Do we really need a forum search?

kmason · 2010-10-03 15:01:57

I did some looking through a few posts just now, and it was brought up that FluxBB's search function is quite inefficient, and its easier to just use google's site search. So, why not bring the load off of the server from searches altogether, and disable the search function? It also seems like a very KISS way to go too.

anonymous_user · 2010-10-03 17:09:54

Personally I find the forum search to have one particular advantage: it can sort by last post date

jdd · 2010-10-03 17:20:23

Personally, I'd leave it on unless the load from searches is actually becoming a problem. I assume there's a caching layer in place, but I don't know.

kmason · 2010-10-03 18:27:27

anonymous_user wrote:

Personally I find the forum search to have one particular advantage: it can sort by last post date

Yes, but google can limit results by date range, and it does show the dates of the last post on the search listings.

Though, one thing I noticed about google, is that it includes signatures in the searches too, which could get annoying.

cesura · 2010-10-03 18:29:26

Meh, I personally never use the forum search. It always seems to give me the exact opposite of what I am actually looking for.

lifeafter2am · 2010-10-03 18:29:28

It is rare that I don't find what I need when using the forum search. Its all about knowing what keywords to search for, and being diligent. Plus, many of the "newbies" aren't going to use google site search, and then we are going to have way too many duplicate threads.

cesura · 2010-10-03 18:30:31

lifeafter2am wrote:

It is rare that I don't find what I need when using the forum search. Its all about knowing what keywords to search for, and being diligent. Plus, many of the "newbies" aren't going to use google site search, and then we are going to have way too many duplicate threads.

Couldn't you just replace the bbs search box with a Google customized search box?

lifeafter2am · 2010-10-03 19:44:23

itsbrad212 wrote:

lifeafter2am wrote:
It is rare that I don't find what I need when using the forum search. Its all about knowing what keywords to search for, and being diligent. Plus, many of the "newbies" aren't going to use google site search, and then we are going to have way too many duplicate threads.
Couldn't you just replace the bbs search box with a Google customized search box?

Beats me, could we? And could we also limit the keywords to topics only, instead of searching posts. I find that to be much more helpful than wading through 100's of posts where something in mentioned but is not the topic of conversation.

cesura · 2010-10-03 19:46:56

lifeafter2am wrote:

itsbrad212 wrote:
Couldn't you just replace the bbs search box with a Google customized search box?
Beats me, could we?

http://www.google.com/cse/

litemotiv · 2010-10-03 19:47:15

lifeafter2am wrote:

And could we also limit the keywords to topics only, instead of searching posts. I find that to be much more helpful than wading through 100's of posts where something in mentioned but is not the topic of conversation.

Try the "search in" selectbox on the search page.

lifeafter2am · 2010-10-03 19:47:40

litemotiv wrote:

lifeafter2am wrote:
And could we also limit the keywords to topics only, instead of searching posts. I find that to be much more helpful than wading through 100's of posts where something in mentioned but is not the topic of conversation.
Try the "search in" selectbox on the search page.

I meant if we used Google Search, not the built in one.

karol · 2010-10-03 19:47:48

lifeafter2am wrote:

And could we also limit the keywords to topics only, instead of searching posts. I find that to be much more helpful than wading through 100's of posts where something in mentioned but is not the topic of conversation.

You can already do it.

I think search is part of FluxBB and Arch devs / forum admins don't patch / modify upstream code.

lifeafter2am · 2010-10-03 19:50:19

karol wrote:

lifeafter2am wrote:
And could we also limit the keywords to topics only, instead of searching posts. I find that to be much more helpful than wading through 100's of posts where something in mentioned but is not the topic of conversation.
You can already do it.
I think search is part of FluxBB and Arch devs / forum admins don't patch / modify upstream code.

See above.

kazuo · 2010-10-03 20:41:56

Uhh, I'm too don't "use" search too much, as I usually only reply to topics and do create new ones so I hope that the OP searched before

But one part of the search I really use a lot (a lot lot) the "Show new posts since last visit".

Inxsible · 2010-10-04 19:08:14

itsbrad212 wrote:

lifeafter2am wrote:
It is rare that I don't find what I need when using the forum search. Its all about knowing what keywords to search for, and being diligent. Plus, many of the "newbies" aren't going to use google site search, and then we are going to have way too many duplicate threads.
Couldn't you just replace the bbs search box with a Google customized search box?

We could, but we will not. This comes from another long winded thread which basically said that there will be no customizations to FluxBB, because the devs don't want the hassle during upgrades.

bug · 2010-10-05 10:18:42

I object. I believe FluxBB search is just fine. Also, Google search for forums always tire me with the quirks I tend to get from it.

Barghest · 2010-10-05 11:15:58

I don't get it. I use the search function very often and always find what I'm looking for - saving me from creating new and unnecessary threads.

So I don't think we need another search function.

Maybe you have an example where it wasn't useful?

Last edited by Barghest (2010-10-05 11:16:16)

evot · 2010-10-05 13:24:47

I find forum search working just fine.
Almost every time i find what i'm looking for.

crouse · 2010-10-15 03:01:40

I use the forum search all the time... seem silly to actually REMOVE functionality...

Axanon · 2010-10-15 07:22:52

Someone had suggested earlier that they replace the current search with a google search box.. why not have both?

jasonwryan · 2010-10-15 07:34:34

Axanon wrote:

Someone had suggested earlier that they replace the current search with a google search box.. why not have both?

Inxisble wrote:

We could, but we will not. This comes from another long winded thread which basically said that there will be no customizations to FluxBB, because the devs don't want the hassle during upgrades.

axel668 · 2010-10-15 11:27:24

evot wrote:

I find forum search working just fine.
Almost every time i find what i'm looking for.

+1

Pierre · 2010-10-15 11:28:11

ATM I see no reason to disable the forums search; so this thread is quite pointless.

Awebb · 2010-10-15 11:40:15

itsbrad212 wrote:

Meh, I personally never use the forum search. It always seems to give me the exact opposite of what I am actually looking for.

It's the opposite for me.

I prefer the board search for different reasons:

1. I can search a specific sub-forum.
2. I can search either the thread title or the text or both.
3. No need to wait until google syncs new content.

trusktr · 2010-10-15 17:11:02

Yeah, it's just an extra feature. i guess if you don't like it just don't use it!

If you didn't know, you can search anything on the forums in google as follows "site:bbs.archlinux.org your search text here". Once you do that, google can even sort the results by date. very powerful. The forum search doesn't search usernames, or anything outside of post content.

Last edited by trusktr (2010-10-15 17:11:23)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-10-03 15:01:57

Do we really need a forum search?

#2 2010-10-03 17:09:54

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#3 2010-10-03 17:20:23

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#4 2010-10-03 18:27:27

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#5 2010-10-03 18:29:26

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#6 2010-10-03 18:29:28

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#7 2010-10-03 18:30:31

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#8 2010-10-03 19:44:23

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#9 2010-10-03 19:46:56

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#10 2010-10-03 19:47:15

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#11 2010-10-03 19:47:40

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#12 2010-10-03 19:47:48

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#13 2010-10-03 19:50:19

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#14 2010-10-03 20:41:56

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#15 2010-10-04 19:08:14

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#16 2010-10-05 10:18:42

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#17 2010-10-05 11:15:58

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#18 2010-10-05 13:24:47

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#19 2010-10-15 03:01:40

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#20 2010-10-15 07:22:52

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#21 2010-10-15 07:34:34

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#22 2010-10-15 11:27:24

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#23 2010-10-15 11:28:11

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#24 2010-10-15 11:40:15

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

#25 2010-10-15 17:11:02

Re: Do we really need a forum search?

Board footer