Search

[shaz-rla]

Just a quicky, would it be possible to have a "search" at the top of the page before you ask a question (not the bit after you type it and it asks if you still want to post it after looking through various other threads) you might want to post a question on a specific subject that had actually been on a few pages earlier in the topic and when you do people point out that it has already been answered!!  Hope this makes sense?

[jno]

erm, you see that little panel over on the left-hand side headed 'Category Search'? Well...

[shaz-rla]

How thick am I jno.... definately a blonde moment...however gave it a wee shot after you pointed it out but cant seem to get it right???? eg. if I want to know something like "crying baby" it doesn't appear to bring anything up or lists the wrong things, maybe I am just too picky and want something like ask Jeeves type of thing where you put in key words and it brings up all answers ....  or am I just using it wrongly like the dumb blonde that I am ?????

[Robinia]

I know what you mean shaz-rla we've discussed the Category Search many times - the thing is it never tells you which category it's searching in!!! (I sometimes think it's gone to search on another site!) It's not always much help - in fact we decided it must be a male 'cos most of the time it never finds anything!

[gen2]

I have found the category search next to useless as well.  I cannot fathom how it makes its matches when sometimes the search term(s) do not appear in either the title or text of the question and not in any of the answers either.

Take your example shaz-rla, even in the correct (parenting) section, it throws up posts about vasectomy that do not mention crying or baby.  Maybe you were better of not knowing about it.

So I endorse your original request, but slightly reworded thus:

"Would it be possible to have a search facility THAT WORKS on the category pages."

[AB Editor]

Ha ha! funny Robinia - funny, coz its true.

Thank you for the input, we are aware that the search facility could be improved. On the Heavies list of things to do, as such. In the meantime, as jno mentions, try to use the most unique terms when doing a "Category Search" when you click on a Category or "Site Search" when on the homepage.

AB ED

[jno]

the art of British understatement:

# the sea 'could be drier'

# the search facility 'could be improved'

[Xollob]

jno, re: "could be improved".
The Asterisk Monster was on good form yesterday (see QM's post on another thread). Perhaps we should start trying to outwit him with scatalogical euphemisms such as "Paris Hilton could be improved", or "England used to be a pile of potential improvement, but are playing really well against Australia this summer".

[gen2]

The Asterisk Monster was also active yesterday on this post .  It didn't like the word two followed by the word guys.  I don't think putting asterisks into a qu. improves it any.  However, one forum I use, previously censored words like assistant and assignment but they managed to fix that, so why can't AB get their monster tamed?