Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

[Samuel J.]

I am trying to look for threads where the L72 engine in mentioned. However, when I type "L72" into either the little "search forum" box or on the "Advanced Search" page, I get zero results. The same thing happens if I type "427/425" or even "427" for that matter. It doesn't happen when I enter 7-digit part numbers so perhaps the Discussion Board search engine doesn't recognize short terms for some reason?

Yes, the "Google Custom Search" box located at the top-right part of the Forum page does at least return some results with those aforementioned search terms, but I'm pretty sure they're not complete, and the formatting is odd.

Can anything be done to fix this problem? Thanks!

Sam

[Rick A.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

have you submitted a HELP DESK ticket to completely describe what your problem is? For instance, what type of computer, O/S, etc. would be helpful for the HELP DESK to ensure they answer your question.

[Samuel J.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

No, but that's a good idea, thanks!

[Samuel J.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

I took your advice and submitted a Help Desk ticket.

Has anybody else experienced this problem? Try searching L72 or 427 or even L36, and let us know if you get any results.

I will post the Help Desk reply here once I hear back from them.

[Jack M.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Check the FAQ's for the Search Feature: CLICK HERE
As noted in the past, you need at least four (4) characters for the search...
Using 'Special Characters' can assist with short words.

[John W.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Jack's advise is spot on. The search engine here is indeed tricky to master but it does a great job if you learn a few of the tricks. The forum is indexing over 750,000 posts. If it didn't limit the search words to at least four characters you would get over 750,000 hits on the word "the".

[Samuel J.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Thanks guys!

427/425 is 7 characters, so that should work, but doesn't.

So, I played around a little with two "special characters" (the * and the %), and here is a summary:

L72 - no results
L-72 - no results
L72% - no results

L-72* - 6 threads
*L-72* - 6 threads

L72* - 11 threads
*L72* - 11 threads

427/425 - no results
427/425% - no results
427/425* - 497 threads
*427/425* - 497 threads

Bottom line: add the * for better results!

[Jack M.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Thanks guys!

427/425 is 7 characters, so that should work, but doesn't.

I'm glad you were able to locate many threads by adding the * to short words/letter searches.
I'd recommend to avoid using the slash (/)... as it is often a special character within HTML coding itself.
I'm not certain, but the "/" may be seen by the search engine as a 'space'... essentially dropping the character.
As an example, just using 425* yielded very similar results as you received by testing 427/425* (497 threads).

[Samuel J.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Thanks Jack--I will take your advice and avoid the / symbol.

So, just for kicks and grins, I tried the 425* search, and today got only 478 results, down from yesterday's 497. Very odd.

[Jack M.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Weird... I just tried 425* and the search engine returned "Results 1 to 25 of 497" for me.
Maybe some of the threads were on coffee break during your search... crazy union rules.

[Samuel J.]

Re: Flawed Discussion Board Search functionality?

Haha! Well, whatever glitch that was appears to have been only temporary as it's back to 497 total results for my 425* search too.