search function

ragingxtc · Sep 22, 2008

while i haven't really posted all that much, i have been a long time reader of the forum. there is just such a wealth of information here.

my biggest issue with this site, by far, is the search function... it seems to be so difficult to sift through the results to find the information needed.

for example, if you were to search for "protege part numbers" in an attempt to find the thread by Captain KRM P5 titled "definitive protege part numbers catalog", you get 499 results, most of which are useless. the thread by Captain KPM P5 is actually listed on the second page. in contrast, the same search on google returns only four results, the first being the thread on this website by Captain KRM P5. now i can already hear some of you saying "well thats what the 'search titles only' function is for," but the results are nearly the same.

it also seems that no matter what you search for (within reason), you are going to get close to five hundred results. again, probably 99% of them are useless. the first page of results almost always seems to contain the same results, reguardless of what is being searched for. these threads are generally huge, sometimes containing thousands of posts.

while a lot of us have figured out reasonable ways to get the results we are looking for, it is very inefficient and quite frustrating at times. this has to be very frustrating for newbies to the site, especially when they can't find the solution to a simple issue. i'd imagine this frustration is compounded when they create a new thread, only to have members tell them that they need to use the search function.

is it just me, or does the search function on this forum seem subpar?

is there any way to improve it?

is it possible to set the search function to default display results comprised of only threads that contain all of the words you are searching for?

is it possible to add support for tools such as boolean operators (-, or, and), wildcards (*, ?), and "phrasing with quotation marks"?

i tried to do a search to see if anyone had already created a thread about this, but was quickly overwelmed by the results of that search.

just some thoughts..
thanks,
kiel

MazdaSpeeder · Sep 22, 2008

ragingxtc said:
i tried to do a search to see if anyone had already created a thread about this, but was quickly overwelmed by the results of that search.
kiel

Haha, that made me laugh. However, I agree...sometimes I want to search specific terms, but "common words" are filtered out and I end up with a bunch of results that only have one of the terms in my search instead of all of them. Or, my search just turns up threads with all the words occurring in them instead of the phrase occurring. I rarely use the search function because of this and I think that adding some tools to help specify searches, i.e. "boolean operators" (I don't really know what those are but they sound helpful) would be great.

ragingxtc · Sep 24, 2008

nobody else?

fishdonotbounce · Sep 24, 2008

I agree wholeheartedly. Just the other night I spent an hour finding a thread that I knew existed but because of the search options, I couldn't find it. I have become very very accustomed to the search feature but lately I find myself NOT telling noobies that ask "What's the difference between and SRI and a CAI" to use the search function simply because I know they would come up with a million results with nothing useful. I agree that the search should come equipped with those boolean operators (had no idea what they were called before) since they make searches on yahoo and google much easier.

MazdaSpeeder · Sep 24, 2008

fishdonotbounce said:
I agree wholeheartedly. Just the other night I spent an hour finding a thread that I knew existed but because of the search options, I couldn't find it.

This happens to me all the time!

robin2660 · Sep 25, 2008

Search engine SUCKS.

For example, I have been searching for 15 minutes for the thread about the ridiculously messed apartment in Houston. I used several keywords I remember from that thread, and I cannot find it: depressed, cigarette, bathroom, etc.

Anyone?

fkmp5 · Sep 25, 2008

the other problem with the search is the delay.. when i search for something if it's not in the results, or if it ommitted some of my words which changed the search altogether, i try to search again and it makes me wait.. argh!!

if google is a better search option, we should just include one of those "google search for your website thingies" that allows you to search THIS WEBSITE or ALL OF GOOGLE. you know what i mean.

speed1016 · Sep 25, 2008

I wouldnt go as far as saying it sucks, just not as good as it could be. I have ahard time searching all the time. I guess Im just use to it.

fkmp5 · Sep 25, 2008

you would think as much as people like to yell USE THE SEARCH it would be much better.. hehehe. just kidding.

ragingxtc · Sep 25, 2008

any moderators reading this? any of the mods want to weigh in on the subject?

fkmp5, you bring up a valid point about the time delay between searches, but i do believe that's a security measure to prevent server overloading (correct me if i'm wrong). it does get annoying tho.

IslandP5 · Sep 26, 2008

At least it isn't just me. Thought I was doing something wrong.

Was looking for info on Protege5 gas tanks and was getting everything from MPG to coolant tanks.

Someone mentioned Google though. When I am looking up P5 info there, this site comes up quite a bit. So this link might help:

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=site:www.mazdas247.com&btnG=Search&meta=

EDIT: In the search box where is says "site:www.mazdas247.com", leave a space and type in your query.

ragingxtc · Sep 26, 2008

thanks for the advice, islandp5. i'll have to give that a try next time i have to do some research.

seriously, no input from the mods yet?

KronixKid22 · Sep 29, 2008

Been bothering me all this month. Never had problems before, but seems like it has gotten worse for some reason.

Ryoga28 · Oct 5, 2008

I liked the old search function better. Can't seem find anything anymore. Can someone please fix this problem? This has made the forum almost useless.

eszoom · Oct 12, 2008

Ryoga28 said:
I liked the old search function better. Can't seem find anything anymore. Can someone please fix this problem? This has made the forum almost useless.

hey, i'm with you. when i first came in the search was my friend, now ???? it looks like it's gotten too big w/useless threads, maybe because of 1 word hiding the real deal info. rod

Ryoga28 · Oct 12, 2008

Took me a ton of time to go through 20 pages when I searched for tuftburn's 5th gear upgrade.

ragingxtc · Oct 13, 2008

i pm'ed the mods of the website help & feedback forum, but no response as of yet. :-/

katsmp3 · Oct 22, 2008

I'm really sorry that I didn't see this thread.. the same thing has bugged me for ever.. and i spend a lot of time researching search engines... so it makes me extra nuts.

HERE's the fix. use the google. format your search string like this,

site:www.mazdas247.com "part number"

katsmp3 · Oct 22, 2008

also.. the best way to get a part number is to message Ken (Captain KVM)

ragingxtc · Oct 23, 2008

katsmp3 said:
I'm really sorry that I didn't see this thread.. the same thing has bugged me for ever.. and i spend a lot of time researching search engines... so it makes me extra nuts.

HERE's the fix. use the google. format your search string like this,

site:www.mazdas247.com "part number"

yea, that does help, but is there anything that can be done to fix it internally? again, i can't imagine how frustrating it has to be for the new guys that haven't figured out how to get around this problem.

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