Search for it

[Splinter]

Probably one of the most common posts on this forum.

Now, I dont really have much room to judge, since I've only been here a couple weeks, but I've been on other forums for years, and I'd just like to make a suggestion.

Searching doesn't work. People use different words for the same thing, people make typos, there are all kinds of reasons why searching for something will provide you with no, or useless results.

What would be really nice to see, would be people who have started some kind of mod and run it through to completion, that other people might like to do (headlight swap, sunroof repair, coffee cup) writing up a short concise blurb on how to do it, and getting it posted in the Library on the main page.

There's already a few up there, but not a lot.

The main reason I have a problem, is that people threads meander a LOT. People start off with an idea, it gets tossed back and forth, people suggest things, they try things, and eventually they get to an end result. It can be very very difficult to follow. We all take a little bit from each other, and from this site. We all give a bit. This would be giving a bit, and I'm sure it would be massively appreciated, and cut down on useless threads.

[sillyp]

funny, i just searched for a thread on talking on cell phones while driving

guess what i found - nothing, so has it come up alot?

[legacy92ej22t]

Searching can be very relavent if you do it right. At the same time it can be frustrating and hard to get through all the fluff to find the answer you're looking for.

I generaly don't give people a hard time about searching for stuff but I can understand why some do (just not the way they do it most times). When you've been on the board for years (like some of us have) and you see the exact same question asked almost weekly, it can get annoying and those that know the answer get tired of repeatedly posting the answer over and over.

[dzx]

sometimes it just takes some persistence to find what your looking for.

[LaureltheQueen]

i totally understand. When I try something out, I usually start a new thread stating my findings, and let other people discuss it futher.

[THAWA]

First I'd just like to say that you don't know how to search if you say searching doesn't work. It works fine if like others have said you know what you're doing, or if you take some time with it.

I think your idea is great though. Tell dave to get his buns in motion.

[Splinter]

I guess I just suck at searching then


Which is weird, because I never have any problem finding what I need on google.

For instance, I've had a hard time finding out exactly what the coffee cup mod is all about. Ive read about a dozen threads on it, but none of them really nail it down

[LaureltheQueen]

look in the older threads. perhaps to a search "coffee cup" "how to"

[scottzg]

Pre-emptive search stick complaining, thats a new one.

This board is dominated by about 20 people who have been on here for a long time and make most of the tech replies. That, coupled with the fact that someone at some point made a pretty solid writeup on just about everything, makes for a wierd board.

The coffee mug mod is replacing the intake resonator box with a stainless coffee mug. Try running a search in the 'intake' or 'turbo' sections.

[THAWA]

Most of the stuff that is well known usually has its technical threads as the older threads. So stuff like the coffee mug mod you'd want to look at the older threads to find out what it's all about, or just search with some keywords using the username legazee. The main difference between this engine and googles engine is that google sorts by relevance or hits or something. This sorts by post time in default.

[Legacy777]

The search feature on this board is pretty good.

Some tricks, use the * at the end of words. For example, people use legacy, legacies, and legacy's. Search for legac*

You can use the * at the beginning as well. Also, just search for key words, and use the *

[Splinter]

I just think it would be great if people could do a few writeups about their mods and get them posted on the main page.


I'll be heavily photo-documenting everything I do, and hopefully writing up most of it

[jamal]

I haven't really had any trouble searching, although I think it would be nice to be able to search multiple forums at the same time. Nice, but not really necessary.

Otherwise, I did that photo-documetation of my strut install. If someone wants to copy it for some sort of main page thing I can clean it up and go into a bit more detail on a few things.[/url]

[Legacy777]

I haven't really had any trouble searching, although I think it would be nice to be able to search multiple forums at the same time. Nice, but not really necessary.

Just search all available forums.

[Manarius]

When it comes to forum software, PHPBB is a bit more restrictive then something like vB or iB. Then again, it's the best free version there is, so you have to take the good with the bad. I do sympathize with Jamal when I put something in the search box (ie "DIY) only to come up with the thread after searching some random other thing. It could be that phpbb does not search thread topics...that is something most likely addressed in PHPBB 2.2.

Also, if you're having problems searching, try using synonyms. A lot of people on this board are from the Northwest and they use different lingo then some of us.

Oh, and if you think I'm lying...head over to http://www.cgshock.com and check how many posts I have. You'll be surprised.

::EDIT:: And even more surprising is that vrg3 has more posts then I do. What a spammer.

[tris91ricer]

Easy now, ALL of vrg3's posts are incredibly informative. See his sig for more info.