madifying an advanced search

[thirdcrank]

There are several long-running threads which make searching for older stuff difficult. I'm hoping that there may be an obvious way that I've missed of excluding those threads from a search. I've played about with restricting a search by sub-forums but there doesn't seem to be a way of excluding, say, the Tea Shop and searching everything else. I'm too idle to search the separate boards individually.

[Mick F]

I think this is an excellent idea, though I suspect that the software doesn't work like that.
The only way, I suspect, is to search each individual message board one at a time.

[Graham]

Does the individual board search actually work ??

If it does, the phpbb developers must have fixed sometime in the last seven years. A glimmer of hope after all.

[barrym]

May not help, but you can use google to search just one site. Something like site:forum.CTC.org.uk any query.

Then you could get clever with the includes, excludes etc.

HTH
Barry

[thirdcrank]

Does the individual board search actually work ??

If it does, the phpbb developers must have fixed sometime in the last seven years. A glimmer of hope after all.

I've not tried it. It looks as though it may be possible to search a group of boards together eg everything above the Tea Shop, but again, I've not tried it.

There was a time when I could usually find what I was looking for with a bit of careful search-term selection combined with an idea of who the author was (often me ) Unfortunately, I now find that my enthusiasm is waning if it comes to ploughing through several pages of hits for the same irrelevant thread. The way these cumulative threads work is that once a word has been used, it's repeated in every post until it drops off.

I was hoping that some whizz kid would leap in with a patronising post saying that this or that combination of keystrokes would do it easily and why hadn't I consulted my grandchildren.

... Then you could get clever with the includes, excludes etc ...

I'm not remotely clever. I'd appreciate a blow-by-blow account of what I should type to search the forum for <search term> avoiding <name of irrelevant thread>

[barrym]

... Then you could get clever with the includes, excludes etc ...

I'm not remotely clever. I'd appreciate a blow-by-blow account of what I should type to search the forum for <search term> avoiding <name of irrelevant thread>

Try these in the google search box:

bicycle

Not what you want. Every webpage in the world containing bicycle.

site:forum.CTC.org.uk bicycle

Better, everything containing bicycle but just the forums.

site:forum.CTC.org.uk bicycle "f=15"

Now ever post in the Tea Room containing bicycle.

site:forum.CTC.org.uk bicycle -"f=15"

Finally, in all forums EXCEPT Tea Room.

NB The f=15 can be seen from the URL when browsing. You can combine multiple exclusions too. There's a huge amount of help on this subject. EG http://www.googleguide.com/minus_operator.html

[thirdcrank]

Thanks for that. Something to while away the long evenings, when the clocks go back..............

[Mick F]

Yes, thanks from me as well!

[barrym]

You are both very welcome. Nice to be in a position to help, considering the balance the other way with all the questions I've asked here.

Barry

[barrym]

By coincidence this has just popped up.

Gizmag: 10 useful Google Search functions you may not know about. http://www.gizmag.com/google-search-functions/34382/

Last one is essential. Dunno how I've managed without it!

Must have been a quiet time in the labs. Seems to be a chrome PC only function.

[Vorpal]

Does the individual board search actually work ??

If it does, the phpbb developers must have fixed sometime in the last seven years. A glimmer of hope after all.

I think it works. It does seem to occasionally search everywhere at random, but most of the time, it just searches the board and any subs.

So a search on the campaigns board will also turn up matches from the h* ghetto.

[Penfolds11]

Last one is essential. Dunno how I've managed without it!
Must have been a quiet time in the labs. Seems to be a chrome PC only function.

So I had to try it - how blinkin' cool is that!

Not sure about your last sentence; unless I've misunderstood, y'all be keen to know it worked on Opera 25.0 for Mac.

I'm going to do it again.

[thirdcrank]

I've been meaning to mention the unintentional spelling error in the thread title: probably a Freudian error because I'd been finding this was making me mad. I meant to write "modifying."

[barrym]

. . . . . Well what I meant was it didn't work on android.

[Graham]

?? Edit the title of the first post ?? . . . . . . . . is there a problem ?

I've been meaning to mention the unintentional spelling error in the thread title: probably a Freudian error because I'd been finding this was making me mad. I meant to write "modifying."