Problems with the forums search function?

[Jonathan Busby]

I don't know if it's just my system or my browser, but when I use the search function in the forums with *more than one search term* , I get *no* results. But, if I use eg. "site:hpmuseum.org [insert search text here]" in google, I *do* get results.

Does anyone know what the problem might be?

Regards,

Jonathan

[rprosperi]

(08-02-2020 07:20 PM)Jonathan Busby Wrote:  I don't know if it's just my system or my browser, but when I use the search function in the forums with *more than one search term* , I get *no* results. But, if I use eg. "site:hpmuseum.org [insert search text here]" in google, I *do* get results.

Does anyone know what the problem might be?

Unscientific answer: The search tool here sucks. Though I would LOVE if someone could answer this question, as it has never worked well enough that I don't bail almost immediately and switch to google.

Does anyone else here use other Forums, also built on MyBB, that experience 'normal' search results? Maybe it's just a some kind of configuration/settings issue?

[Dave Hicks]

Try adding logical operators:

test and problem and Hewlett -> ~50 results

test or problem or Hewlett -> many hundreds of results

test problem Hewlett -> No results (but maybe 1 result after I post this)

(The myBB documentation doesn't seem to mention any of this – it's just something I tried.)

[Dave Hicks]

Yes - that last one now gets one result, as expected.

[rprosperi]

Ok, thanks Dave! It suddenly sucks less!

I have tried things like this in the past:

"spice & plastic & broken" => no results

but,

"spice and plastic and broken" => WORKS!

On searches that will fail, you can tell the search is not actually conducted at all, as the (lack of) results come back instantly, rather than the expected and normal pause that takes place as the search is conducted.

I'm glad to hear you say the docs don't mention this, as I've searched, more than once, for some hint, but found none. Though plenty of other folks have asked this too, so it seems to be fairly well hidden.

Thanks Dave!

[Jonathan Busby]

(08-03-2020 02:57 PM)Dave Hicks Wrote:  Try adding logical operators:

test and problem and Hewlett -> ~50 results

test or problem or Hewlett -> many hundreds of results

test problem Hewlett -> No results (but maybe 1 result after I post this)

(The myBB documentation doesn't seem to mention any of this – it's just something I tried.)

(08-03-2020 02:59 PM)Dave Hicks Wrote:  Yes - that last one now gets one result, as expected.

Thanks for the tip!

It works now Even parenthetical boolean sub-expressions work

Regards,

Jonathan