Posted 7 years ago #
At the right top of the forum, there is a search field. Usually, before posting a new topic in this forum, I search for entry with same topics. At the past, the search worked perfectly. I can grab almost every entry which has same topics by filling up keywords.
But now it seems that the search function is using Google. Why should we use Google? Is it better?
I like the old function better. It showed the age of the last reply.
I like the old search better too :(
Posted 7 years ago #
Add me to that list. If only we could choose wether to have our search processed by Google or by WP.org...
Search Forum Now Using Google. Why?
Because far too many people were complaining that the original forum search engine was "horrible".
Posted 7 years ago #
Well, it was. :-) But the Google method isn't much better, perhaps worse.
Probably not the place to mention it but email notification of replies to topics we start or post to, as most other forums do, would be fantastic!!
( I don't know the history of this forum style so I apologise if I am stepping on someone's toes. PHPBB is just so much better.)
Posted 7 years ago #
having a non Google search would help keep down the same questions being asked over and over
I've had to give up searching and just ask which I hate doing. It appears that the Google search being used is the Adsense setup.
Posted 7 years ago #
"having a non Google search would help keep down the same questions being asked over and over"
We had a non-Google search, and no it didn't.
Posted 7 years ago #
well I say that, it should if it was used correctly. Myself I'd much rather search first before asking
Posted 7 years ago #
The biggest difference that I see between the two, is that the google search goes further back into the forum than the previous search did. Which, can be a bad thing, 'cause if someone just installed 1.5.1.1, and did a search, they could be reading a thread relating to 1.2, and not realize it. I've found myself reading threads, only to realize that exact fact, and the info in the thread is obsolete. Not a big issue, but could be confusing to a new user.
Posted 7 years ago #
well I guess whatever they do they're screwd. when the original search was made available the complaints were:
it doesn't give enough search results
it doesn't search very well
I can never find what I'm looking for
I did search, but I don't think it's working properly
I don't like the way it searches, why can't it be like this
So then they were told to use google in addition to the search, but the complaints were always the same in addition to:
Can someone teach me how to use the google search, because I don't like the WP search facility
Google gives better results why isn't that included?
So here we are, and it's now using google, it's actually better in that gives more results - something users wanted. If the USER is more specific about their search, the search will be better, and although it doesn't have the WP layout, it's still searching WP
They just can't win I guess :)
Posted 7 years ago #
Well both internal-search and google-search have its own pluses and minuses. Is it possible to provide two search engine for the forum where users can choose which one suits their needs.
Who agrees to my idea?
Posted 7 years ago #
Having the both options would surely be the best solution as long as didn't cause server overloads.
Posted 7 years ago #
I guess due to popular demand it will happen, but at the same time, I'm also waiting for someone to ask for the results to be combined so they don't have to use both :)
Posted 7 years ago #
Hey - let's combine them so we don't have to use both ! :)
FWIW:
- Searching. Either people do, or they do not. And if they do not then no matter how good the results, they just won't do it. As a %, I would say we see around 10% of questions here asked that cannot be answered with a search.
- Engines. The results are going to be the same bar the User list. You can fairly easily see how old a post is in a google result by looking at the post number.
And as a google-hater, I vote we use Yahoo ! :p
My problem with the current one is that it shows the WHOLE WordPress world, not just the forums. Id liek to see an option to include/exclude the rest of the WP universe.
The current one just seems to include alot of largely irrelevent pages and I find myself mentaly scanning and removing non forum results.
Oh, and any chance of a post preview?
Just add site:wordpress.org/support to the query.
I guess popular demand is for the old WordPress search.
So admins, why not bring it back?
Err, is it? I rather like the Google search - it returns results in a format I find more useful.
Posted 7 years ago #
Hmm.....18 posts doesn't equal popular demand, and unhappy people are always more vocal than happy ones.
I'm sure Matt has seen this thread and I'm sure he will be giving it due attention, bearing in mind that he also has a ton of other work to do. Searching does still work, albeit in a diferent manner so it ain't broke.
This Google search, which also returns results from the Codex, should be more useful for new WordPress users trying to figure out what's going wrong with their blog, or what they can add to it. That is, of course, considering that they search before posting.
Posted 7 years ago #
If we are going to use Google, we could have radio buttons for the aforementioned WP Support search and Codex, alongside the 'Search WordPress.org' button.
Since Google searches older posts, perhaps we should encourage use of a 'completed' tag or some formatting (coloring the thread title's background - like active plugins' green) for topics that have been deemed to be useful in finding a solution by the original poster (or all questions answered). Similar to expertsexchange, etc.
Deemed useful by whom? The community? Or the moderators? Admittedly, in a small (relatively) community like this, it doesn't matter overmuch. But the community does like to have it's say ;)
I propose this (partially because it could be useful, partially just for fun): ratings should be added to each thread, and the community decides whether the thread is helpful or useful or not. The search engine (whatever it may be) should then take those ratings into account, returning them above other date-ordered results. We could call it ThreadRank :)
My personal opinion, not that anyone should care... I also preferred the old search, even though it was far from perfect. The main problem I have with the google search is that it doesn't include the most recent posts. Someone asked a question that had already been posed the same or previous day, so I did a search to locate it and direct the new poster, but it doesn't come up in the search yet.
Posted 7 years ago #
You can still use the built-in search for bbPress through http://wordpress.org/support/search/
The Google search was deemed useful by the many threads and the many members demanding it. Those members aren't speaking up in defense of their choice, because as Podz said, "unhappy people are always more vocal than happy ones." The community does like to have a say, and the community did have a say in this matter. The majority of the members voiced their opinions for something other than the former search system, and a majority of those members wanted to use Google. You cannot please all of the people all of the time. Choices have to be made.
Posted 7 years ago #
bambam4479 - I can't be the only one kicking myself for not remembering that. Nice find :)
Well, why wasn't the original search function tuned up a bit? I liked having all the different options available after making a search, but not having any kind of paging functionality limited it's usefullness and was my only complaint against it.
Well, why wasn't the original search function tuned up a bit?
Because the majority of the members against the former search system wanted to use Google instead. Those who were happy with the former search function and those who only wanted the search function slightly modified failed to speak up. As Podz said, "unhappy people are always more vocal than happy ones."
The quote is pretty true, but I must've missed the voting. The first I knew the search function was going to be changed was the last time I used it - which is, incidentally, the last time I used it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Google doesn't refresh these pages very often, right? So a Google search is fine (great, in fact) for searching sites with content that doesn't change often (Apache's HTTPD documentation, for example). But for searching a forum, recent posts don't show up, do they? If that's the case, what good is it?
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