Poll: Does the Escapist Search Feature need some work?

[Grenbyron]

I have noticed that people have a lot of duplicate posting in the Forums. Most of these are variations on one word or another. This is not the fault of the poster. I would like to believe that most people are not out to just get there badges. I have noticed that there are a lot of people to make it their job to tell people when they have duplicated a posting. Not saying secret police are bad but it is kind of a form of trolling that is also not allowed according to forum rules.

So here is the opinion: Does the escapist need to upgrade their search engine? I say yes because it does not seem to look for similar words, just exact matches. This is great for a basic search but how many ways can we say "genre"?

Please note that is is not a "complain about Escapist Forum". I put this up to see if anyone else would like to see an area of our favorite site improved. If you wish then post an issue you came across so the power that code will have an idea of what you are talking about.

If you are curious, I thought of this after I found a rather rude posting by a member about how that thread had already been done and that he was unintelligent about it.

 

[Damien the Pigeon]

The search button doesn't need work. Like sv93 said, you have to search different variations. You can't just search "Poll: Is the Nintendo Wii super duper bad or wickedly stupid awesome?" You have to search for keywords and actually do your research. You can't type what I just wrote and expect it to magically say "Oh yeah, someone did that EXACT same thing, dude. Try again, sunshine!"

 

[Grenbyron]

So far more say yes than no. Course those that say yes are not posting so its hard to say. I know that you need to try different threads. The scenario I described is targeting the Lowest Common Denominator. Most gamers (for better or worse) will only run one maybe two searches. Most I agree are looking for exact phrases and not just putting in the key words they are looking for. I expect this is because MSN Search sucks if you try keyword search. I just felt that if repeat forum posting is such an issue it may need to be expanded with a Thesaurus Engine for word matching. Seeing who agrees.

 

[samsprinkle]

I don't post often, and when I do I just post it anyway, I don't care if some assmonkeys want to troll me because of it.

 

[Lord Krunk]

I'm fine with it, but I have issues with the fact that it picks the 'Latest 20 or So' matches and makes it a lot harder to find the early stuff nowadays.

I've also had issues with making threads that were made so long ago that they are nearly impossible to find; I was tipped off to them by earlier members.

 

[Grenbyron]

A complete Thesaurus Engine is for people like Google to finish. This a gamers site. We use words that would make Webster cry. I still believe the effort would be worth it though.

 

[jboking]

No, not really. After all, no amount of programming can make up for human incompetence. Also, the search feature not only searches thread names but the content of posts. It works pretty well if you ask me.

 

[Spartan Bannana]

I've been meaning to take a screenshot of the Escapist and circle the Search Button in red and have arrows pointing to it, I should do that soon.
Also, the mods know the search button here is bad, they've been told a lot!
Also, the problem with it is that it requires exact search terms and also searches text of posts instead of just the title of a thread.

 

[the monopoly guy]

I've been meaning to take a screenshot of the Escapist and circle the Search Button in red and have arrows pointing to it, I should do that soon.

For a while I was considering making it my avatar.

 

[I Stomp on Kittens]

I have never used it so i have nooooo clue

 

[Grenbyron]

I've been meaning to take a screenshot of the Escapist and circle the Search Button in red and have arrows pointing to it, I should do that soon.
Also, the mods know the search button here is bad, they've been told a lot!
Also, the problem with it is that it requires exact search terms and also searches text of posts instead of just the title of a thread.

I think just a Thesaurus Engine would work good. Looks like most think it needs patching. On that note, be nice to those that re post threads. Not everyone can find them and some really do try.

Grenbyron out

 

[Malkavian]

I'm new, so I don't have a good "feel! for the site, and indeed haven't tried out the search function here yet, but I'd like to ask:
Does it really matter?

The natural tendency on many boards seems to be to want people to refer to/read existing topics rather than start a new. While I understand that there are topics that can be tiresome to discuss all over again, it always strikes me as odd that people can get so anal about it. In essence, strict adherence to this code, that one should not post and ask a question that has been answered elsewhere already(here I am also thinking of the tendency to relpy with justfuckinggoogleit) would eventually mean the death of the forum.
Think about it. There can only be so many topics and questions, and at some point they are exhausted. While I am taking it to an extreme here, i think you see what I mean. If every topic in the past means a topic never to be discussed again, the boards die, or has a flood of threadomancy, in a way.
While it may seem pointless when the 12542nd thread on "What's your favorite tv-show" thread crops up, it is still the vigour of the forum.

as I said, I'm new, and still do not have a feeling for the "code" here, other than those written in the rules(and as a moderator of a forum with a large userbase, I know that even these are never written in concrete), so I apologize if my rant seems far off.

 

[ihatefullmetalalchemist]

it does

 

[sneak_copter]

It just needs some slight tweaks.

For the most part, it's not the search function's fault, it's people not bothering to use it.

 

[AntiAntagonist]

I have noticed that people have a lot of duplicate posting in the Forums. Most of these are variations on one word or another. This is not the fault of the poster. I would like to believe that most people are not out to just get there badges. I have noticed that there are a lot of people to make it their job to tell people when they have duplicated a posting. Not saying secret police are bad but it is kind of a form of trolling that is also not allowed according to forum rules.

So here is the opinion: Does the escapist need to upgrade their search engine? I say yes because it does not seem to look for similar words, just exact matches. This is great for a basic search but how many ways can we say "genre"?

Please note that is is not a "complain about Escapist Forum". I put this up to see if anyone else would like to see an area of our favorite site improved. If you wish then post an issue you came across so the power that code will have an idea of what you are talking about.

If you are curious, I thought of this after I found a rather rude posting by a member about how that thread had already been done and that he was unintelligent about it.

I believe there's one thing to be done: include the Search Forums function into the Search function for articles.

Many people say that they 'use the search button', but there are technically 2 things that say "search" on the screen when they are on the forums: "Search forums" and "Search"

Heck, for a while I didn't even realize that there was a difference.