only the search queries go to that server so if search bogs things down it only affects search... nothing else


----------



## NotSoLittleMermaid

Thank you!


----------



## DisMN

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!




I may not have common sense   but DUDE!!! being able to search again will be nice. I tried again yesterday and gave up.....so good luck getting it back up and running.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:


> Simple..server load
> Put 3000 simultaneous users on a single Mysql database server and it's pretty loaded.. Add full text search and it crawls to a halt
> What we are going to do is replicate the Mysql to a slave server (as soon as I can figure out how the heck they do that  )  and we will have only the search queries go to that server so if search bogs things down it only affects search... nothing else



Now that you got me excited gimme some specs...what kind of server?  I want to fly down and install it ;-)

I mentioned this a long time ago, but check out VMWare and ESX Server, its awesome.  You could put the search function on a "Virtual" Server and only give it a specific amount of resources that wouldn't bog the server down and save you the cost of hardware.  Of course the software isn't free so it might be a wash...

Good luck...I've spent many long nights with new servers...its never a quick and easy as they make it sound!


----------



## Sk8Leigh

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!



Thank you webmasters!!!


----------



## WebmasterAlex

dpuck1998 said:


> Now that you got me excited gimme some specs...what kind of server?  I want to fly down and install it ;-)
> 
> I mentioned this a long time ago, but check out VMWare and ESX Server, its awesome.  You could put the search function on a "Virtual" Server and only give it a specific amount of resources that wouldn't bog the server down and save you the cost of hardware.  Of course the software isn't free so it might be a wash...
> 
> Good luck...I've spent many long nights with new servers...its never a quick and easy as they make it sound!


We use leased servers we really can't run virtual's on them.
The other issue is that the main database server is completely loaded up anyway.


----------



## travelbug

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!


This is great news!!!!  Thank you, Alex, and any other mods making it possible.


----------



## Dan Murphy

Greta news, Alex, looking forward to it.    Hope the installation and all goes well.


----------



## dpuck1998

WebmasterAlex said:


> We use leased servers we really can't run virtual's on them.
> The other issue is that the main database server is completely loaded up anyway.



Ahh..so you don't get to play with the new toy :-(  I'm sure you'll stay plenty busy with SQL in general then...thanks for the updates...good luck...I'll be here all weekend to make sure the DST changes don't blow up the world.


----------



## tink2020

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!





WebmasterAlex said:


> Simple..server load
> Put 3000 simultaneous users on a single Mysql database server and it's pretty loaded.. Add full text search and it crawls to a halt
> What we are going to do is replicate the Mysql to a slave server (as soon as I can figure out how the heck they do that  )  and we will have only the search queries go to that server so if search bogs things down it only affects search... nothing else




THANK YOU SO MUCH!  We all realize that you (and Pete, and everyone else who works so hard on this site and these boards) don't have to do everything the way we'd like it..... but we REALLY appreciate that you heard us and stuck with us on this.  I am so excited to be able to search well again, I could kiss you all!     Seriously, it is (and you all are) MUCH appreciated!


----------



## Isca

Is this why my searches have been redirected back to the search page?


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy
Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy
Happy-Happy-Joy-Joy-JOY!!!!


I'll never ask for anything else, ever again!


----------



## gradtchr

We're not worthy Alex!!!!!!!!!!  Words can not express how happy I am!  Thank you soooooooooooo much!!!!!!


----------



## MaryAnnDVC

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!


YAY!!!  But can you do all this work from the soccer field?


----------



## jfulcer

Any updates on this yet?


----------



## WebmasterAlex

I'm still working on it! I had a last minute trip to Chicago on business so that has delayed things a bit


----------



## Mom2Ashli

WebmasterAlex said:


> ATTENTION!!! MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE FOR A MAJOR SEARCH ANNOUNCEMENT!
> 
> We ordered a new server for the boards today. The purpose of this server will be solely to provide search services for the boards
> In other words we are going back to the old search!
> It also means we now need 3 large servers to run just the boards......
> Give me a week or two to set this thing up and get it rolling!



  How in the world did I miss this.  

   

THANK YOU!!!


----------



## jfulcer

WebmasterAlex said:


> I'm still working on it! I had a last minute trip to Chicago on business so that has delayed things a bit



Any news?


----------



## Friendly Frog

It will be sooooo nice to finally have a seach option that works.  Horray!!!!!!!


----------



## GailT

YEAH YEAH YEAH, that is going to be great to have a search feature like we use to have, I am so excited I just can't hide it.


----------



## Mom2Ashli

Any news yet?


----------



## bicker

Alex was still working on it as of last week.  So have patience.


----------



## disneyfan2kids

Hoping for an update.


----------



## agnes!

Me too.

agnes!


----------



## agnes!

Sorry, but can't resist bumping to see if there are any updates.  I've tried some "BT" Searches recently & haven't been having any luck.

agnes!


----------



## tink2020

I too am interested!  I spent over an hour desperately leafing through thousands of posts (literally, on a very active, very large thread) trying to find ONE post I had made to answer a question my husband had asked about something that happened a year ago.

I know the DIS doesn't exist to function as my personal historian  but it was a frustrating reminder of how easy it USED to be to find exactly what you were looking for.

We appreciate your attention to this ongoing request, and I can't wait to see when things are going to work out!


----------



## dpuck1998




----------



## WebmasterAlex

Update- the server we leased is proving to be not powerful enough. I'm looking at an upgrade!
Nothing is simple


----------



## agnes!

Thanks for letting us know Alex.

agnes!


----------



## GailT

You are trying your best Alex, I am learning to live with the non-existent search function, not that I like it but hey, we all can't expect miracles. Thanks for keeping us updated.


----------



## minnie61650

Thanks for tring Alex. I am sure you also find it frustrating.

I'm still hoping you find the solution soon.


----------



## maleficent esq.

Wow, at least it's a bit heartening to find the thread in which these search issues are expressed.  I feel a bit "less stupid"!  Thanks to the Admin team for working hard to react to the users' needs.  For now, though, does anyone know how I can find my own posts?  Seems silly, but I have only found the advanced search option in which I must specify the username.  It works for other names, but my own name includes punctuation which I think is not supported by the tool.  Any suggestions?  Thanks, all....


----------



## sunshine girl

This thread is far too long for me to look through and try to find an answer to my questions... and for me, search does not work at all, so I have to just go ahead and post!

I guess that's my issue - "search" doesn't work.  Literally every time I try, I get no results.  

Thanks for hearing me out.  I really miss the search function.  It was integral to my enjoyment of the boards!!


----------



## inky dinky doo

I'm with you, sunshine girl. I can't get 'search' to work at all. Oh, it acts like it's searching. It goes through the different screens, but it *never* returns anything . . . and I know what I'm looking for should be available. Right now, I'm trying to find reviews of various restaurants and . . . nothing. It sure is frustrating!!!!


----------



## katallo

I agree.  The search feature is such an important part of these boards, especially when you are renting points.  It's a shame, but last year, I used another website because I had the ability to do a little research..


----------



## agnes!

Some DIS'ers have reported success using a Google site-search.  Other than that we'll just have to wait for that new server to be installed

agnes!


----------



## thomprod

WebmasterAlex said:


> Update- the server we leased is proving to be not powerful enough. I'm looking at an upgrade!
> Nothing is simple



Alex, forgive my ignorance, but why was the search system changed in the first place?  It seems as though the "newer" search system has less functionality than the old one did.  Or am I missing some benefit of the new system?


----------



## WebmasterMaryJo

The boards are always growing, so Alex has to find ways to accommodate all of the posts, threads, etc.  The last iteration, which really speeded up a timing issue also included a different search system.  So, if I remember correctly, with a forum the size of the DIS they needed to sacrifice search in order to maintain functionality of the boards (in the past, the boards were extremely slow and had other issues due to what I think was overloading of the server).


----------



## thomprod

If you've set your options to subscribe to threads that you posted to, you can get a list of all threads that you have posted to in your "user control panel".  Click "User CP" in the upper left of any page.  On the left side of your User CP, under "Subscribed Threads", click "List Subscriptions".  This allows you to see all the threads that you have posted to.  It won't let you go to your own post in that thread, like the old search function would, but it's better than nothing.


----------



## tink2020

Any news yet?  Not rushing, just curious!  I know there were some glitches, I was just checking in to see if a new (old) search is still a possibility!


----------



## LoraJ

I'd like to know too. I tried searching for a thread I started on google search and it didn't come up. And of course nothing comes up on this site. I really hope you aren't paying boardtracker a dime because it's useless.


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

LoraJ said:


> I really hope you aren't paying boardtracker a dime because it's useless.


----------



## agnes!

I actually don't understand why the "Search" function/clickpoint/button  doesn't maybe have a message that says "Search is non-functional (or has been disabled) until technical problems can be fixed".  
I mean, from what I understand?  Search doesn't work.  Hasn't worked for quite a while and probably won't work anytime in the near future.  I understand that there are many things that need to be worked out, like the right servers and software and finding the time to get all the components installed.  
Let DIS'ers know up front that Search isn't working, dont let them waste time by putting in search parameters, maybe have the message say something along the lines of "The DIS Technical Webmasters know that this can be frustrating and we are working to get this problem solved." etc., etc.

agnes!


----------



## Dan Murphy

Just a friendly FYI...I received 'points' for being 'argumentative and sarcastic' a bit back on this thread.  Not sure what the limits are for saying things here on this thread, but thought I would pass along for what it is worth as an FYI.


----------



## smjj

Dan Murphy said:


> Just a friendly FYI...I received 'points' for being 'argumentative and sarcastic' a bit back on this thread.  Not sure what the limits are for saying things here on this thread, but thought I would pass along for what it is worth as an FYI.




Hopefully your kidding. Probably not though. I sent a PM to a moderator on a banned subject from the DVC boards a couple of weeks ago and from the reply I got I am lucky I did not get points..smjj


----------



## dpuck1998

We should start a "points" club  I got some to share too....


----------



## bicker

agnes! said:


> I mean, from what I understand?  Search doesn't work.


I use search practically every day.  It does do some things, and does them well.  I use search to find which threads have been created recently.  That's a function, incidentally, that the old search never had.

I also have some success using search to find messages.  For example, every so often someone brings up another good example for THIS thread, but I always forget to bookmark it.  However, I know that if I enter the word "Tally" into the Search, the thread will show up somewhere on the first page of results.


----------



## agnes!

bicker said:


> I use search practically every day.  It does do some things, and does them well.  I use search to find which threads have been created recently.  That's a function, incidentally, that the old search never had.
> 
> I also have some success using search to find messages.  For example, every so often someone brings up another good example for THIS thread, but I always forget to bookmark it.  However, I know that if I enter the word "Tally" into the Search, the thread will show up somewhere on the first page of results.



When you state that you are using  'search' "to find which threads have been created recently", I assume you are referring to the 'New Posts' function.  I've always regarded that particular button/function as being separate from the named "Search/Advanced Search" BoardTracker feature.  

I'm glad that you are having some success using search to find particular messages.  I have a few threads that I'm subscribed to, but usually, anymore, I just surf the various boards for what looks interesting.  Kind of DIS-prospecting.

agnes!


----------



## DisneyWorld Delight

bicker said:


> Tally



Why would you search for this thread with the word Tally?


----------



## bicker

For searching I also use Google, with site:disboards.com at the end of the search query.  I have a lot of success with that too.


----------



## bicker

DisneyWorld Delight said:


> Why would you search for this thread with the word Tally?


Not _this_ this thread.... In that sentence, the word THIS was a link to the thread I was referring to.  "Tally" is a relatively unique word, and so it is a good word to use to search for that thread.


----------



## cassi06403

Is there now no way to find a certain users posts?


----------



## Dan Murphy

None that I am aware of, other than trying to do a Google domain search.


----------



## bicker

As a matter of fact, I did a Google search yesterday on a user's name.  It was somewhat effective, but I think I only found about 150 of the poster's 600 messages.  It helps if the user has a particularly unique user name.


----------



## tink2020

The google domain search IS somewhat helpful for finding people's posts, as bicker confirmed.  Unfortunately, though -- unless I don't know a trick that's available -- I don't see any rhyme or reason to the results listed.  The first several posts I found from a user were from 2000, 2006, 2005 and then finally 2007.


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

Is there ever going to be a way to search for New Posts effectively again? I am not talking about the Boardtracker "New Posts" function (which does not appear to refresh itself very often) - I am asking about being able to search for new posts efficiently the way we used to, before the upgrade.


----------



## nile455

bicker said:


> As a matter of fact, I did a Google search yesterday on a user's name.  It was somewhat effective, but I think I only found about 150 of the poster's 600 messages.  It helps if the user has a particularly unique user name.






tink2020 said:


> The google domain search IS somewhat helpful for finding people's posts, as bicker confirmed.  Unfortunately, though -- unless I don't know a trick that's available -- I don't see any rhyme or reason to the results listed.  The first several posts I found from a user were from 2000, 2006, 2005 and then finally 2007.



I pointed out in another thread that if you want to find old DIS posts, Yahoo is far better than Google. See thread: 

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1085825

I had been trying to get the search by username function to work here on DIS with no success, so I went browsing the DIS tech support board, and there I learned you can go to Google and simply type in the user name you're searching for followed by site:disboards.com. I tried it, and was impressed.... until I tried it using Yahoo.

Google: 44 of my old DIS posts
Yahoo: 184 of my old DIS posts

So then I tried another user, "Trentmom". (I was impressed by her 6,700 post count within 5 months of registering!!).

Google: 821 posts
Yahoo: 2,960 posts!!

Try it on yours, see which one yields better results...


----------



## agnes!

Just bumping this back up to the top.

agnes!


----------



## BoardwalkBabe

Is there a reason why the search engine isn't working like it used to? Simple key words like "Photo" bring a message saying there aren't any results, you can't search for a particular poster's posts anymore... what's the point of offering a search engine if it can't handle simple functions? Did I miss something?


----------



## bicker

The reasons were provided much earlier in the thread -- basically because the old search facility required too much system resources, more than was available with current hardware.

I suspect queries that return TOO MANY results won't work.  Add more words to your query to narrow down the result set to a more manageable amount.


----------



## BoardwalkBabe

Thanks for the info.


----------



## Tigger1

I try to search my own namw, Tigger1, I come up with nothing or a few really old post.  I really just want the current post I have made.  Can anyone help???  

I try to remember to subscribe to my post but I tend to hit reply before I scroll down to have post replys sent to my email.


----------



## agnes!

The only way to do a Search for User Name after the fact (when your haven't subscribed), is to do either a Yahoo domain-name/user-name search or a similar search using Google.  Some DIS'ers have reported that using Yahoo seems to get more results.

agnes!


----------



## dpuck1998

So we have some good news?  I read the post about the new search features.  Should it be working now?  How long until it catches up?  I tried today to search by username with no luck.


----------



## dpuck1998

Is this a dead horse?  Should we quit beating it?


----------



## agnes!

The latest Search variation is in a Beta mode and only works for users when they choose the California Gold 'skin' (Look down at the bottom left of this page or up on the right under the Transportation Discounts clickpoints.)  The latest BoardTracker Search is apparently catching up to the latest posts or something like that, so the most recent posts might not show up.  I don't know if it is working these days, I usually run my DIS'ing in the Swan & Dolphin 'skin' (so soothing, so restful) instead of the (screaming greeeeeeen/gold) California Gold.

I think there's another thread around the Tech Support Forum that is only about the latest 'Search'.
Here it is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=19839838#post19839838

agnes!
PS - I don't know anything more than anybody else around here, just trying to remember what I've seen posted.
PPS - Does anybody know if Chat is working these days (or not)?  There were a lot of posts recently saying that it wasn't working.


----------



## mikkiwikki

agnes! said:


> The latest Search variation is in a Beta mode and only works for users when they choose the California Gold 'skin' (Look down at the bottom left of this page or up on the right under the Transportation Discounts clickpoints.)  The latest BoardTracker Search is apparently catching up to the latest posts or something like that, so the most recent posts might not show up.  I don't know if it is working these days, I usually run my DIS'ing in the Swan & Dolphin 'skin' (so soothing, so restful) instead of the (screaming greeeeeeen/gold) California Gold.
> 
> I think there's another thread around the Tech Support Forum that is only about the latest 'Search'.
> Here it is: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=19839838#post19839838
> 
> agnes!
> PS - I don't know anything more than anybody else around here, just trying to remember what I've seen posted.
> PPS - Does anybody know if Chat is working these days (or not)?  There were a lot of posts recently saying that it wasn't working.




I dont get it ...I still cannot search on username - not todays posts, not last weeks posts....not last years posts....new search sucks.


----------



## jfulcer

mikkiwikki said:


> I dont get it ...I still cannot search on username - not todays posts, not last weeks posts....not last years posts....new search sucks.



1) Change your style chooser (bottom left of your browser) to California Gold.





2) Scroll to the top and click on 'Search'





3) Click on 'Advanced Search' in the bottom of the box that opens





4) Click on 'Advanced Search' on the search page that comes up





5) Type in the name you are looking for





6) Click on Search Now





7) View your results (This one is sorted by Thread Start Date)





Of course, this is not perfect and it's not 100% up to date, but it DOES work.  Much better than it used to.  But it does find results.


----------



## dpuck1998

jfulcer said:


> Of course, this is not perfect and it's not 100% up to date, but it DOES work.  Much better than it used to.  But it does find results.



This begs the questions....why isn't it up to date?  Why does it only work in California gold?  Why keep using a poor search engine that has not delivered on many promises?


----------



## Dan Murphy

dpuck1998 said:


> This begs the questions....why isn't it up to date?  Why does it only work in California gold?  Why keep using a poor search engine that has not delivered on many promises?


Last I read on another search engine thread here on this board from the BT person (a DIS person asked similar question and BT reply, both quoted below), about two weeks ago, was the wait for it to be all working was down to about two weeks.  So it looks like we are going to have a good, working search engine any day now.  

8/9/2007





travelbug said:


> I'll answer my own post.   Tonight it's working again.  I'm still hoping for an update though, Board Tracker.  How close are we to a fully functional and consistent search option?  Thank you!


8/10/2007





BoardTracker said:


> We estimate about 2 weeks from now.


----------



## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> Last I read on another search engine thread here on this board from the BT person (a DIS person asked similar question and BT reply, both quoted below), about two weeks ago, was the wait for it to be all working was down to about two weeks.  So it looks like we are going to have a good, working search engine any day now.
> 
> 8/9/20078/10/2007



But we've heard that before...another month here...another month there....I won't hold my breath...


----------



## mikkiwikki

Welp - The california skin does do the trick - buuuuut...why?

Is it sending traffic to a different server?  
(Im a computer programmer - so I welcome a more technical explanation!)


----------



## BoardTracker

mikkiwikki said:


> Welp - The california skin does do the trick - buuuuut...why?
> 
> Is it sending traffic to a different server?
> (Im a computer programmer - so I welcome a more technical explanation!)



Yes, California Gold's template uses a different servers setting, one that is the new version of BoardTracker. When using this template over the others, the search is executed on the new system rather than the old.

As for the up-to-date issue, the reason data is not up-to-date is that the new system is still being set up and populated with data. We are feverishly working on the system so we can launch it as soon as possible. Believe me when I say, this is not a small-scale issue at all. But we are very close to launching and part of it is the fact that (although not up to date) the new system is already being tested, even here (with California Gold as you can see).


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:


> 08-27-2007......As for the up-to-date issue, the reason data is not up-to-date is that the new system is still being set up and populated with data. We are feverishly working on the system so we can launch it as soon as possible. Believe me when I say, this is not a small-scale issue at all. But we are very close to launching and part of it is the fact that (although not up to date) the new system is already being tested, even here (with California Gold as you can see).


I know it has been a long, involved process, a little over 13 months now, but is it possible to get a current update as to how the new search is coming along?


----------



## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> I know it has been a long, involved process, a little over *13 months *now, but is it possible to get a current update as to how the new search is coming along?



Wow, 13 months...prolly about time for a new version well over a year later!


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> I know it has been a long, involved process, a little over 13 months now, but is it possible to get a current update as to how the new search is coming along?


Where did you get the 13 months figure from?


----------



## mikkiwikki

BoardTracker said:


> Where did you get the 13 months figure from?



Well I cant speak for dpuck or Dan - but given this THREAD was started August 2006 - that might be your first clue.

The response is very re-assuring.


----------



## BoardTracker

mikkiwikki said:


> Well I cant speak for dpuck or Dan - but given this THREAD was started August 2006 - that might be your first clue.
> 
> The response is very re-assuring.


This thread was started in August 2006 when the first/original version of BoardTracker was released. That is 13 months ago. So that would serve as a very good indication that the new version is less (actually considerably less) than 13 months in the works. And EVEN if it was 13 months in the works, we have never indicated that it would be any shorted.

The new version of BoardTracker is in Beta and is still being worked on.


----------



## mikkiwikki

BoardTracker said:


> This thread was started in August 2006 when the first/original version of BoardTracker was released. That is 13 months ago. So that would serve as a very good indication that the new version is less (actually considerably less) than 13 months in the works. And EVEN if it was 13 months in the works, we have never indicated that it would be any shorted.
> 
> The new version of BoardTracker is in Beta and is still being worked on.



Im sure a very accurate answer which doesnt provide any useful information as it pertains to the fact that search still does not work.

Thanks.


----------



## BoardTracker

mikkiwikki said:


> Im sure a very accurate answer which doesnt provide any useful information as it pertains to the fact that search still does not work.
> 
> Thanks.


Last I checked, the regular version's search works and the beta version works as beta supposed to.. in sometimes a crippled way (thats why its beta).


----------



## minnie61650

mikkiwikki said:


> Im sure a very accurate answer which doesnt provide any useful information as it pertains to the fact that search still does not work.
> 
> Thanks.



I agree. The search function as it is is very poor to say the least.

I have not even been able to track my Personal Messages since last December.

I had given up posting on this thread since I do not think the search function is going to get better. I am sure this is not an easy task and that they are working on it but it is very poor to say the least.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## mikkiwikki

BoardTracker said:


> Last I checked, the regular version's search works and the beta version works as beta supposed to.. in sometimes a crippled way (thats why its beta).



Well your wrong - even with California gold there are problems...

Heres a test to duplicate one of the *many* problems with your *service*

Problem #1 - Search by username.  ...you can search using the main search - but you cannot search by username by Clicking on your name on the left hand side or your screen...using the drop down...Pick  search all posts by that username.  For username boardtracker - I got two hits...both wrong.
So if it doesnt work - and you KNOW it doesnt work - then shouldnt you de-activate that option from the dropdown???

Problem #2 - (mentioned in another thread)  You cannot search WITHIN A THREAD.....steps to duplicate....go to any thread...in the upper menu - you have the option SEARCH THIS THREAD....That doesnt work.  It bounces you back to the main screen - asking you to repick from all the categories.such as Theme Park Attractions etc,. (even if you were not even reading a thread in that category) ..which is NOT how it worked before.

Thanks!


----------



## mikkiwikki

minnie61650 said:


> I agree. The search function as it is is very poor to say the least.
> 
> I have not even been able to track my Personal Messages since last December.
> 
> I had given up posting on this thread since I do not think the search function is going to get better. I am sure this is not an easy task and that they are working on it but it is very poor to say the least.
> 
> Just my 2 cents.




Hi Minnie - Yeah I just check in every once an a while....being in software development - I know if you dont complain - things dont get fixed.....so HERE i AM complaining again.  Everyone please chime in!!!!


----------



## BoardTracker

mikkiwikki said:


> Well your wrong - even with California gold there are problems...
> 
> Heres a test to duplicate one of the *many* problems with your *service*
> 
> Problem #1....


Bickering about what does and does not work as should or as you wish, in a beta phase of a product, is somewhat pointless.
California gold version of the search is the Beta cycle of the new version of BoardTracker.
You complain about the fact that things don't work.. well, we hear you. It's beta. It it worked fully, it wouldn't be Beta. 

Your inability to search within a thread, has nothing to do with BoardTracker. BoardTracker V1 doesn't have this capability. When V2 is fully released, you will be once again able to search both by username and within a thread. Once we get there, there will be a new search module for boards with this capability and this board will once again have it as a feature. 

Until then, we still have work. So.. back to work.


----------



## mikkiwikki

BoardTracker said:


> Bickering about what does and does not work as should or as you wish, in a beta phase of a product, is somewhat pointless.
> California gold version of the search is the Beta cycle of the new version of BoardTracker.
> You complain about the fact that things don't work.. well, we hear you. It's beta. It it worked fully, it wouldn't be Beta.
> 
> Your inability to search within a thread, has nothing to do with BoardTracker. BoardTracker V1 doesn't have this capability. When V2 is fully released, you will be once again able to search both by username and within a thread. Once we get there, there will be a new search module for boards with this capability and this board will once again have it as a feature.
> 
> Until then, we still have work. So.. back to work.



Well - I guess you missed the point.  Its not point less...it *is* the point.
Until it works I will continue to complain regardless of your versioning naming convention.


----------



## jfulcer

BoardTracker said:


> Bickering about what does and does not work as should or as you wish, in a beta phase of a product, is somewhat pointless.
> California gold version of the search is the Beta cycle of the new version of BoardTracker.
> You complain about the fact that things don't work.. well, we hear you. It's beta. It it worked fully, it wouldn't be Beta.
> 
> Your inability to search within a thread, has nothing to do with BoardTracker. BoardTracker V1 doesn't have this capability. When V2 is fully released, you will be once again able to search both by username and within a thread. Once we get there, there will be a new search module for boards with this capability and this board will once again have it as a feature.
> 
> Until then, we still have work. So.. back to work.



Awwww jeez, smacking the board members here and talking down to them like they are utter morons is really kinda beneath you.

It's absolutely amazing to me that you keep coming here and posting about almost releasing this or you're really close to that.   

* You said that you'd be releasing a new version of the search engine to the boards (and well, I think you meant all over) on September 5th.  It's now almost a month later and we've not seen it.  We still have to use California Gold.

*The index is STILL not up to date.  It's (I think) still over a month off the last I checked.

But you know all that. You keep feeding those Koalas.  And they keep failing us.  If you're going to link to something from Wikipedia, you should be linking to Vaporware.


----------



## agnes!

I just wish the various aspects of the Search that don't work would have their visible clickpoints "poofed".  DIS'ers, especially folks new to the site,  wouldn't have to click on a choice, have that choice always come up with no hits and then post "Why?" on the Tech Support Forum.  If a message would come up that said "This feature is presently disabled until further notice." or "Please try this feature using the California Gold skin [with the appropriate instructions following]."

agnes!


----------



## bicker

It seems to me that folks should be addressing their concerns to board webmasters, not BoardTracker (nor moderators, for that matter).


----------



## mikkiwikki

bicker said:


> It seems to me that folks should be addressing their concerns to board webmasters, not BoardTracker (nor moderators, for that matter).



Hey bicker - 
I believe the webmaster is subscribed to this thread...good point.

Hey Webmaster are you OUT THERE??!?! hearing this?  I *could* search within the thread to see if he is subscribed.....buuuut OOPS that doesnt work anymore.  Guess Ill just refer to the boardtrackers beta software development cycle which has a never ending amorphorous timeline for completion.

How much $$$ did you pay Boardtracker?  Just curious.  Were deadlines involved in your agreement?  Again - I work in software development and Id be canned If I performed like this.  

Oh an BoardTracker - Im very cognizant of Beta software.  Im also cognizant of customer satisfaction.  Maybe you should look that one up.  Your CUSTOMERS dont care what version your at.  And when you say something is going to be fixed by XXX date.  It should be....or that results in customer DIS-satisfaction. Something you may want to think about.

Just my 2 cents.


----------



## mikkiwikki

jfulcer said:


> Awwww jeez, smacking the board members here and talking down to them like they are utter morons is really kinda beneath you.
> 
> It's absolutely amazing to me that you keep coming here and posting about almost releasing this or you're really close to that.
> 
> * You said that you'd be releasing a new version of the search engine to the boards (and well, I think you meant all over) on September 5th.  It's now almost a month later and we've not seen it.  We still have to use California Gold.
> 
> *The index is STILL not up to date.  It's (I think) still over a month off the last I checked.
> 
> But you know all that. You keep feeding those Koalas.  And they keep failing us.  If you're going to link to something from Wikipedia, you should be linking to Vaporware.




    right on~! jfulcer you go!


----------



## bicker

mikkiwikki said:


> Hey Webmaster are you OUT THERE??!?!


Uh, this wasn't what I had in mind.


----------



## labattblue

mikkiwikki said:


> Well your wrong - even with California gold there are problems...
> 
> Heres a test to duplicate one of the *many* problems with your *service*
> 
> Problem #1 - Search by username.  ...you can search using the main search - but you cannot search by username by Clicking on your name on the left hand side or your screen...using the drop down...Pick  search all posts by that username.  For username boardtracker - I got two hits...both wrong.
> So if it doesnt work - and you KNOW it doesnt work - then shouldnt you de-activate that option from the dropdown???
> 
> Problem #2 - (mentioned in another thread)  You cannot search WITHIN A THREAD.....steps to duplicate....go to any thread...in the upper menu - you have the option SEARCH THIS THREAD....That doesnt work.  It bounces you back to the main screen - asking you to repick from all the categories.such as Theme Park Attractions etc,. (even if you were not even reading a thread in that category) ..which is NOT how it worked before.
> 
> Thanks!


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:


> Where did you get the 13 months figure from?



From the start date the new search was announced, in the OP, from alex, see quote below



WebmasterAlex said:


> Please use this thread to post any problems, observations or issues with the new search system







.



jfulcer said:


> Awwww jeez, smacking the board members here and talking down to them like they are utter morons is really kinda beneath you.
> 
> It's absolutely amazing to me that you keep coming here and posting about almost releasing this or you're really close to that.
> 
> * You said that you'd be releasing a new version of the search engine to the boards (and well, I think you meant all over) on September 5th.  It's now almost a month later and we've not seen it.  We still have to use California Gold.
> 
> *The index is STILL not up to date.  It's (I think) still over a month off the last I checked.
> 
> But you know all that. You keep feeding those Koalas.  And they keep failing us.  If you're going to link to something from Wikipedia, you should be linking to Vaporware.


Go easy, Jeff, I got whacked with points some months back, and all I did was welcome BT back to the boards after an extended absence of his/hers.  Hate to see you, or others here, get likewise whacked over a search thing.


And BT, thanks for the update.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> From the start date the new search was announced, in the OP, from alex, see quote below
> ....
> And BT, thanks for the update.


Hey Dan
This thread, quoted by you, was an announcement by Alexa about BoardTracker Version ONE. Not the new version. 13 months ago DisBoards started Beta testing the FIRST version of BoardTracker. Not the new one. The new one is in beta for less than 2 months AND DisBoards is the FIRST (and atm the only) board beta-testing the new version. We are working on Version 2 for about 7 months (we actually always working on new things, but defining a new version was 7-8 months ago). And actually, even 13 months working on a new version is really a very short time, considering the scale and complexity of creating a search engine.
As the new version requires dealing with about x20 more data and much heavier infrastructure and resources requirements, this is a very delicate issue. Doing it for free (certainly the case thus far), lacking the budget of Google  it may also explain why we can't get 50 people working on it and finishing it all in a month 

Anyway, we are working on it (aside from the times we are posting here ) and we are happy to keep you updated.

Best regards,
BoardTracker.com


----------



## travelbug

I just noticed that my Aug. 9 post requesting an update has disappeared from the thread, along with the response (both quoted by Dan back in post #534), and my thank you after the response.  I also noticed that a more recent post of mine (around Sept. 15 or so) explaining some recent difficulty with the search function has also disappeared, along with another person's response.  Kinda puzzling.  Can't image what I did wrong.  Hopefully nothing!


----------



## agnes!

travelbug - 

You're thinking of the other New Search feedback thread...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=20209472#post20209472

Look for Post #53 & #54 and there you are !

agnes!


----------



## jfulcer

BoardTracker said:


> Hey Dan
> This thread, quoted by you, was an announcement by Alexa about BoardTracker Version ONE. Not the new version. 13 months ago DisBoards started Beta testing the FIRST version of BoardTracker. Not the new one. The new one is in beta for less than 2 months AND DisBoards is the FIRST (and atm the only) board beta-testing the new version. We are working on Version 2 for about 7 months (we actually always working on new things, but defining a new version was 7-8 months ago). And actually, even 13 months working on a new version is really a very short time, considering the scale and complexity of creating a search engine.
> As the new version requires dealing with about x20 more data and much heavier infrastructure and resources requirements, this is a very delicate issue. Doing it for free (certainly the case thus far), lacking the budget of Google  it may also explain why we can't get 50 people working on it and finishing it all in a month
> 
> Anyway, we are working on it (aside from the times we are posting here ) and we are happy to keep you updated.
> 
> Best regards,
> BoardTracker.com



So everything has always been in Beta?  When do we get a non-beta version?  When do we get one that the whole site can use?

Here's a thought.  You are providing a service.  For Free (right?).  The only visibility that you have currently is a little doggy that fills up, goes to the bathroom, fills up, goes to the bathroom, over and over.  Sometimes he finds results, sometimes he doesn't.  

You need to make money so you can hire more (better?) Koalas.  You need to serve Google type ads.  Provide this search service for free.  But in the search results you are allowed a line or two (or one or two graphical) ads.  You can organize your ads by category so that your search doesn't serve up ads that would conflict with any board sponsors.    Just from the DISboards alone, you could get thousands of ad impressions a day.  Heck Tens of thousands.  Just imagine the clickthrough rate if they are vacation directed links being shown to people that like to vacation and spend a lot of money.

We built a search engine for my company's site.  It took ONE programmer about a month of dedicated time.  Since he wasn't our best programmer, it took him another 1/2 month to fix the bugs.  I suppose maybe that's why I don't understand the delays.  I understand scaling issues.  Really I do.  But you need a useful product in order to even scale it...


----------



## BoardTracker

jfulcer said:


> So everything has always been in Beta?  When do we get a non-beta version?  When do we get one that the whole site can use?
> 
> Here's a thought.  You are providing a service.  For Free (right?).  The only visibility that you have currently is a little doggy that fills up, goes to the bathroom, fills up, goes to the bathroom, over and over.  Sometimes he finds results, sometimes he doesn't.
> 
> You need to make money so you can hire more (better?) Koalas.  You need to serve Google type ads.  Provide this search service for free.  But in the search results you are allowed a line or two (or one or two graphical) ads.  You can organize your ads by category so that your search doesn't serve up ads that would conflict with any board sponsors.    Just from the DISboards alone, you could get thousands of ad impressions a day.  Heck Tens of thousands.  Just imagine the clickthrough rate if they are vacation directed links being shown to people that like to vacation and spend a lot of money.
> 
> We built a search engine for my company's site.  It took ONE programmer about a month of dedicated time.  Since he wasn't our best programmer, it took him another 1/2 month to fix the bugs.  I suppose maybe that's why I don't understand the delays.  I understand scaling issues.  Really I do.  But you need a useful product in order to even scale it...


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:


> .....Anyway, we are working on it (aside from the times we are posting here ) and we are happy to keep you updated......


Any idea on when it will work??


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> Any idea on when it will work??


Since the system is in Beta and bugs, problems and obstacles are found on a daily basis, its impossible to give an exact date. And as it goes, things that should have taken a day take a week and visa versa.

We are attempting to both stabilize the system and finish indexing all pending within the next 45-60 days. Having said that, we wont be surprised if it takes 30 days or 90 days. A system that complex has a life of its own  understand that BoardTracker deals not only with Disboards but with many thousands of other boards, some bigger, some smaller, but overall a huge collection. 

(I only wish we had jfulcer's mediocre programmer so we can finish with it in a week and move on to build the next Yahoo over the weekend )


----------



## supamaki

test


----------



## travelbug

agnes! said:


> travelbug -
> 
> You're thinking of the other New Search feedback thread...
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=20209472#post20209472
> 
> Look for Post #53 & #54 and there you are !
> 
> agnes!


Wow, I guess I lost track of the fact that there were 2 feedback threads.  I thought I'd either done something wrong, or lost my mind!  Thanks for solving my non-mystery!


----------



## jfulcer

BoardTracker said:


> (I only wish we had jfulcer's mediocre programmer so we can finish with it in a week and move on to build the next Yahoo over the weekend )



It was a month and a half.  Even still - with having to do reviews and such of his  code, I know what's involved and what he was doing.  I can't imagine that you are doing much differently.  Maybe, maybe not.


----------



## Rex Rules

the button for new posts isn't working at all - it goes into the search mode and then says "nothing to display"


----------



## rkwells

Rex Rules said:


> the button for new posts isn't working at all - it goes into the search mode and then says "nothing to display"



Yup...same thing happening to me


----------



## agnes!

I admit it, I am techno-illiterate, but in line with the above posts...

When a BoardTracker DIS'Search feature isn't working or is perhaps disabled because the system is in Beta-mode (I know that features come and features go while they are being tweaked), can that button/clickpoint/option be disabled as well?  
For instance, *if* *Find New Posts *isn't working, then can that option be deleted until the working feature returns OR can a helpful response message be put into that feature stating "*This option temporarily disabled*", something other than "Nothing to display" or "No Results" etc.

I don't know if this general idea is possible, but I've asked this question before in the various New Search threads and don't remember seeing a response.

Thanks,
agnes!


----------



## agnes!

agnes! said:


> I admit it, I am techno-illiterate, but in line with the above posts...
> 
> When a BoardTracker DIS'Search feature isn't working or is perhaps disabled because the system is in Beta-mode (I know that features come and features go while they are being tweaked), can that button/clickpoint/option be disabled as well?
> For instance, *if* *Find New Posts *isn't working, then can that option be deleted until the working feature returns OR can a helpful response message be put into that feature stating "*This option temporarily disabled*", something other than "Nothing to display" or "No Results" etc.
> 
> I don't know if this general idea is possible, but I've asked this question before in the various New Search threads and don't remember seeing a response.
> 
> Thanks,
> agnes!




Was wondering if BoardTracker or one of the Webmasters had the answer to my question/idea  above.

Thanks,
agnes!


----------



## bicker

Questions to the webmasters are probably best posed via PM (for all things, actually).


----------



## BoardTracker

agnes! said:


> Was wondering if BoardTracker or one of the Webmasters had the answer to my question/idea  above.
> 
> Thanks,
> agnes!


Hi agnes.
Since we are not representing DisBoards and can not speak on behalf or the webmasters or make any changes to DisBoards, we (BoardTracker) can not answer this question.

(In general, its better to turn off features that don't work. But sometimes its really messy to get rid of something small, and its better to leave it till the feature is reintroduced.)


----------



## Dan Murphy

bicker said:


> Questions to the webmasters are probably best posed via PM (for all things, actually).



Actually, bicker, the OP of this thread specifically asked/stated.......





WebmasterAlex said:


> Please use this thread to post any problems, observations or issues with the new search system



I would assume (I know, assume....) that the webmasters (he is one as far as I know) would like to have such thoughts posted here on this thread to keep all the search concerns, feedback and ideas in a single, consolidated place.  At least that was my take on it.  May be wrong though.


----------



## katallo

I'm having the same problem.  Cannot search for my previous posts or posts by other members.


----------



## Rex Rules

The Search button isn't working at all today and neither is the New Posts button - I haven't been able to get it to work in days - even clicking on the quick link for Today's posts won't work.  

This has definitely decreased my interest in coming to the site.  I have to say the board was better before the change to Board Tracker for searching.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

Dan Murphy said:


> I would assume (I know, assume....) that the webmasters (he is one as far as I know) would like to have such thoughts posted here on this thread to keep all the search concerns, feedback and ideas in a single, consolidated place.  At least that was my take on it.  May be wrong though.



Actually, this thread is so outdated that it really has no value to us any longer as a place for search concerns, feedback, etc.   It long ago degenerated into complaints rather than helpful feedback.

And yes, WebmasterAlex is a webmaster. Perhaps his username gave it away.   I know it's been a very long time since you were involved here, but that hasn't changed.  

For anyone who is relatively new here, all webmasters have "webmaster" in their usernames. And Alex is our head techie geek webmaster, with responsibility for our servers, board software and all related systems.  Boardtracker is not one of those systems, as it's external and not owned or controlled by the DISboards.


----------



## tink2020

WebmasterKathy said:


> *Actually, this thread is so outdated that it really has no value to us any longer as a place for search concerns, feedback, etc.*   It long ago degenerated into complaints rather than helpful feedback.
> 
> And yes, WebmasterAlex is a webmaster. Perhaps his username gave it away.   I know it's been a very long time since you were involved here, but that hasn't changed.
> 
> For anyone who is relatively new here, all webmasters have "webmaster" in their usernames. And Alex is our head techie geek webmaster, with responsibility for our servers, board software and all related systems.  Boardtracker is not one of those systems, as it's external and not owned or controlled by the DISboards.



So, and please do not take this as anything other than the question that it is, where should we address such concerns?  I know I'm not alone in wondering if things are ever going to function even remotely close to how they did in "the good old days" , so is there a place other than this that we might find those answers?  Is there a way to let someone (and who?) know that we are really frustrated by the (lack of) search function?

In my opinion, and again I'm not being snotty or sarcastic, I'd rather just know if that's never going to happen.  If it isn't, then I'll just move on.  Goodness knows I still appreciate this board, and use it for many things -- just maybe not as much as I used to when it was a bit more user friendly -- and certainly not for the research tool for which it was intended.  I'm not throwing a fit, or threatening to go elsewhere, etc because that would be silly.

I would just love to have an honest answer as to where this is going (if anywhere), or - truthfully - if you all have decided to not take our feedback, etc, as would be your prerogative.  It sounds from your post that we might just be talking to ourselves in this thread (forgive me if I'm understanding it wrong) ... just please let us know if that's true so we don't get the feeling that we are just wasting our time.


Thanks for all you do, and thanks in advance for clarification on our "involvement" in getting this feature changed (or not).


----------



## bicker

tink2020 said:


> So, and please do not take this as anything other than the question that it is, where should we address such concerns?


See my earlier message.


----------



## jfulcer

WebmasterKathy said:


> Actually, this thread is so outdated that it really has no value to us any longer as a place for search concerns, feedback, etc.   It long ago degenerated into complaints rather than helpful feedback.



I suppose a lot of people that are posting on this thread are frustrated after promise after promise, deadline after deadline, update after update go by the wayside, one by one.   Here is my helpful feedback:

1) If search is not working, then as another poster suggested - put a 'temporarily DISabled' message up for when the search comes up.  It certainly would eliminate the large number of messages that say "why does search not work?"

2) If someone is going to post a date something is going to happen, then stick to it even if you can't do it 100%.   Put a message on the search saying "please note: this is not 100% indexed" or whatever is missing/wrong.

3) Put a sticky at the top of this help forum: "How to use a partially enabled search" (or something) and point to the California Gold help messages we've posted over and over.

4) _Tell us what is going on._  A weekly(?) message stating progress/goals would be wonderful.  Communication is soooo important.   If all of us that are interested in this know that progress is being made other than 'The Koalas are working on it', it would be _soooooo_ nice.


----------



## GailT

I just don't bother even trying to search, not worth my time, I just go down and look at all the subjects and pick what I want. I know I probably miss alot but that's ok, my nerves get shot when I tried to do   a search before.


----------



## Dan Murphy

Good thoughts, Jennifer.  

It may be this thread, http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1488950, that alex posted some months back, when the improved edition of the new search came out.  Again, not sure, but it is titled, _*New search test feedback thread*_, so it is possible that it is an additional thread for feedback on the newer search from earlier in the Spring, the one where you need to go to the gold color to make it work some, and this thread here, the one from last year, is more appropriate for none gold, but still BT?


----------



## mikkiwikki

WebmasterKathy said:


> And yes, WebmasterAlex is a webmaster. Perhaps his username gave it away.



Gee that sounded a little sarcastic to me.


----------



## fhtpdw20

Every time I click into veiw a thread and start to read it, board tracker on google comes up.  I hit the back button and get back to the thread, but when I scroll down, I get sent back to board tracker on google again.  This problem started 10/7.  If this keeps up, I will no longer be able to use this site and it is number one favorite.  I have checked for viruses, deleted cookies/temp files, rebooted, but nothing seems to work.  Thanks for your help.  It also does the same thing when I click on thread from email response back.


----------



## Uncleromulus

I tried to access some of my old threads by clicking  "find all threads started by Uncleromulus". What came up was the general search feature and when I put in the key word I was after (Wolfgang Puck) it came up with no results. Which is, of course, not the case.


----------



## Shorty82

Search is pretty much disabled for all skins but "California Gold". Supposedly the search system is being worked on.


----------



## agnes!

Uncle - 

Are you doing your search while using the California Gold 'skin'?  I only know of two ways to generally search the DIS.  Either use the BoardTracker DIS'Search or do a Google/Yahoo domain-name search of the DIS and putting your DIS nick in as a search parameter.

agnes!


----------



## agnes!

agnes! said:


> I admit it, I am techno-illiterate, but in line with the above posts...
> 
> When a BoardTracker DIS'Search feature isn't working or is perhaps disabled because the system is in Beta-mode (I know that features come and features go while they are being tweaked), can that button/clickpoint/option be disabled as well?
> For instance, *if* *Find New Posts *isn't working, then can that option be deleted until the working feature returns OR can a helpful response message be put into that feature stating "*This option temporarily disabled*", something other than "Nothing to display" or "No Results" etc.
> 
> I don't know if this general idea is possible, but I've asked this question before in the various New Search threads and don't remember seeing a response.
> 
> Thanks,
> agnes!





agnes! said:


> Was wondering if BoardTracker or one of the Webmasters had the answer to my question/idea  above.
> 
> Thanks,
> agnes!





BoardTracker said:


> Hi agnes.
> Since we are not representing DisBoards and can not speak on behalf or the webmasters or make any changes to DisBoards, we (BoardTracker) can not answer this question.
> 
> (In general, its better to turn off features that don't work. But sometimes its really messy to get rid of something small, and its better to leave it till the feature is reintroduced.)



BoardTracker - 

Thanks for your reply.

agnes!


----------



## thomprod

jfulcer said:


> I suppose a lot of people that are posting on this thread are frustrated after promise after promise, deadline after deadline, update after update go by the wayside, one by one.   Here is my helpful feedback:
> 
> 1) If search is not working, then as another poster suggested - put a 'temporarily DISabled' message up for when the search comes up.  It certainly would eliminate the large number of messages that say "why does search not work?"
> 
> 2) If someone is going to post a date something is going to happen, then stick to it even if you can't do it 100%.   Put a message on the search saying "please note: this is not 100% indexed" or whatever is missing/wrong.
> 
> 3) Put a sticky at the top of this help forum: "How to use a partially enabled search" (or something) and point to the California Gold help messages we've posted over and over.
> 
> 4) _Tell us what is going on._  A weekly(?) message stating progress/goals would be wonderful.  Communication is soooo important.   If all of us that are interested in this know that progress is being made other than 'The Koalas are working on it', it would be _soooooo_ nice.



 I agree with all of these points as well.


----------



## thomprod

tink2020 said:


> So, and please do not take this as anything other than the question that it is, where should we address such concerns?  I know I'm not alone in wondering if things are ever going to function even remotely close to how they did in "the good old days" , so is there a place other than this that we might find those answers?  Is there a way to let someone (and who?) know that we are really frustrated by the (lack of) search function?
> 
> In my opinion, and again I'm not being snotty or sarcastic, I'd rather just know if that's never going to happen.  If it isn't, then I'll just move on.  Goodness knows I still appreciate this board, and use it for many things -- just maybe not as much as I used to when it was a bit more user friendly -- and certainly not for the research tool for which it was intended.  I'm not throwing a fit, or threatening to go elsewhere, etc because that would be silly.
> 
> I would just love to have an honest answer as to where this is going (if anywhere), or - truthfully - if you all have decided to not take our feedback, etc, as would be your prerogative.  It sounds from your post that we might just be talking to ourselves in this thread (forgive me if I'm understanding it wrong) ... just please let us know if that's true so we don't get the feeling that we are just wasting our time.
> 
> 
> Thanks for all you do, and thanks in advance for clarification on our "involvement" in getting this feature changed (or not).



 I second tink2020's comments.


----------



## Friendly Frog

tink2020 said:


> So, and please do not take this as anything other than the question that it is, where should we address such concerns?  I know I'm not alone in wondering if things are ever going to function even remotely close to how they did in "the good old days" , so is there a place other than this that we might find those answers?  Is there a way to let someone (and who?) know that we are really frustrated by the (lack of) search function?
> 
> In my opinion, and again I'm not being snotty or sarcastic, I'd rather just know if that's never going to happen.  If it isn't, then I'll just move on.  Goodness knows I still appreciate this board, and use it for many things -- just maybe not as much as I used to when it was a bit more user friendly -- and certainly not for the research tool for which it was intended.  I'm not throwing a fit, or threatening to go elsewhere, etc because that would be silly.
> 
> I would just love to have an honest answer as to where this is going (if anywhere), or - truthfully - if you all have decided to not take our feedback, etc, as would be your prerogative.  It sounds from your post that we might just be talking to ourselves in this thread (forgive me if I'm understanding it wrong) ... just please let us know if that's true so we don't get the feeling that we are just wasting our time.
> 
> 
> Thanks for all you do, and thanks in advance for clarification on our "involvement" in getting this feature changed (or not).



I think you did a great job describing how many of us feel.


----------



## Dan Murphy

How is the BT indexing going?  Any progress report available?   Any idea if skins other than the gold one will be available at some point?


----------



## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> How is the BT indexing going?  Any progress report available?   Any idea if skins other than the gold one will be available at some point?



Still burning the candle for us   Thanks Dan...keep up the good work!!


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> How is the BT indexing going?  Any progress report available?   Any idea if skins other than the gold one will be available at some point?



More than 50% of Disboards data is indexed now (760K threads and 11M posts [http://v2.boardtracker.com/search/?...ch=site:disboards.com&cat=1&order=1&scope=4]). The rest is catching up all the time.
User based search is working find and as far as we know all past feature requested features are fulfilled. (if there are any let us know).
There are two issues we are focusing on (aside from completing the coverage of historical data).. 
1) speed of search - to reduce the search time to sub-second searches. 
2) non disboards issues that have no effect over the search here, but that delay the official BoardTracker version switch (and removing the "beta" status of the new version)

as for other skins, it is actually WebmasterAlex's decision now, but there is no  problem setting the new search instead of the old one on all skins.

Let us know your thoughts..


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

Please let me & others now what is going on with thread notifications. I haven't received email notifications since last night & have checked all my settings.

TIA


----------



## StitchfansJr

Last time I checked the DIS profiles weren't working. =/


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

NEVERENOUGHWDW said:


> Please let me & others now what is going on with thread notifications. I haven't received email notifications since last night & have checked all my settings.
> 
> TIA



Still nothing! Updates please.


----------



## safetymom

In other cases when you change servers your internet provider has to recognize the new server.  It may be your internet provider is slower at recognizing this new server.  I have been getting my notifications.


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

safetymom said:


> In other cases when you change servers your internet provider has to recognize the new server.  It may be your internet provider is slower at recognizing this new server.  I have been getting my notifications.



How do I check if it is recognized or not?


----------



## safetymom

You would need to contact your ISP.


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

Okay, this is so annoying. The DISboards have never been the same since the switch to BoardTracker. I have tried to be tactful, but the New Posts function still stinks.


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah




----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

I still cannot receive any email notifications and posting sometimes takes several minutes.....not to mention no PM capability.

Please at least let me know if I have been heard


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

I heard ya!  

Of course, you probably weren't meaning me.


----------



## bicker

It should be noted that the switch to BoardTracker actually improved the situation -- that indeed the switch to BoardTracker was undertaken because performance was much worse before.


----------



## kapeman

I can't do a search now.

I get the following error:

The The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com database has encountered a problem.


**************************************

Also, notifications aren't working for me either.


----------



## kapeman

safetymom said:


> In other cases when you change servers your internet provider has to recognize the new server.  It may be your internet provider is slower at recognizing this new server.  I have been getting my notifications.



I'm not sure what you are referring to here.

Are you talking about DNS name resolution?

If you are, the IP for DisBoards.com may not have changed since the new servers are behind a load balancer.

If the IP address had changed onre of two things could happen:

1. The ISP could have cached an old IP for Disboards.com, in which case the hosting company could re-direct the traffic to the correct address.
2. If the hosting company does not redirect, the user would get a page not found error.

Would you mind clarifying?

Thanks!


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

Still no email notifications.........


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

Webmaster ALEX...

Do I need to start a new account? 
I don't want to but it seems my email notification is never going to be resolved.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

starting a new account would not help your email at all. You would have to switch to an email provider that was letting things through right now.
You know you can always check your User CP and see what is going on with your subscribed threads


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

WebmasterAlex said:


> starting a new account would not help your email at all. You would have to switch to an email provider that was letting things through right now.
> You know you can always check your User CP and see what is going on with your subscribed threads



I know that is very different.

I guess my concern is why did this happen after the server switch?
Are you attempting to fix it?
Will it ever be fixed or this is just how it is?


----------



## Renysmom

I am sure that Alex is doing all he can to rectify the problems since the change over.  Everyone needs to give him a break, he is ONE person dealing with a MAJOR switch of servers and thousands of accounts and postings. 

A server switch is very difficult as you dont have any idea if it will work  seamlessly or what issues may arise.  Even though I miss my email notifications I am sure that they are not as high on the priority list as say keeping the boards up and running.  Its also possible that the notification system is part of a larger program, maybe not even a program/service owned by the DIS and if that is the case, they may be waiting for assistance from another party.

Until then just log onto the Dis, click on User CP (up top on the right) and you will see all your subscriptions and any replies made to them.


----------



## WebmasterKathy

NEVERENOUGHWDW said:


> I know that is very different.
> 
> I guess my concern is why did this happen after the server switch?
> 
> Are you attempting to fix it?
> 
> Will it ever be fixed or this is just how it is?



New servers, new addresses. Some ISPs are quicker than others to recognize the new addresses as valid. Nothing here for the DIS to fix: our servers are sending the messages, but we don't control the servers on the receiving end.

Is there a reason you can't use the User CP notification of new posts in the meantime, as Alex suggested in his response to you? It's much more real-time and reliable than email...


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

Yeah, that is all good and dandy; but, I wonder does he realize the impact it has on the members of this forum? I will point out, in full disclosure, that I do not donate to support the forum, as I am sure this forum generates plenty of revenue from advertising. 

I used to check this forum hourly.....yes hourly (!)....maybe even half-hourly. I would click on the New Posts to see what was new. 

Look at how long it has been since I have signed on. I am sure he does not care, but does he realize that this could potentially translate into lost customers??? 

I just wanted to point that out.


----------



## kapeman

ZipaDeeDooDah said:


> Yeah, that is all good and dandy; but, I wonder does he realize the impact it has on the members of this forum? I will point out, in full disclosure, that I do not donate to support the forum, as I am sure this forum generates plenty of revenue from advertising.
> 
> I used to check this forum hourly.....yes hourly (!)....maybe even half-hourly. I would click on the New Posts to see what was new.
> 
> Look at how long it has been since I have signed on. I am sure he does not care, but does he realize that this could potentially translate into lost customers???
> 
> I just wanted to point that out.




Ah, the irony.

Even as this was being typed, the email notification system started working again. 

At least it did for me.


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

kapeman said:


> Ah, the irony.
> 
> Even as this was being typed, the email notification system started working again.
> 
> At least it did for me.




Murphy's Law - right?! I am glad that the email notification system is working for you again.  

(Of course my comment still, and has always been, is on the New Posts system).


----------



## bicker

Do keep in mind, though, that your point is that users like you are visiting less often because that feature isn't working as you expect it to, but the reason why that feature doesn't work as you expect it to is that the forums have more users than it can handle if it did work as you expected it to.  So the forums are apparently not hurting for users.


----------



## BoardTracker

NEVERENOUGHWDW said:


> Please let me & others now what is going on with thread notifications. I haven't received email notifications since last night & have checked all my settings.
> TIA


Notifications have nothing to do with search. I see WebmasterAlex addressed the email issues though.. if it still doesn't work for you after few days, but does for others, it is your likely to be something your ISP's can address.



StitchfansJr said:


> Last time I checked the DIS profiles weren't working. =/


Also has nothing to do with the BoardTracker search. However, they do seem to work for me.



ZipaDeeDooDah said:


> Okay, this is so annoying. The DISboards have never been the same since the switch to BoardTracker. I have tried to be tactful, but the New Posts function still stinks.


New Posts function can be added. The fact that its missing was due to the fact that it used an inefficient mechanism of the old search. 
If WebmasterAlex is reading this: Please contact us and we will see about helping you set up "New Posts" page using BoardTracker..

Note however (as Bicker say), performance of pretty much anything, before the change to BoardTracker, was very bad. Its been a while since I myself saw an error/timeout page on simple things like posting/reading.
If the killer-application for you in here is "New Posts", perhaps that should be brought up with the DisBoards crew and added so you have all the functionality you need..



kapeman said:


> I can't do a search now.
> I get the following error:
> The The DIS Discussion Forums - DISboards.com database has encountered a problem.


Bizzare, this doesn't seem logical. BoardTracker's search (of DisBoards) is not using the database of DisBoards.. therefore that error is not "possible".
Can you provide the URL at which you encountered this error?


----------



## paults

finally I got in somewhere.
trying to post or reply to a thread is like waiting at my doctors office 
I sign in I sit down and wait for the nurse to call me still waiting for the nurse to call me etc, etc

these boards, to me are slower then before, I'm I the only one with this problem.


----------



## Luxo

I'm a new user and might be doing it wrong, but I can't make Advanced Search find anything by a user name (either mine or others!)... Help!


----------



## BoardTracker

Luxo said:


> I'm a new user and might be doing it wrong, but I can't make Advanced Search find anything by a user name (either mine or others!)... Help!


Are you using California Gold?
Here is a URL for your posts. At the moment I get one result for you.. but you are there..
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=Luxo&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1&styleid=43



paults said:


> finally I got in somewhere.
> trying to post or reply to a thread is like waiting at my doctors office
> I sign in I sit down and wait for the nurse to call me still waiting for the nurse to call me etc, etc
> 
> these boards, to me are slower then before, I'm I the only one with this problem.


From my experience, posting is a question of mere second or two. Reading threads is also extremely fast. Thats my personal experience. Do not know how it is for others.


----------



## ZipaDeeDooDah

BoardTracker said:


> New Posts function can be added. The fact that its missing was due to the fact that it used an inefficient mechanism of the old search.
> If WebmasterAlex is reading this: Please contact us and we will see about helping you set up "New Posts" page using BoardTracker..



BT, thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. Do you have an idea of how often the new posts could refresh/update?


----------



## betterlatethannever

OK, getting back on topic,  my observations/comments on the search feature.

I searched for a particular user name, got 174 results (searching all forums).

The results didn't seem to be in any particular order (a little frustrating) and the results did not identify what forum the post was in (I know this was brought up before).

When I went to do a search limiting it to one forum, I got the same 174 results.  I was searching only in the Disneyland forum, but it gave me results from other forums.

So, it would be nice to either put in a column showing what forum the post is from, or actually be able to search by forum.

Thank you.

Ed


----------



## BoardTracker

ZipaDeeDooDah said:


> BT, thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. Do you have an idea of how often the new posts could refresh/update?



If we indeed create it for DisBoards it can be basically real-time update. However, it would also make sense for efficiency to cache results, but still at a frequent enough rate (maybe 10 minutes)


----------



## BoardTracker

betterlatethannever said:


> OK, getting back on topic,  my observations/comments on the search feature.
> 
> I searched for a particular user name, got 174 results (searching all forums).
> 
> The results didn't seem to be in any particular order (a little frustrating) and the results did not identify what forum the post was in (I know this was brought up before).
> 
> When I went to do a search limiting it to one forum, I got the same 174 results.  I was searching only in the Disneyland forum, but it gave me results from other forums.
> 
> So, it would be nice to either put in a column showing what forum the post is from, or actually be able to search by forum.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Ed



The order is based on relevancy of the keywords you type in or the date of the post. Up to you.

As for searching within a specific forum, it should work. will look into it to see if there is a problem.


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:


> ......At the moment I get one result for you.. but you are there..
> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=Luxo&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1&styleid=43......


Where would the remaining five posts from Luxo be?


----------



## DangerMouse

Has anyone else noticed that posts are being duplicated or triplicated or even more since the server change?  It's driving me nuts!


----------



## NEVERENOUGHWDW

had email notification for 2 days. It is gone AGAIN.


----------



## Dan Murphy

DangerMouse said:


> Has anyone else noticed that posts are being duplicated or triplicated or even more since the server change?  It's driving me nuts!





NEVERENOUGHWDW said:


> had email notification for 2 days. It is gone AGAIN.


Keep in mind these have nothing to do with the ongoing (about 18 months now) problems with search.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> Keep in mind these have nothing to do with the ongoing (about 18 months now) problems with search.



Remind me.. whats "ongoing" about it?


----------



## BoardTracker

betterlatethannever said:


> ....When I went to do a search limiting it to one forum, I got the same 174 results.  I was searching only in the Disneyland forum, but it gave me results from other forums.
> 
> So, it would be nice to either put in a column showing what forum the post is from, or actually be able to search by forum.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Ed



Fixed.
Search by forum works now.


----------



## BoardTracker

Dan Murphy said:


> Where would the remaining five posts from Luxo be?



Being caught up with.
Try the search now.. You will see 5 results (including the one he had in this thread)


----------



## Dan Murphy

BoardTracker said:


> Remind me.. whats "ongoing" about it?


vBuletin search has not been around since August, 2006, if I recall. 





BoardTracker said:


> Being caught up with.
> Try the search now.. You will see 5 results (including the one he had in this thread)


Using link from #621, along with CG...........



> Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.


----------



## DVC Grandpa

Can anyone tell me where I can find out how the search works? I cant even find my own post. I put in my user name but nothing comes up.


----------



## Trentmom

Well, I and a few of my friends on here, find the new board is SO SLOW at times, we are getting so frustrated.....

I love it here and don't want this to ruin our fun time here.

Are there some glitches you are still working on?

It flies maybe like one or two posts...Then it takes almost 10min to get one post to go thru, by that time, so frustrated, we just shut down the dis..... 

I see a TON of people on every thread I belong to, are being able to do duplicate posts..like 2-4 posts.... 

Those are my only complaints...I hate complaining, but if you don't know what is wrong, how can you fix it 

Thanks for much for creating this site though, have made great friends here


----------



## bicker

I think a critical point folks need to keep in mind is that the current problems you're experiencing have nothing to do with the search system.  If you have concerns about recent performance of the boards themselves (i.e., double postings, delays, etc.), then you should contact the webmasters.  This isn't the correct thread for _those_ issues.


----------



## micki7337

I have not been able to trck my posts that I do.  When i try to search my name I get no results and I know that I post stuff but it can not be found via the search

any help on this one....please


----------



## BoardTracker

micki7337 said:


> I have not been able to trck my posts that I do.  When i try to search my name I get no results and I know that I post stuff but it can not be found via the search
> 
> any help on this one....please


quite simple..
http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=micki7337&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1

JUST MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CALIFORNIA GOLD.. until its released on all templates by WebmasterAlex


----------



## Dan Murphy

Is Search link moved?  Can't locate.


----------



## Dan Murphy

Hmmm, I see it back now.


----------



## agnes!

Hey Dan !

agnes!


----------



## Tinkbellfan

Dan Murphy said:


> Is Search link moved?  Can't locate.



I'm with Dan - where is search located?  I've been gone for a few days!


----------



## DexLabDeeDee

Me too! I can't find the search option either. Though the link from BoardTracker a few posts up does work. I guess I will have to add it to my favorites...


----------



## Tinkbellfan

I saw the link, but I get "sorry no matches found".


----------



## lindsmom

Is it just me or is search not working?  I'm trying to find neverland club, and I entered that... came back blank, not even telling me nothing was found.  So I tried "neverland" ... just one word.  Last week I had pages of responses.  Again, nothing today.  blank.  Is the search down? 

Thanks...

Update... I can do a search if I'm under california gold, but not orlando / default.  I quite frankly don't like the gold, and I'm personally not interested in disneyland.  Shouldn't the search work under the blue screen?  Sounds like a glitch...


----------



## BoardTracker

lindsmom said:


> Is it just me or is search not working?  I'm trying to find neverland club, and I entered that... came back blank, not even telling me nothing was found.  So I tried "neverland" ... just one word.  Last week I had pages of responses.  Again, nothing today.  blank.  Is the search down?
> 
> Thanks...
> 
> Update... I can do a search if I'm under california gold, but not orlando / default.  I quite frankly don't like the gold, and I'm personally not interested in disneyland.  Shouldn't the search work under the blue screen?  Sounds like a glitch...



Yes, it is.
If I'm not wrong.. WebmasterAlex will be working on implementing the NEW search on all templates soon.


----------



## mill4023

Order results by date isn't working.

I search for "accident" and choose "relevancy" and it works fine.
If I choose to order the results by date and I get nothing.


----------



## BoardTracker

mill4023 said:


> Order results by date isn't working.
> 
> I search for "accident" and choose "relevancy" and it works fine.
> If I choose to order the results by date and I get nothing.



http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=accident&order=0&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
Should work. Does for me, after a while..

I am assuming what happened is that you saw the dog for a very long time and nothing happened?

If so, its a question of time.. date based searches are very slow at the moment, and we are working on those. As new hardware is being deployed in the next 2 weeks, speed of search, especially date based, will improve drastically.


----------



## mill4023

BoardTracker said:


> http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=accident&order=0&user=&scope=4&cat=1&frm=-1
> Should work. Does for me, after a while..
> 
> I am assuming what happened is that you saw the dog for a very long time and nothing happened?
> 
> If so, its a question of time.. date based searches are very slow at the moment, and we are working on those. As new hardware is being deployed in the next 2 weeks, speed of search, especially date based, will improve drastically.



No, I didn't see the dog.  I got a message saying sorry, no matches were found (or whatever).  I tried several times before posting.

And yes, it is working now.  At least it was a minute ago.


----------



## bicker

WebmasterAlex said:


> We know there have been some issues with the boards and I wanted to give everyone an update. I've included a non-technical and a technical version. Since the server move we have run into several issues:
> 
> 1. The code that was supposed to keep people from using the built in search and keep them on the board tracker search wasn't working right. Some people were able to access the built in search which quickly kills the boards.


Gosh, that DOES explain a lot, and it should provide a very clear, up-to-date, indication to folks who want the old search back precisely why it is infeasible.


----------



## Dan Murphy

How can a board function be accessed if it is disabled, turned off at the administrator level?


----------



## KristaTX

Dan Murphy said:


> How can a board function be accessed if it is disabled, turned off at the administrator level?



Yes, Alex.  Tell all of us the secret so we can do it, too .

Hey there, Dan .  Missed you the last couple of Decembers.


----------



## WebmasterAlex

Dan Murphy said:


> How can a board function be accessed if it is disabled, turned off at the administrator level?



Because people who write software aren't perfect


----------



## Dan Murphy

KristaTX said:


> Yes, Alex.  Tell all of us the secret so we can do it, too .
> 
> Hey there, Dan .  Missed you the last couple of Decembers.


Hi Krista.    You noticed.   And I have missed being there, LOL.  I missed '06 with Marie's mom passing away shortly before then and last month, Dec '07, as I had finally returned to WDW in early Oct, and too soon to go back a month or two later.  I hope to get back in 'cycle' this year.   



WebmasterAlex said:


> Because people who write software aren't perfect


Ahhh haaa.  I knew there had to be a good reason.


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## NEVERENOUGHWDW

I need email notifications!  *PLEASE!!!!!!!!!*


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## Dan Murphy

Just wondering, having now completed two years today with the BT search, how it has been received and all.   Anything new coming down the pike?


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## dpuck1998

Dan Murphy said:


> Just wondering, having now completed two years today with the BT search, how it has been received and all.   Anything new coming down the pike?



Does it still only work with California Gold?  I'd like to change my skin 

It seems to function better, still times when it returns nothing or is out of date.


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

It still does not work like it used to when I joined. No matter what changes I make suggested in this thread, I still do not like BT, 2 years later.


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## cassi06403

ZipaDeeDooDah said:


> It still does not work like it used to when I joined. No matter what changes I make suggested in this thread, I still do not like BT, 2 years later.



I still don't like it either.  I REALLY miss the New Posts feature!


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

cassi06403 said:


> I still don't like it either.  I REALLY miss the New Posts feature!



That is what I miss most of all - the 'New Posts' feature.

With the previous 'New Posts' feature, no matter which sub-forum it was posted to, the _newest_ and _most recent_ posts would always be posted first when you clicked on 'New Posts.' 

I just want to be able to click on 'New Posts' and have the newest posts (regardless of which forum) come up!


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## ZipaDeeDooDah

To sum it up, I still do not like BT.


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## agnes!

I just use a Google site-search - works pretty well  .

agnes!


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## mikkiwikki

agnes! said:


> I just use a Google site-search - works pretty well  .
> 
> agnes!



Yeah because BT search does not work.


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## bicker

Yes, it truly doesn't work.  Here's a search I just tried:

http://www.disboards.com/searchbt.php?search=&order=1&user=bicker&scope=0&cat=1&frm=33

Nothing was returned, yet I know I posted dozens of messages yesterday.


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## Dan Murphy

The dog search pretty much is worthless, non-functional.  I, and I think many here, use a Google domain search.  Not nearly as good as the built-in search software that comes with vBulletin, but works fairly well, certainly better than that bt thing.

Here is a bicker Google domain search, bicker, narrowed to last 24 hours.......

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images


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## bicker

Thanks.  Wish we had some way of searching for posts instead of pages though.


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## Dan Murphy

Maybe when we get that working 'new posts' feature back.   

I hear ya, bicker, it has been difficult without search these past two plus years, but Google is a decent work around for me.


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## jfulcer

bump.  No more doggie search.  yay!

Still have trouble on occasion searching, but google is the best.


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