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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by KellyM on June 28, 2002, at 13:27:18
I don't know if this has been brought up before, but has there been any consideration in updating the particular forum software used in Psycho-Babble? I must say in particular that the search function is fairly poor, even with using the advanced options. In my experience, the results are way too general- it takes consideral time to "narrow down" a particular message you have read in the past. Am I in the the minority on feeling this way?
Posted by IsoM on June 28, 2002, at 15:32:28
In reply to New Forum Design, posted by KellyM on June 28, 2002, at 13:27:18
I agree that the search feature leaves much to be desired. I'd like to be able to make more specific searches using quotes or Boolean features.
Posted by James Fellows on June 28, 2002, at 17:12:14
In reply to New Forum Design, posted by KellyM on June 28, 2002, at 13:27:18
I agree. I like the forum styles similar to those found at www.dslreports.com and some other sites. But you're right- it would help if at least the search could be improved. I'm not technically knowledgeable enough to know if you would have to change everything or not, but either way I think it would be worth it.
James
Posted by katekite on June 28, 2002, at 17:27:23
In reply to Re: New Forum Design » KellyM, posted by IsoM on June 28, 2002, at 15:32:28
Posted by jane d on June 28, 2002, at 18:03:58
In reply to Re: New Forum Design, posted by James Fellows on June 28, 2002, at 17:12:14
Here are a few ways I think would make the search easier to use. I think about this every time I use the search function and then forget about it entirely until the next time. These have the advantage of not requiring any major change to the existing search - ie minimal work.
The name of the poster displayed with the hits. It would help when I'm looking for posts I've already read. It would also make it faster to go through the results when a large number of posts were found. For example after I've read the first two posts of Jane Doe's experience on XXXX drug I would often know whether her other posts were likely to be helpful.
It would also be nice if there was some way to know what thread the results came from. When I go thru search results I often read the whole thread that the hit came from - and then find the remaining search hits take me back to those same posts. At other times I get something that is clearly irrelevant and then have to waste time reading each post in the thread as it appears in the search results. Just displaying a numerical identifier such as the # of the first post in the thread would let me see if I'd already read or rejected # 5879 and I could move on to the next hit.
Jane
Posted by Dr. Bob on June 29, 2002, at 10:00:24
In reply to Re: New Forum Design » KellyM, posted by IsoM on June 28, 2002, at 15:32:28
> I'd like to be able to make more specific searches using quotes or Boolean features.
Like for example?
Bob
Posted by IsoM on June 29, 2002, at 14:21:17
In reply to Re: more specific searches, posted by Dr. Bob on June 29, 2002, at 10:00:24
It would be nice if some of the ideas that Alta Vista has with its Boolean features or the way Google uses quotes to group words together. Here's a few examples.
To find a post like your previous one, we could use:
"Dr. Bob" AND "specific searches"Or for medication related searches:
benefits AND NOT "side effects" AND "zyprexa OR neurontin" to really hone in on specific info.It's not necessary that everyone uses them - allow for simple searches too. I've found that many posters here are pretty internet savvy & it would be a sweet feature, if you can spare the time to design a search feature like this.
* (asterisk) as a wildcat would be nice too for those unable to remember the exact spelling of a medication or a more complicated name of a another user.
Posted by Dr. Bob on June 29, 2002, at 15:51:18
In reply to Re: more specific searches » Dr. Bob, posted by IsoM on June 29, 2002, at 14:21:17
> To find a post like your previous one, we could use:
> "Dr. Bob" AND "specific searches"You can do that. But (the URL of) every post will match "Dr. Bob"...
> Or for medication related searches:
> benefits AND NOT "side effects" AND "zyprexa OR neurontin"You can do the first part. But by "zyprexa OR neurontin" you probably mean (zyprexa OR neurontin), and it does *not* do parentheses, at least not yet, sorry.
> * (asterisk) as a wildcat would be nice too
You can do that. Did you by any chance ever click on "Search Help"? :-)
http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/xv/search.pl
Bob
Posted by KellyM on June 29, 2002, at 21:20:12
In reply to Re: more specific searches, posted by Dr. Bob on June 29, 2002, at 15:51:18
One thing that I have noticed especially is the inability to search names of posters and the titles of threads (mentioned by jane d). If there is, I certainly don't understand how. One answer may be to use software to download the entire psycho-babble site- provided Dr. Bob has no objections (it does not contain a huge amount of information in terms of bandwith). Such software usually contains decent search capabilities. My _WHOLE CONCERN_ is that there is such a wealth of information for everyone, and the ability to obtain it is at the very least, unclear.
Kelly
Posted by IsoM on June 30, 2002, at 0:26:11
In reply to Re: more specific searches, posted by Dr. Bob on June 29, 2002, at 15:51:18
Bob, I have used the advanced search but I haven't found it worked as well as Google. That's the part I don't understand. I've never had trouble finding very specific info on Google but I have with the search feature here. I'm confused why - I'm not ignorant of using such features.
Like Kelly mentioned, I can't find user names with the searches, but go back through the archives & instead use the "Edit" >> "Find (on this page)" features on IE menu bar to find user names.
Posted by Dr. Bob on June 30, 2002, at 13:35:23
In reply to Re: more specific searches » Dr. Bob, posted by IsoM on June 30, 2002, at 0:26:11
> One thing that I have noticed especially is the inability to search names of posters
I know, that's something I've wanted to add for a long time.
> and the titles of threads (mentioned by jane d).
>
> KellyShe didn't mention that, but it's already there...
----
> I have used the advanced search but I haven't found it worked as well as Google. That's the part I don't understand. I've never had trouble finding very specific info on Google but I have with the search feature here. I'm confused why - I'm not ignorant of using such features.
>
> IsoMIs it not being able to use parentheses? You can just use Google to search a specific site, you know. Its database might not be completely up to date, but then again neither is this site's...
Bob
Posted by KellyM on June 30, 2002, at 21:08:19
In reply to Re: more specific searches, posted by Dr. Bob on June 30, 2002, at 13:35:23
and the titles of threads (mentioned by jane d).
>
> Kelly"She didn't mention that, but it's already there..."
She only mentioned posters names...the second half of the statement is indeed my own. Sorry for the implication.
Kelly
Posted by Dr. Bob on July 1, 2002, at 9:28:36
In reply to Search Function Ideas, posted by jane d on June 28, 2002, at 18:03:58
> Here are a few ways I think would make the search easier to use... These have the advantage of not requiring any major change to the existing search - ie minimal work.
>
> The name of the poster displayed with the hits...
>
> It would also be nice if there was some way to know what thread the results came from...It might have been minimal if that information were extracted after each search, but it's cleaner -- and lets you use them as search criteria, which, as I said, is something I've been wanting to do for a long time:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20010315/msgs/1011.html
-- just to build it in, so I buckled down and did it. So now you can search for, for example:
thread:101605 not name:beer
Let me know if there are any bugs in it, it would be great to be able to delete something from my to-do list! :-)
Bob
Posted by jane d on July 1, 2002, at 11:08:48
In reply to Re: Search Function Ideas, posted by Dr. Bob on July 1, 2002, at 9:28:36
Posted by IsoM on July 1, 2002, at 13:56:02
In reply to Re: Search Function Ideas, posted by Dr. Bob on July 1, 2002, at 9:28:36
This is the end of the thread.
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