Search facility

[Eddy Matthews]

I've installed some new code in the forum "Search" function - I haven't had much time to test it, but it appears to be much better at finding a match than the built in stuff that the forum normally uses....

Please let me know what you think of it...

[Roderick Smith]

Hi all,
I have enjoyed the new look of the site: cleaner and less cluttered.
I soon learned how to do all of the tasks which are my common ones.
I feel that it is faster to use than the old version.

I have done quite a bit of searching, and was saving some comments which are probably now superseded.
I was having trouble finding some older posts of my own, in order to update them.  In particular, finding the post with the url of the website on NZ's Hatrick fleet was tricky, when I was trying to pass it on as a response to a recent request.

There also seemed to be the problem of too many red herrings (I suspect that the algorithm was locked onto 'or' with no 'and' option).

I have just done a quick test.  I can't put my finger on what the improvements are, but they seem to be there: partly on the display, and partly on the quality of the found list, and partly on the ability to control the search parameters better.

It seems that searching is on text in message headers and message content, but not on attached filenames.

I'll keep alert as I use the search feature over the next month, and make more comments (if needed) after more experience.

Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

[Eddy Matthews]

Thanks Roderick, I do feel the new code finds matches better than the old setup, but other peoples comments all help in developing things further.....

I don't think it's possible to have a fully accurate search however hard I try, but that shouldn't stop us from striving for better and better results!

I haven't even had a chance to think about adding attachments to the search parameters, but your comment on that is perfectly valid. I'll keep it in mind for later, as it would mean a LOT of changes to the changes I've already made (if you see what I mean?).

With all the new software, I'm still learning my way around it - So it will take me a while before I'm fully conversant with everything, but I'm always open to suggestions for improvements, and I'll do my best to implement them, but these things all take time....

Once again, my sincere thanks for taking the time to test things when needed - I can only do so much, and input from others is always appreciated.