Forum Seach - Advanced Properties

Deleted • 13 July 2014 at 12:41 AM

So when I search a term/keyword in the Forum search tool, it is thorough, but inefficient because the search literally brings up any and all posts or threads with that term anywhere in the body or title. The result is that you end up with pages upon pages of threads and posts all with the keyword that you searched for. For example, search for nym, and you end up with over 20 pages of results, which are probably 90% not of what you were hoping to find, and it takes you forever to rifle through them.

I suggest adding an additional search feature to the forum search, which would allow users to filter out certain posts.

For example, this advanced forum search could possibly enable users to filter by:
Date*
User
Forum Category**
Thread vs. Post
Keyword vs. Title

*would be particularly useful for filtering out extremely outdated threads
**To only search within certain places like for instance 'roleplay'

And other features which I haven't thought of yet.

In a practical theoretical example, say I was wanting to find the travel SOB for sale. I would want to search for a thread that contained the phrase 'SOB', but instead of getting results from 2012, I could say, only search for threads within the last two weeks, and then I would get much fewer, and more applicable topics.

I don't know how intensive this would be to implement, coding wise, but I feel it would greatly benefit the use of the forum search. 😊

#NIRVANA - personal hash

mastergemma • 13 July 2014 at 12:55 AM

@darthvader Support
I was just looking to see if I could make a new club a few hours ago and I was bombarded with threads with the key words from 2011.

2011!!!!

Even when I write something that I know would only be a few it pops up with a lot that doesn't make sense

Deleted • 13 July 2014 at 1:06 AM

@mastergemma

EXACTLY! It's really bothersome sometimes. haha.
Thanks for supporting!

whitefire • 13 July 2014 at 2:01 AM

@DarthVader
I agree wholeheartedly. One thing you might want to add though, is a filter for the particular categories? I like to roleplay a lot, but I only like specific topics, like foxes. So I searched for keyword Foxes a short while ago and I got all sorts of results from different forum categories, like General Discussion ("I think there are too many creatures that resemble foxes...") and Creature Suggestions ("This creature is based off of Fennec foxes!"). So perhaps a filter so only results from certain forums? And perhaps you could use multiple filters for one search, too, so you can search for (just an example) keyword Foxes in Thread from Roleplay within the last two months? Like you said, that may be too hard to implement with coding, though. If not, then let's give them a challenge anyway and add in an "and/or" option so you can search for Foxes in Thread and Title from Roleplay or Chit-Chat within the last two months! XD

Deleted • 13 July 2014 at 2:05 AM

@whitefire
I actually looked into this before I posted, just to make sure, and technically this is already available. (I think!)

So, if you just to the main forums page, and search from there, yes you will get a ton of results from ALL the forum categories.

However, if you go into a category, say roleplay, and use the search box there, it should only bring up results from that category.

So in essence this category filter that you are talking about does actually exist already. 😊

But, I do agree with the multiple filters thing for sure, though it probably would be complex. It would be like those intense library archive/catalog searches with like Boolean phrases and such, that you can do.

😃

newlife • 13 July 2014 at 2:31 AM

@darthvader
Support! I tried to look up some things
And got very..
very old topics...
And ones that I didn't even really need
+1

whitefire • 13 July 2014 at 10:59 AM

@DarthVader
Nope, doesn't work. I searched for Foxes from the search bar in the roleplay category and my post from here showed up. So that filter needs to be added too. ^^

Deleted • 13 July 2014 at 11:00 AM

@whitefire Alright! good to know!

*added the suggestion to the original post.

fakeworld • 13 July 2014 at 4:41 PM

@darthvader You have my support, I believe this is something we desperately need!

Deleted • 16 July 2014 at 1:28 AM

@fakeworld Thanks for the support! Much appreciated!