thats it i've had it with the vjf search function-->Poll<--

[Ollie]

Seriously it would be cool if somthing could be done about the vjf search function, its so lame!!

tried searching for "broken v4" but can't cause v4 is under 3 characters and so im not alowed to search for it.

tried adding a wildcard, dont work either. thats just unhelpful really. not being able to search v4 on a vj forum sucks :(

thankfully google as usual was there to save the day :D
for the people who think adding a google seach bar would be pointless becuase it wont always have the most upto date inforamtion, who cares if its not from the last 2days, there are years and years worth of usefull inforamtion on this site, and people need to be able to acess it quickly and easily.

probably save noobs a lot of time, and save us a lot of time explaining the same old things becuase the vjc/vjf search function is so damn difficult!!

all in favour of a google assited search funtion, to complement the one we already have say I!!!

[asterix]

Alright the current ones not brilliant - but some minor optimisation should do the trick. I don't think google searchbars are site specific andwill lead you to external links (so you might as well be using google). Whereas an internal search engine feeds directly off the forums database.
Again it just comes down to another thing to add to the updated site list.

[Ollie]

you can have a tick box with the google ones as to weather you want to search this specific site or the whole interweb.

[trotskythecat]

I'm sure you can have a site-specific google searchbar.

In the meantime, try "site:vjforums.com v4" (without the quotes) as a search. This will return only items that exist within the vjforums.com domain.

[VJFranzK]

And perhaps an extra search box beside the "post new thread" button? ;)

[sleepytom]

try it now

[unjulation]

nope sorry still comeing back with same reply after -broken v4- serch

[sleepytom]

look at the bottom of the search page

[holly]

Originally posted by trotskythecat
try "site:vjforums.com v4" (without the quotes) as a search. This will return only items that exist within the vjforums.com domain. :lick:

[Ollie]

wicked, you da man tom :)

what a nice speedy reaction :D

[sleepytom]

yeah well some additions and mods are easy - others are not!

unfortunatly its not allways clear to the users which will be a simple addition and what will require days of programing and then testing for stability and security.

in this case its easy to add a google search and it clearly improves the fuctionality (i too have been pissed off that i can't search for V4 - however the alternative solution of allowing two letter searching would make everything run very slowly due to the stupidly large database table that would be created) a google search is a sencible and simple solution - thanks for the suggestion.

[akira_k]

Making the search index work with 2 characters means a HUGE increase on its filesize and a severe hit on the performance and stability of the vBulletin system. That's why it's limited to a minimum of 3 words.

But now you got google ;D

[elbows]

Nice one Sleepytom :) And yes @ the technical reasons why 2 character words in search index would drag down performance, hell even 3 characters takes its toll because of the number of short 3 letter words like the and and.

[3YE]

simple solutions to real world problems. more of the same please

and then the Deja VU kicked in:

familiar? (http://www.vjforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=8177)

of course now we're advertising for Google, why not go the whole hog, bite the bullet and fund ourselves with text ads and actually get paid for the advertising were doing? or are we going to fanny about on that for a year or two as well?

(sorry, still in full tetchiness mode)

M@

[sleepytom]

BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T GOT A FUCKING BANK ACCOUNT

:grrr: :grrr: :grrr:

why doesn't anyone ever offer to help with this stuff - suggesting ways for elbows / me / rova / whoever to do more work for no pay / thanks is really starting to piss me off.

i've provided my best thoughts and potential solutitions to the current situation and nobody has offered to help actaully do anything: read the relevent threads and work out how you can help and then offer to do it.

instead you simply turn up saying "i told you to do this a year ago" when actually you didn't - reread that thread you didn't provide any reason why the standard seach was inadiquate or any real reason as to why you wanted a google search.

i'm fed up with this crap:sad:

[Ollie]

yeah 3ye i knew there was a thread about this, but you know what, when i punched google in to the search engine i got no results, hows that!

that thread is also a year old and ended in a draw, so who cares, this is 16 months later and google won, so what ya bitchin about? :D

tom pm'd you

[3YE]

...Must not post on a monday morning. Sorry guys :o

yeah 3ye i knew there was a thread about this, but you know what, when i punched google in to the search engine i got no results, hows that!

weird, i got four pages of results and narrowed it down to 18, including the appropriate one, by searching for 'google 3ye'. sure you spelt it right? :p :poke:

@ SleepyTom:

I KNOW WE HAVEN'T GOT A BANK ACCOUNT, BUT FOR NOW CAN'T THE CASH GO INTO WHICHEVER BANK ACCOUNT IS PAYING FOR VJC/VJF AT THE MOMENT AND THEN WE JUST SWITCH IT OVER WHEN WE DO GET AN ACCOUNT? (sorry, sticky caps-lock, how about yours? ;) )

you didn't provide any reason why the standard seach was inadiquate

Sorry tom, perhaps it was because i put

'Advantages would be:...'

I was thinking positively at the time and rather than bitching about what wasn't working i was trying to make pro-active suggestions about improving the forum and attempting to foresee and deal with upcoming problems. I was also looking at other successful models around at the time (and which are still around) and trying to learn from them.

I belive in looking at ways to *reduce* the workload, to make it as automatic and efficient as possible. In the case of my suggestions regarding Google/AdSense the intention is to tackle costs by providing income, and reduce workload on the server (and therefore those that maintain it) by cutting searches, and the questions caused by the vB search being inadequate, out of the equation

I've read the relevent threads and tried to work out how I can help and then offer to do it. i've provided my best thoughts and potential solutions to the current situation and occasionally some of it's happened, and a lot of it's been rejected, often for good reasons that made sense once we'd discussed them and we all had the same information. wether i thought it was right or wrong at the time is irrelevant anyway because i think it's important to respect group decisions above personal feeling otherwise the whole thing falls apart.

However, (and this goes generally, and isn't directed at anybody) I feel that there's actually a more serious problem of too many people going 'fuck it i've had it...' and that attitude getting a response, when people who try and say 'what if we...' and 'how can i help?' get a lukewarm reception most (but not all, admittedly) of the time.

perhaps some people think some of my suggestions have been for comedic effect, too off the wall, or just plain silly, but the intention is that even if they are total rubbish they might inspire someone closer to the situation to come up with a better idea. evolution is all about trying all the options to see what works.

Even reading all the threads it can be hard to get an idea of what needs sorting out. if you've got the responsibility and power then learn to delegate. I've offered what time, money, and expertise i've got already whenever i thought it was needed or would be useful, as well as my whole hearted thanks and respect which should almost go without saying. I'm also open to suggestion, so again, i'm there if you think there's even a slim chance i can help, i'm sorry if you had any other impression, so share the load or suffer in silence.

And finally, sorry for a tetchy post, i really meant:

simple solutions to real world problems, Thanks guys :)

and i really mean it.

M@