Alternative means of searching GDIY

[rackmonkey]

The recent “transformer subforum” debate once again surfaced the imperfections of the “smart search” feature. It can be difficult to find even your own posts sometimes, especially with the search function’s inability to deal with single letters (I was searching for a post a couple of days ago about inductor Q that I remembered from a while back, but ran into the “search terms must contain more than a single letter” error). 

As a result, I’ve started using a domain-specific Google search more and more, with much better results. It’s pretty much becoming my go-to way of doing things (unless I forget due to being engrossed in a particular thread).

To use Google for this. simply enter your search terms followed by “site:groupdiy.com” (no quotes, no spaces). Google will then search only Groupdiy.com for your terms.

Give it a try. Would be curious to hear your experiences with it.

 

[JohnRoberts]

The recent “transformer subforum” debate once again surfaced the imperfections of the “smart search” feature. It can be difficult to find even your own posts sometimes, especially with the search function’s inability to deal with single letters (I was searching for a post a couple of days ago about inductor Q that I remembered from a while back, but ran into the “search terms must contain more than a single letter” error). 

As a result, I’ve started using a domain-specific Google search more and more, with much better results. It’s pretty much becoming my go-to way of doing things (unless I forget due to being engrossed in a particular thread).

To use Google for this. simply enter your search terms followed by “site:groupdiy.com” (no quotes, no spaces). Google will then search only Groupdiy.com for your terms.

Give it a try. Would be curious to hear your experiences with it.

Maybe you could search and find that advice here when it was first offered some time ago... (yes it helps), Web searches are a revenue stream for somebody...  not me.

JR

 

[rackmonkey]

I’m always good for some irony, if nothing else. It very well may have been me that offered it.

Still curious if people have better luck with it

Full disclosure: I do not work for Google.

 

[iomegaman]

Maybe you could search and find that advice here when it was first offered some time ago... (yes it helps), Web searches are a revenue stream for somebody...  not me.

JR

These kind of things always remind me of a Peter Gabriel interview I heard years ago where he discussed "Here comes the flood"...so we're talking 40+ years ago...in the interview he spoke about the proliferation of information, a "flood" that he dreamed about washing over humanity...in this particular interview he saw the most critical aspect for mental balance being the function of "filters"...

Personally I do not believe that "AI" (artificial intelligence that becomes self-aware) will happen for maybe a thousand years...(Reading Godel/Escher/Bach) mainly because the process of self awareness evolving from simple material is incredibly complex, that being said on some level the filters we use and demand to be used in our search engines might be a step towards a branching code that becomes some sort of "data protein" that MIGHT evolve into something self aware someday...

Until then:

"If again the GroupDIY search engines are silent, in any still alive, it'll be those who gave their google to survive...drink up dreamers you're running dry"...

 

[rackmonkey]

I’m always good for some irony, if nothing else. It very well may have been me that offered it.

In another ironic turn, in an attempt to find the previous advice on this, I tried:

“site:groupdiy.com” site:groupdiy.com

It doesn’t work.

 

[JohnRoberts]

In another ironic turn, in an attempt to find the previous advice on this, I tried:

“site:groupdiy.com” site:groupdiy.com

It doesn’t work.

go figure....  8)

JR

 

[weiss]

The minimum letter count is indeed annoying, apart from that i never had problems with that one or google search. For me the bigger issue seems to be people giving their topics unspecific names like "please help me" or whatever.

 

[volker]

I think the search works very well. You just need to know the right keywords to find what you're looking for. Something you might not have noticed: your search is made within the level of hierarchy you are in. If you are reading a topic, and search for a term, the search is conducted only within that topic. If you are within the brewery and looking at the list of threads and start a search, the search is conducted in all brewery topics. If you want to search the full site, you need to be on groupdiy.com.