Is it just me or is the search function on this site terrible?

I have been a member here for sometime and in this time the search function has never worked properly for me. I always have problems finding older threads even if I can remember complete sentences from them. Even before I had this account when I was just a lurker the search function sucked. Am I doing something wrong? Keywords bring up threads that don't even have the word or phrase I'm looking for in them. Has anyone else here experienced this?

 

Advanced search is better. Simple search isn't great.

 

Use google for it.

 

Goto Google, type in
Site:assemblergames.com followed by what you are searching for

 

Be aware, when I use the "site:" syntax to search assemblergames.com, Google often accuses me of being a bot. I have to answer those quizzes that prove I am human. First time it freaked me out. I thought it was malware.

 

You're simply using the wrong keywords. Shift your interests towards, for example, Rez, CDi, 3DO, DS, or 3DS (note how all of these are actual names, not abbreviations), and you'll be greeted with "keyword too short/common, ignored" bs instead, for a change.
Yes, the search function seems to have some room for improvement.

 

Should i make a guide to using the search function in the site?
If I absolutely must I will.

I don't think I should have to but if it's absolutely a problem I will.

 

Everyone knows how to use it, its just not very good.

Never had this happen and I use it a lot. What do they make you answer?

 

Whenever Google thinks that I am a bot, I only had to respond to Captcha challenges.
However, that rarely occurs and it happens randomly; it doesn't only happen when I use the "site" prefix.

 

The search could not be completed because the search keywords were too short, too long, or too common.

 

You're not using a VPN or shared IP by any chance?

 

Yep, thats what I always do. So I'm just gonna say anyone who hasn't had problems, is a wizard.

 

I think everyone just stopped using the built in search years ago.

This thread repeats every few years.

 

maybe the search bar here on AG should just link to google site: search instead

 

It's funny you say that because before making this thread I used the site's search engine to find if a thread like this was made before, but I was unsuccessful.

 

As per any common search, you need to use keywords of four or more characters. If people bothered to tag their threads, it wouldn't be a problem - just go to a thread with that tag and click the tag. Nobody does that, though - so it is a problem.

Any search that allows shorter searches more than likely uses Elasticsearch. It's not great in that it puts a higher load on the server, but it would yield better search results. It'll also be a pain in the arse for someone to install, has the potential to break the server when installed, requires Java which introduces vulnerabilities to the server, and isn't free - $50 plus $10 per year.

 

I would argue that tags are a fundamentally broken idea. If you have a correctly functioning search system then they add no utility whatsoever. I seem to remember that they were only added to vBulletin in the first place because the default search was so bad. It's a pity the XenForo people didn't decide to fix it, bu maybe they thought that a working search might cause excessive cognitive dissonance to existing VBB users

This really does sound like "sledgehammer, meet nut" to me - since this site is indexed by Google anyway, it should be easy to just add a Google search widget with a site scope. Sure, it wouldn't be as good as a real high performance search tailored to the site, but it would still be better than the current one.

 

No to the VPN. As for shared IP, all my devices run on a private network. The usual NAT behind a router. Only the router has a public IP. But that's how almost everyone is setup these days.

I guess when I use the site prefix, I am always searching for similar things repeatedly and that sets off a trigger. "Saturn Bomberman easter eggs" "Saturn Bomberman hidden" "Saturn Bomberman secrets" just trying to make sure I don't create a thread exactly like one that's already here.

I guess it must be just Captcha challenges on Google. There's so many these days, I can't keep track. I just did one today where I had to select all the pictures in a set that contained pie. I've been craving pie all day.

 

And look shit? No thanks. Google search on a site just looks lazy.

Tags work very well if people bother to use them (example), as you can have a tag cloud and their purpose is not to replace a search, but to show you similar posts. They have the advantage of being able to use less than four characters, though - and filtering out irrelevant crap (if someone made a console called GO, you could have a tag... the search, on the other hand, WILL give you thousands of irrelevant results). The problem is that forum mentality. being much older, doesn't really make you stop and think you need to tag your thread... unlike blogging. I would imagine the reason for using them in vBulletin was because they were looking at CMS integration. If they'd done that well, tags would have been handy.