Forum Search option disabled

[dlcw]

I just tried to do a search on the forum and it said the search option has been disabled.

Anyone know what's going on?

Don

[Gary Campbell]

Use the Google search
Gary

[coach]

from the forum front page there is a link to the google search

[myxpykalix]

try this:
http://www.talkshopbot.com/

[bleeth]

I wonder if the "last day" and "last week" tools can be enabled independantly of the general search and not overload the server?

[zeykr]

I think this will perform a last day search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=qdr:d&q=site:talkshopbot.co m&start=0&sa=N

and this a last week:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=qdr:w&q=site:talkshopbot.co m&start=0&sa=N

But would sure prefer to use the last day that's part of the forum. hope it returns soon.

[cnc_works]

Didn't work for me, Ken, thanks for the try though.

I will certain second and third for at least the feature of checking for unread messages. Now it takes three times as long to keep up with the forum.

[zeykr]

My problem with it is it links to start of a thread that has a new post in it so you have to scroll to bottom - not quite as good as the forums last day search.

[wayne_walker]

Donn and Ken,

I agree, it takes forever to look at all of the new posts. I generally take 10 or 15 minutes every night to look at the forum. It was easy to see all of the new listings quick and easy.

Don't get me wrong, this forum is still the best!

Thanks,

Wayne

[rcnewcomb]

Ken, thanks for those links.

It would be great if the forum admin could drop those links in the "Last Day" and "Last Week" hyperlinks. (hint)

[Forum Admin]

Links are now up in announcement area of main topic page. All 3 search only the Talk ShopBot Forum. Thanks Ken and Google. If you haven't experimented with the green and blue arrows in the left column above the poster's name, try them for navigation inside a thread.

[rcnewcomb]

Very cool. Thanks!

[scottbot]

What the heck?
Is this new link supposed to be better?
I liked the old 'Last Day' link.
It was much easier to see what the post was about.
Not so much now.

[knight_toolworks]

come on shopbot buy a better computer or feed the hamster more. this is a key to their success they need to make sure it is working right.

[paco]

It'll be far less convenient to check the new post(s), hence less interesting to browse Talk ShopBot forum... sadly. Oh well!...

[beacon14]

My favorite link - a list of all posts made since I last checked - gone!!

That's a big step backwards, I'm sorry to say.

[larry_r]

"If it's not broke, don't fix it" Well it is broke now.

Larry

[harold_weber]

Come on, ShopBOT, you've had the "Last Day" search for many years, now its suddenly too difficult for you?

Gerald Dorrington's MECHMATE forum has the "Last Day" search feature - - are you unable to keep pace with his one-man operation??????

[adrianm]

I expect there's a fair bit of difference in traffic between the sites.

I used to run several forums for various companies and the search facility was always a huge drain on server resources once the forum reached a certain size.

Some popular forum software even blocks out the users completely from the site while someone is performing a search!

More and more forums are moving over to the Google search option as the load increases.

Plus there are a lot of companies out there that don't have user forums at all.

[navigator7]

There are two realities in life:
Concrete cracks and websites get hacked.

I believe a forum is a lifeblood for happy customers.
The good outweighs the bad.
Marketing ....Yada yada yada.
Word of mouth? Priceless.
Corn Flakes may not have a user forum....but lets not go there.

I too have several forums. There are those who like black and white, there are those who color inside the lines and there are those with no social responsibility at either end...just like babies and politicians.
A forum can be a handful for somebody who takes things at face value.

The only search feature that truly works for me is Google.
I've never seen a search function within a website that works as fast or as good as Google.

Just add +Shopbot to your query.

Crud...now I'll get a Google alert of this post!

[cnc_works]

OK, Chuck, I bow down to the google god from time to time. And I just read another article about google desktop, so I'm going to try it.

That being said, the feature I miss the most is the ability to hit the forum and only peruse messages that I haven't read before. How do you configure google search to yield just those results? And preferably in thread order. A success here and I'll be bowing down to the Chuck god...or at least kissing his ring.

Donn

[harold_weber]

Hey Chuck, help me with Google search.

When I just clicked the link provided by ShopBot to look for posts made in the last 24 hours, this thread did not show up, and looking through all the threads it did pull up, it said the latest post made to any of them was made 8 hours ago. If you get different results, you must NOT be using the "last day" link that ShopBot is advocating, so can you share your method with us??

[adrianm]

Personally I've never used the "posts made in the last 24 hours" search.

Whenever I come onto the forum there's always a little "New" icon next to any boards/threads that have been updated since my last visit.

Only takes a few seconds to click on each one and see if it's interesting.

[khaos]

As Ken sez above.
Posts in the last 24Hrs click here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=1&tbs=qdr:d&q=site:talkshopbot.co m&start=0&sa=N

The treeview in the old search was way cooler though....

[navigator7]

Donn, Harold and Adrian,
Maybe I'm not having the same frustrations as you because I have the forum direct e-mail me when there is a new post!
It's slick.
On my end, everything is working fine.



8942


Go into your edit profile and snoop around until you find something like the above.

My suggestion applies to you especially, Donn.

@ Harold,
I use Google to keep me abreast of anything posted on the www that contains the word Shopbot.
I've had three requests from members here for precisely this method ... so here goes:

1. In your search browser, type: Shopbot
2. Click enter
3. You will see a search page. At the very top is this:


8943


4. Move your cursor over "more" and choose the option "Even More".


8944


5. Click Alerts...your first option on the upper left.


8945


6. You will get a text box like this:


8946


7. Type in Shopbot. Don't type in "shop" or "bot" or Google will happily fill your inbox with a billion emails. Add your e-mail addy. Create the alert.

8. Google will then send you an email asking to confirm you sent the request.

9. If you are getting overwhelmed with e-mails you can modify or delete your request by following the directions at the bottom of the e-mail Google sends you. One character makes a huge difference!
Enjoy.

You can do this repeatedly on many different topics...I thoroughly enjoy the service because it keeps me up to the minute on stuff I'm interested in.

Chuck

[cnc_works]

Chuck, thanks for the pointer. Not quite the same as the SB search for latest, but it has its own set of advantages anyway.

Donn

[adrianm]

Chuck, I'm not having any frustations with any of it, it all works perfectly for me as it has done since I started using the site.

[dmidkiff]

Mine also has the "new" icon next to the updated topics.

[dana_swift]

I got tired of google searches, they are nowhere as useful as the old method. So being the sort of person I am.. I wrote a program to go get the last days updates and present me with a list I can double click on.


TalkShopBot recent post reviewer
TalkShopbotLastDay.zip (http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/messages/312/TalkShopbotLastDay-51196.zip) (11.2 k)

It seems to do what I want it do to, if you find it useful, consider it "beerware", that is next time you see me a ShopBot event, buy me a beer!

Other than that it is without fee, warranty, or support.

It should be pretty obvious how to use it, select how recent you want the posts to be that get included and click "search". Wait a few seconds and go look at what it found.

Hope people other than myself find this useful, and more like the forum last day feature.

Now back to cutting-

D

[myxpykalix]

dana.talk about slick...thats neat! thanks

[bleeth]

Nice clean search engine Dana; Reminds me of how they used to work before they started overfilling the borders, etc. with advertising!!
Simply a question from a non-programmer: Is there a way to fiddle it so if IE is already open it it goes there instead of opening a new tab each time?

Dave

[Towersonline]

Dana, Thats fantastic, great work. If you ever get to Maine not only will you get beer but a lobster dinner to go with it!

I would suggest you send this to Nancy the Admin. of the forum. It should be used as a replacement of their search function.

Bill Thorpe

[khaos]

Dave,
The last option that says current tab or window is how to do what you want. I prefer a new tab but ....

8947

[benchmench]

Thank you Dana, great Beerware!

[dana_swift]

Thanks everybody. Glad it is of use.

Bill- I will take you up on the lobster.. never been to Maine, but that might put it on the agenda someday!

Joe- This forum is showing its greatness. I put out a beerware app, and its already getting free support from its users. That makes me proud!

Thanks again.

D

[bleeth]

Thanks Joe. That keeps my tabs cleaner but still allows the rest of the settings to work like I prefer (clicking on a link in a window opens a new window.)

[khaos]

Glad I could bring something of value to the table, Dave.

[jb_chu]

Dana, Thanks for providing your straightforward, adroit post reviewer download. It brings back the essential need of a quick review without exhausting our time and patience to see the latest information. It warrants a new thread which I will start so others can find it easily. Superb program, thanks again.
Jb