Improving VAF's Search Features?

Noah · #1 04-20-2008, 09:31 PM

Anybody else have trouble with VAF's search feature? If I search for "Engine Paint" I come up with 414 different threads, most of which do not contain anything about engine paint. Yes, all of these 414 threads contain both of these keywords, but this is not useful to me at all. I am not interested in posts that say something to the effect of "That's a light engine." and in the next paragraph, "I like the red paint you used on the gear".

If I use quotes, it makes no difference, the search engine does not recognize quotation marks as Google and other search engines do. If I use the advanced search feature, I can find nothing which will help me to search using these keywords in a proximal or sequential relationship.

So, two suggestions:
1. Allow the use of quotation marks in searches to ONLY pick out those threads or posts with all terms in quotation marks occurring exactly as listed.

2. Revise advanced search algorithm to allow use of boolean search terms "AND", "OR", "NOT" and, most importantly, "NEAR" - this is incredibly useful.

I think if people could search the existing forums more efficiently, they would not have to start new threads asking questions which have already been answered by others in the past but whose answers are difficult or impossible to locate.

How difficult would it be to implement these?

ccrawford · #2 04-20-2008, 09:39 PM

I agree the search engine could use some love.

I usually end up using google, and searching like this:

site:http://www.vansairforce.com/community/ "engine paint"

Greg Arehart · #3 04-20-2008, 10:45 PM

I agree, it would save a bunch of time/energy to have more complex search features. Plus, would give Doug something to do instead of making me jealous of his getting to fly his RV most every day....

greg

PCHunt · #4 04-20-2008, 11:25 PM

And I thought my search troubles were because I'm computer notso-literate. I even got "chastised" once for not searching, when I had tried.

Simple search function for Simple Folks like me, please!!

DeltaRomeo · #5 04-21-2008, 04:53 AM

Assuming you're using the 'advanced' search page. It's the search app that comes with the software, and I haven't tweaked it. I'll do a little research and see if there are some tweaks possible. That Google tip is pretty wicked...

b,
d

DeltaRomeo · #6 04-21-2008, 05:34 AM

Got signed up for Google custom search and have the code now. I have it up running on a test page at http://www.vansairforce.net/searchtest.htm

I'll get the search box added to the front page of the site shortly.

b,
dr

Noah · #7 04-21-2008, 05:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccrawford

I agree the search engine could use some love.

I usually end up using google, and searching like this:

site:http://www.vansairforce.com/community/ "engine paint"

This is a great tip. Unfortunately, when I try it, I only come up with one instance of "purge valve" via the google interface. If I search within VAF's search engine, it finds many more instances of these keywords together...

ccrawford · #8 04-21-2008, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noah

This is a great tip. Unfortunately, when I try it, I only come up with one instance of "purge valve" via the google interface. If I search within VAF's search engine, it finds many more instances of these keywords together...

Interesting, I get 66:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...purge+valve%22

DeltaRomeo · #9 04-21-2008, 06:26 PM

It matters (in a google search) whether you put the words in quotes or not.

engine mount returns a different record set than "engine mount"

That might have something to do with it.

b,
d

Noah · #10 04-21-2008, 07:14 PM

Alta Vista used to have a great search engine, but they changed the algorithms several years ago. You could search with the terms "purge near valve" and as long as those two keywords were within 10 or 20 words of each other in a post, it would return a hit. I loved that. When Google came along, it was "better" (as I understand it) because it "rated" web pages based on how many times other pages linked to them. Not sure if that's the way it still works. I sure loved boolean search engines, but they seem to have gone the way of the dodo - not even google works with boolean search terms:

"purge valve" and "injected" and NOT "carburetor"... Man was that useful!