Search issue

[FanMan]

A couple of times I've had a problem with a search. I was looking for specific information related to Garmin POIs, but when I try to search the forum for "POI", I get:

One or all of your search keywords were below 4 characters or you searched for words which are not allowed, such as 'html', 'img', etc, please go back and increase the length of these search keywords or choose different keywords.

Now, I could search for "point of interest", but most people just call them POI's.

 

I can understand some reasons for restricting searching for short words, but I think 3 characters or more would be a better choice than 4.

 

For that matter, including "img" as a prohibited word also seems silly, as Garmin .img files are related to common issues that people have with their GPS receivers.

[+Allanon]

If I'm not mistaken, that's a restriction imposed by the forum software...not by Groundspeak.

 

If you would like, I can give you links for a few other forums also using IPB that you can check out.

[+IBcrashen]

use google - advance search and just search Groundspeak.com domain.

[+Lil Devil]

Considering the search mechanism on these forums is the cause of 90% of the slowdowns, I'm surprised they haven't just disabled it entirely.

 

I often find the results are better if I use Google to do the search. Add "site:forums.Groundspeak.com" to the search to limit it to these forums. Be aware, however, that Google has not indexed the entire forums, but they do seem to have a major chunk of it.

 

You can also use the search box at the bottom-left of this page.

[+pppingme]

Actually, your both right, and wrong.

 

The minimum size for searches is set at its default, but IS able to be easily changed by the board admins.

 

As far as searches slowing down the forums, although that can be true, if it is a problem here its also something that can easily be changed. A time limit can be enforced between searches (say 60 or 90 seconds are usually good settings for a medium sized board).