# Search Function



## YamahaRick (Oct 9, 2002)

It pulls up threads from ten years ago - not the thread I needed from a year ago. Even with me entering a "newer than" date.

I know some work was performed to help the search function. Is it still a work in progress?


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

More details please...

What exactly did you search for? What parameters did you set? What results did you get back vs. what you expected?

This is the first we had heard of this.

Thanks


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

Can you please provide a sample of what you are putting in so we can take a look?


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## YamahaRick (Oct 9, 2002)

Hmmm - it appears I did not go back far enough, as the thread I was looking for was from April 2015.

I can say simple searches was easier on the old system. When I just type in a keyword, the results are older threads, not recent ones (the immediate results that pop up).


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

YamahaRick said:


> Hmmm - it appears I did not go back far enough, as the thread I was looking for was from April 2015.
> 
> I can say simple searches was easier on the old system. When I just type in a keyword, the results are older threads, not recent ones (the immediate results that pop up).


If you want recent threads/posts, switch your search from relevance to most recent.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

YamahaRick said:


> I can say simple searches was easier on the old system.


vBulletin's search, by and large, was terrible. Xenforo's actually works, with much more accuracy and finer filtering/sorting.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

I actually understand what he is talking about. 

Example: If I simply go to the search box (while viewing Happy Hour) and type in "NFL" and then check "Search Titles Only" and "Search This Forum Only" I get a bunch of results. Lots of threads with "NFL" in the title. The issue is that I have to go way down the list to find what I want. The first two are threads that have NO REPLIES and were started over a year ago.
That just seems weird to me.


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## Ruth (Jul 31, 2001)

Are we ever going to see search functionality returned to the archives? They are pretty much useless without it.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

jsmeeker said:


> I actually understand what he is talking about.
> 
> Example: If I simply go to the search box (while viewing Happy Hour) and type in "NFL" and then check "Search Titles Only" and "Search This Forum Only" I get a bunch of results. Lots of threads with "NFL" in the title. The issue is that I have to go way down the list to find what I want. The first two are threads that have NO REPLIES and were started over a year ago.
> That just seems weird to me.


The default for the "quick search" is by "relevance."

Click on "More..." which gives you an "Advanced Search" window. And then instruct it to sort your search results by "Most Recent."










I do agree though, perhaps it'd be nice if the quick search UI defaulted to "Most Recent" instead.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

That's the thing. How does it determine "relevance" ?? A thread from over a year ago with no posts is more relevant than one that has thousands of them, including very recent posts?

And what is "most recent"? Most recently started or most recently posted to? It can be a big difference.


I'm really trying to get good results without having to go into the "advanced" tabs. I DO like that from the quick search, you can specify "titles only". That's nice. But then you still have the issues I described.


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

Ruth said:


> Are we ever going to see search functionality returned to the archives? They are pretty much useless without it.


Archives are going to be deleted as they can not be imported and they are a large security hack risk based on the old software.


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

jsmeeker said:


> That's the thing. How does it determine "relevance" ?? A thread from over a year ago with no posts is more relevant than one that has thousands of them, including very recent posts?
> 
> And what is "most recent"? Most recently started or most recently posted to? It can be a big difference.
> 
> I'm really trying to get good results without having to go into the "advanced" tabs. I DO like that from the quick search, you can specify "titles only". That's nice. But then you still have the issues I described.


From what I have been told, it learns over time what is searched for and clicked on more. Not sure how correct that is...but the search is what it is at this point even having paid over $125 for the enhanced version that uses something called Elasticsearch.


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

David Bott said:


> From what I have been told, it learns over time what is searched for and clicked on more. Not sure how correct that is...but the search is what it is at this point even having paid over $125 for the enhanced version that uses something called Elasticsearch.


Interesting. Thanks for the added insights, David.


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## Ruth (Jul 31, 2001)

David Bott said:


> Archives are going to be deleted as they can not be imported and they are a large security hack risk based on the old software.


 I'll be sad to see all that forum history disappear.


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

If I search this thread for the word current, I ONLY get one result...your post above. I'm not sure how you're getting other threads.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

Ruth said:


> I'll be sad to see all that forum history disappear.


Me too.


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

David Bott said:


> Archives are going to be deleted as they can not be imported and they are a large security hack risk based on the old software.


What? Noooooo!!! The data hoarder in me is panicking and getting jittery. Is there ANY possible way to keep this stuff? Possibly another import format? Anything?!

There is just SO much history there...


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## jsmeeker (Apr 2, 2001)

all those posts I worked so hard on.. 

GONE!!


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

I has asked a few coders that with on MySQL and have been told it would not be easy to do if it could be done at all. The issue is the code running it is so old it is a risk to have it running even though I have it locked down as far as I can. Also when I update the server itself to more current versions of say PHP there is a good chance the old software will not run at all and I have to upgrade the server side of things.

When was the last time , and what for, did you go into the archive for?


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

She's a self described data hoarder - your logic has no power, David.


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

David Bott said:


> When was the last time , and what for, did you go into the archive for?


I only went in there when someone complained that something didn't work but even that was years ago.


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## spartanstew (Feb 24, 2002)

I went to the archives a couple of weeks ago looking for an old post I made with a popcorn recipe. I usually go there every few months looking for something.


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

Is there a way to change the default to be "recent"? The current default is pretty bad, in my experience.


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## Fofer (Oct 29, 2000)

^ agreed


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

Test it out now...


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

It's too bad about the archives, but totally understandable. I never go there and can appreciate the security risk.


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

Mike Lang said:


> Test it out now...


Awesome! Works great.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

So maybe I'm misunderstanding how it is supposed to work, but I'm still having a tough time with the search using either the recent or the relevant settings. For example, if I want to bump the Official Android thread I used to be able to just search for "android" in thread titles and the thread that had been most recently posted to would be on top. Now searching for that phrase seems to give me a ton of threads that were created more recently but haven't been posted to more recently. If I add official android that helps, as there are only 9 results...but still the most recently posted to thread is at the bottom of the list.

Separately, is there an easier way to click the "search thread titles" box? When I type a search term the suggestions are over the top of the box, so I have to click out of the box, wait for them to disappear, click the box, then click back in the search field and hit enter.


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

It's going to search by thread creation date, not latest post date like vBulletin did so you have to adjust. A title keyword search for android filtered by most replies puts your thread at the top.

And click the thread titles box first if that's what you need for quick search.


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## DancnDude (Feb 7, 2001)

I understand about the archives going away though it really does suck. It's too bad that data can't just be imported into the new xenforo and eliminate the need for archives at all since presumably the new software could handle more data thrown at it than the old ones could.

My wife and I are watching Arrested Development for the first time and I discovered that the show was old enough that the original discussions were in the archives so I found them and read along.


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## Ruth (Jul 31, 2001)

I would use the archives pretty consistently if the search were usable, and have done so in the past. The TV talk forum is one big reason, just as DancnDude describes. There's also just a lot of personal history there.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

Mike Lang said:


> It's going to search by thread creation date, not latest post date like vBulletin did so you have to adjust. A title keyword search for android filtered by most replies puts your thread at the top.


I'm not seeing a way to filter by the most replies. Is this after you search, or in the advanced search? In advanced search I see I can filter for a minimum number of replies, but not most...



> And click the thread titles box first if that's what you need for quick search.


Thanks. I swear I'd tried that before and the box would get deselected again once I started typing something in the search...but it's working now.


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

dylanemcgregor said:


> I'm not seeing a way to filter by the most replies. Is this after you search, or in the advanced search? In advanced search I see I can filter for a minimum number of replies, but not most...


Advanced search...be sure you're on the threads & posts tab.


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## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

Mike Lang said:


> Advanced search...be sure you're on the threads & posts tab.


Got it. Thanks!


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

Regarding Archives....Would love to be able to do that....But I am not a MySQL expert and the cost to have custom work done to even see if it could be done would likely be prohibitive. You also have a risk when you mess with the data structure with old database formats vs new formats with counters etc. Could it be done...I am sure...but at what cost? Sorry, but looking at the data for the archives, they are really not used much to justify the costs. (Right now, looking at both....No one in the past hour.)


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## Ruth (Jul 31, 2001)

I don't think looking at current archive usage levels is a fair test, since without being able to search, they aren't usable at all. And search has been broken for so long that I don't think most users even try anymore. That said, I totally understand that it may not be worth the forum resources to figure out how to import all of it. I just think it's a terrible shame to lose all of that data and history. Is there a middle ground? Could it just be preserved in the current form, but with the search function fixed?


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## David Bott (Jan 1, 1999)

The issue is the old code and thus the risk of hacks. It is VERY old code and thus a high risk.


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## Queue (Apr 7, 2009)

I just ran into this issue and have a post in HH kind of discussing it.

There isn't a way to sort search results by most recent reply? Only thread creation date? That really...blows.


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## Mike Lang (Nov 17, 1999)

Advanced search - Threads & Posts tab - keyword search with newer than filter does pretty well.


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## Ozzie72 (Aug 9, 2008)

David, at the risk of opening Pandora's box...is there a way to get an estimate of how much the work to "modernize" the archives would cost? I'm wondering if, given a fairly reasonable cost ("fairly reasonable" to be defined by others at their own risk), it might be worth considering a crowdsourcing campaign to fund the work. I'm basing this solely on the anecdotal evidence of new TCF Club memberships driven by members giving back in appreciation for the forum software upgrade. A Kickstarter to save the TCF archives wouldn't by any stretch be the weirdest campaign ever to be created.


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