How to do searches

This area contains links to posts within the forum area on various topics. It's designed to help you find the answers to the most common questions about AJS and Matchless machines.
Only club members can create entries witin this area.
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Eamonn
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How to do searches

Post by Eamonn »

If the topic that you are interested in is not shown in the index entries within this forum area, you will need to run your own search.

This process will scan through all the postings on the website looking for one or more words that you specify. Access to the search screen is gained by the menu option under the 'Forum' heading at the top of the page (click here to go to the search).

When you get to the search page enter the word or words you are looking for. If possible try to decide on one word that is very specific to the topic you are searching, for example searching on 'piston' will find hundreds of entries whereas searching for 'hepolite' returns less than 12 entries. There is a balance though - if you use something very specific it is possible you will not find a match at all, so use a word that is very specific first and if you don't find what you want try a more general word for a second search. You can repeat this process getting more and more general until you find what you are looking for.

Try to use 3 or less words in your string - the more words you combine together the longer the search will take. However combining words will often give you a better match on your search topic.
When using multiple words, there are three additional options that can affect how your search is carried out - these are:

- Match exact Phrase
- Search for all words
- Match any of the words

If you use the three words 'wire wound piston' as an example, the search is carried out in the following different ways:

- Match exact Phrase
The postings are searched for the phrase "wire wound piston", i.e. the three words must exist in the text one after another with a single space inbetween

- Search for all words
The postings are searched for any entry that contains all three words but in any sequence and anywhere within the post

- Match any of the words
The postings are searched for any posting that contains at least one of the three words anywhere within the text. This is the same as doing three separate searches - one for each word in the example.


There are no fixed rules for searching, just experiment and you'll gradually get a feeling for thd type of word that you need to search on to get good results.

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smcjampot
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Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:52 pm
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Re: How to do searches

Post by smcjampot »

I think the site has been updated since the "How to search" was posted, or I just cannot see the search option. There is a "Public Forums" menu, but no search drop-down. Where should I look please? I am trying to find if there are any tips on fitting an immobiliser or other anti-theft device to a 1955 G80 Matchless which has no ignition key.
smcjampot
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Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:52 pm
Location: Woking, Surrey

Re: How to do searches

Post by smcjampot »

Found it myself by looking harder!
For other newbies: Click on the Public Forum menu and select any of the forums in the drop-down. The search option then appears as Eamonn described.
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Samuel
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Re: How to do searches

Post by Samuel »

Search is via Magnifying Glass ikon in toolbar at top of screen.
I just tried advanced search for +cp +gearbox hoping to find just entries for CP Gearboxes but results seem to list all gearbox entries irrespective of whether they refer to CP ?
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Eamonn
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Re: How to do searches

Post by Eamonn »

When you do a search for "+cp +gearbox" note that at the top of the page of results there's a little message "Ignored: cp"

This means that the search string "cp" was ignored hence you get all entries with the word "gearbox". I think it's because the search system only works on search criteria of 3 or more characters. I can see this makes it difficult to find the "CP gearbox"....
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