How to do searches
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:00 am
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.
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.