Search restriction override.

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06-04-2009, 01:31 PM
commiecat

Search restriction override.

Is there a way to have the search function override the invalid search terms by using quotes or something? I'm kinda new and I've found it a bit frustrating to look up some relevant terms -- most of them are invalid because they're too short. Some examples:

Just about any acronym. I know about the acronym page now but like most people I had to be directed to the page by a senior member.

Specifically, I've been recently trying to search words like; pre, oil, red, imp, DMT.

I wanted to look up olive oil as a pre shave, information about Red Imps, and I just purchased some DMT hones as my first set. I found each search to be quite difficult because the key terms were all discarded. If I could use "olive oil" (with quotes) for the exact phrase it'd really help. Thanks for any info or clarification!
06-04-2009, 01:39 PM
hoglahoo

you might try a google search

something like

Quote:

pre oil red imp site:straightrazorplace.com

might be helpful

Like you though I would still like to see the VB search improved for greater in-house functionality
06-04-2009, 01:50 PM
commiecat

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

you might try a google search

something like

might be helpful

Like you though I would still like to see the VB search improved for greater in-house functionality

Yeah, that's how I wound up finding the oil stuff. But instead of searching "DMT hone" in a specific forum on SRP, you'd have to go to Google and then do "DMT hone" site:straightrazorplace.com/forums/ to exclude classified ads.

I'm content to do it that way but, if it's possible to do on SRP and agreed upon, I think it'd be helpful. Most people don't know the various Google search options.
06-04-2009, 02:15 PM
BeBerlin

There are some easier ways than manual search mentioned in here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...ful-stuff.html.
06-04-2009, 02:31 PM
commiecat

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

There are some easier ways than manual search mentioned in here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/gener...ful-stuff.html.

Just reminded me that IRC was another term I tried searching for to hop onto the restoration chat a few weeks back. I first read it on Lynn's thread so I searched the forums -- searching the Wiki for "chat" brought up the IRC server info that I was looking for.

I'll stick with Google's site: option for now. Most of the time I can find what I need with SRP's search -- just seems that recently everything I've been looking for has been too short of a term.

The "use the search button first!" response has been pounded into my head so it's usually the first place I go for answers. :) Thanks for that link, too!
06-04-2009, 02:34 PM
hoglahoo

Where did you find a link to the wiki (just out of curiosity)?
06-04-2009, 02:45 PM
commiecat

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Where did you find a link to the wiki (just out of curiosity)?

I did the normal forum search for "IRC chat" and that didn't help me, so I went to the wiki and looked up "chat".

Forum search brought up a billion threads containing the word "chat" but the wiki brings up "Using the SRP Chat" page first.

I think it was shortly before the wiki facelift. I received a bunch of auction razors on May 18th and was joining the May 19th restoration chat.
06-04-2009, 03:00 PM
hoglahoo

Quote:

Originally Posted by commiecat

I did the normal forum search for "IRC chat" and that didn't help me, so I went to the wiki...

Right - but how did you find the wiki? The chat link is next to the wiki link in the forum titlebar. Or did you come across the wiki a different way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by commiecat

I received a bunch of auction razors on May 18th and was joining the May 19th restoration chat.

:rock:
06-04-2009, 03:09 PM
commiecat

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Right - but how did you find the wiki? The chat link is next to the wiki link in the forum titlebar. Or did you come across the wiki a different way?

Ahh, now I understand. I clicked the Wiki button along the top. The Chat button loads Java chat -- I have an IRC client and I was looking for the server/channel information because I didn't want to do the Java chat.
06-04-2009, 03:20 PM
hoglahoo

Quote:

Originally Posted by commiecat

Ahh, now I understand. I clicked the Wiki button along the top. The Chat button loads Java chat -- I have an IRC client and I was looking for the server/channel information because I didn't want to do the Java chat.

Ah, I wondered if that was the case. I wonder if we could turn the chat link into a dropdown menu including links to "Join Java chat now", "Chat info for #srp on IRC", "How to get into chat using a standalone client", etc
06-04-2009, 03:24 PM
Slartibartfast

I created a search plugin adn just use the search box in firefox.
06-04-2009, 03:51 PM
commiecat

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

Ah, I wondered if that was the case. I wonder if we could turn the chat link into a dropdown menu including links to "Join Java chat now", "Chat info for #srp on IRC", "How to get into chat using a standalone client", etc

Maybe, but I'd expect to be in the minority of people who would rather set up a client than just load the Java chat. The wiki article is pretty in-depth about connecting, it just took me a minute to find it.

As an I.T. person I've found this to be one of the few forums I frequent where the majority of the members aren't PC gamers/programmers/hardware nerds. That might be my problem. Even if you did set up the search so that you could do "olive oil" +pre to find threads about olive oil pre-shave, I'm not sure if many people would use it. :)
06-04-2009, 09:11 PM
BeBerlin

Quote:

Originally Posted by commiecat

As an I.T. person I've found this to be one of the few forums I frequent where the majority of the members aren't PC gamers/programmers/hardware nerds. That might be my problem. Even if you did set up the search so that you could do "olive oil" +pre to find threads about olive oil pre-shave, I'm not sure if many people would use it. :)

Not really. Bit of a shame, though.
06-05-2009, 06:21 AM
Bruno

I -am- a software developer and computer geek. It's been a while since I played a computer game though. Maybe the new wolfenstein when it is released... With a wife and kids, martial arts classes and restoration projects, I don't exactly have much time left.

Anywho... the internet is one of the things that happens to other people imo :D
Web programming has always failed to excite me, and I literally have no clue about RSS, Chat, and other doodahs. I didn;t even know we -had- RSS until Robin told me. :shrug:

The fact that I can program and debug complex realtime multithreaded multi machine systems does not mean I know how to rip a DVD, use RSS or program my VCR. :)
06-05-2009, 06:51 AM
VeeDubb65

There is a REALLY easy way to override the 4 letter minimum for search terms.

All you have to do is add an asterisk to the end of the word.

See for your self. Searching for oil returns an error that your search term is either too common or too short. Searching for oil* works just fine.

The only downside is that the search engine treats * as a wildcard, so searching for oil, will return anything that starts with "oil" such as oily, oiled, oils, oilmybutt, etc.

Of course, that's not usually a problem.
06-05-2009, 02:44 PM
commiecat

Ha! I know there are some I.T. people on here -- that's evident by the design and moderation of SRP itself. :)