Forum search kinda blows
by Orion Elenzil · in Site Feedback · 07/21/2006 (8:41 am) · 60 replies
Sorry for the harsh subject, but there's a ton of really valuable information in the forums which is really difficult to find because search is so hit-or-miss.
here's an example,
an article posted a month and a half ago to the TGE Private Forums. (sorry, non-sdk owners)
the article is titled "How to skip transmitting datablocks altogether", and has both the words "transmitting" and "datablocks" in the body.
so if you search for "transmitting datablocks" by just typing in the two words (without quotes) into the little yellow "search" field at the upper right, you get a page with a few hits, none of which are the page in question. even if you click the "show all results" link, it's still not found.
it's hard to imagine a better-conditioned target page.
variations:
- adding plusses seems to have no effect
- adding quotes reduces the results to two, neither of which are the target.
so i'm not sure what the deal is.
is google just not scraping the forums well enough ?
does google not have a license to the TGE private forums ?
is google scraping with an extremely low frequency ?
are post subjects included as a searchable field ?
is this just forums, or is there similar spotty-ness with TDN, resources, blogs, etc ?
here's an example,
an article posted a month and a half ago to the TGE Private Forums. (sorry, non-sdk owners)
the article is titled "How to skip transmitting datablocks altogether", and has both the words "transmitting" and "datablocks" in the body.
so if you search for "transmitting datablocks" by just typing in the two words (without quotes) into the little yellow "search" field at the upper right, you get a page with a few hits, none of which are the page in question. even if you click the "show all results" link, it's still not found.
it's hard to imagine a better-conditioned target page.
variations:
- adding plusses seems to have no effect
- adding quotes reduces the results to two, neither of which are the target.
so i'm not sure what the deal is.
is google just not scraping the forums well enough ?
does google not have a license to the TGE private forums ?
is google scraping with an extremely low frequency ?
are post subjects included as a searchable field ?
is this just forums, or is there similar spotty-ness with TDN, resources, blogs, etc ?
About the author
#42
07/01/2008 (2:04 pm)
Howdy gg folks -Quote:Currently implemented with the redesign, which should go live "soon", are a spider search for the site, and a separate search for the forums.it's been a bit over three months since that was posted, any estimate for "soon" yet ?
#45
08/25/2008 (11:57 am)
Quote:Currently implemented with the redesign, which should go live "soon", are a spider search for the site, and a separate search for the forums.it's been another two months, any news ?
#46
08/25/2008 (1:37 pm)
Still not sure when the new site will go live. Hopefully even sooner than soon was before.
#47
09/26/2008 (2:32 pm)
The continued inability to search the GG forums w/ any degree of utility continues to be frustrating on a regular basis. 
#49
12/07/2008 (8:41 am)
Looking for an update, and possibly a Christmas present. :)
#50
Its time for a update
12/07/2008 (2:56 pm)
Yep I agree figuring this topic is about 2 years old.Its time for a update
#51
Time is relative. Sometimes too much so.
12/07/2008 (4:16 pm)
Some people have a strange idea of the meaning for "soon". I think that word gets thrown out there far too many times just to appease the "current" question but hardly anything ever gets addressed in a timely manner. Time is relative. Sometimes too much so.
#52
12/08/2008 (2:10 am)
Yeah, forum search blew and still does. Sometimes I remember phrases and sentences from the topic but still can't find it by searching. Manually "looking" trough your own search history or others to find it usually does the job, but that can take hours. Only ever do that when I really need to find the topic again.
#53
Then one day I noticed, under one of the first hits, a subtle little link something like this:
And there were tons more hits under that link, and one of those hits was the one I was looking for.
The forum search seems to divide the results up in categories according to forum names, which is weird if you're used to regular Google searching. Maybe GG has to do this to keep subscriber-only hit results segregated from the rest? Maybe that's why the bulk of the useful results end up under that "More results" link?
Maybe they could make that "More results" link more prominent?
12/08/2008 (1:06 pm)
@Stefan: I seem to remember having the same problem, where I would know I was searching for an exact phrase or combination of words that I was sure should do the job, and still a search would turn up empty. Then one day I noticed, under one of the first hits, a subtle little link something like this:
Quote:More results from www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php
And there were tons more hits under that link, and one of those hits was the one I was looking for.
The forum search seems to divide the results up in categories according to forum names, which is weird if you're used to regular Google searching. Maybe GG has to do this to keep subscriber-only hit results segregated from the rest? Maybe that's why the bulk of the useful results end up under that "More results" link?
Maybe they could make that "More results" link more prominent?
#54
12/08/2008 (1:50 pm)
All I can say is that we all know it sucks, and that it is actively being worked on. I feel your pain though.. believe me, we want this fixed!! 
#55
12/10/2008 (3:55 pm)
My eyes have actually developed stigmata from trying to use the search function... 
#56
12/10/2008 (3:59 pm)
@Ted - astigmatism not stigmata. Believe me, astigmatism is way better to have than stigmata. 
#58
However, bleeding eyes is not a mark of stigmata...
12/10/2008 (4:36 pm)
Thank you for posting the disturbing image Orion...However, bleeding eyes is not a mark of stigmata...
#59
12/10/2008 (4:38 pm)
It is however a mark of trying to use the forum :D
#60
No no, I did mean stigmata... Just like the pic Orion posted... ;)
12/11/2008 (12:33 am)
Quote:@Ted - astigmatism not stigmata.
No no, I did mean stigmata... Just like the pic Orion posted... ;)
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