Searching the PCLinuxOS Forums

[ElCuervo]

It seems to me that an increasing number of people have been trying to search the forums, only to be frustrated by eventually posting a question and getting the reply, "That's been asked before - search the forums!"

Well, because of a quirk in these forums that I have seldom seen elsewhere, that's just not as easy as it sounds.If you are in the Sandbox, for instance, and you type in search words and hit enter, your results only pertain to the Sandbox; of course, the same is true for any other section.

If you want to do a global search (and really, who doesn't? ), start by clicking on Home (the one in the line HOME>HELP>SEARCH..., not the one in the Home>Support>Forum>Help... line at the very top of the page) and launch your search from there. You'll probably end up with so many results you need to trim your search!

I know this is a simple and obvious tip, but it's also obvious to me that a great many people struggle with that when they first arrive here. Hope someone finds it helpful.

[Jaws]

It seems to me that an increasing number of people have been trying to search the forums, only to be frustrated by eventually posting a question and getting the reply, "That's been asked before - search the forums!"

Well, because of a quirk in these forums that I have seldom seen elsewhere, that's just not as easy as it sounds.If you are in the Sandbox, for instance, and you type in search words and hit enter, your results only pertain to the Sandbox; of course, the same is true for any other section.

If you want to do a global search (and really, who doesn't? ), start by clicking on Home (the one in the line HOME>HELP>SEARCH..., not the one in the Home>Support>Forum>Help... line at the very top of the page) and launch your search from there. You'll probably end up with so many results you need to trim your search!

I know this is a simple and obvious tip, but it's also obvious to me that a great many people struggle with that when they first arrive here. Hope someone finds it helpful.

Agreed.

Now all we need is for people to search for your tip before doing a search so they know how to search.

BTW, I think you meant -- start by clicking on Search in the line HOME>HELP>SEARCH...

Cheers

[ElCuervo]

Well, maybe probably it's just me, but I like to start in any new forum in the Tips & Tricks department as soon as I can get there. I know what you mean, though. It's like looking in a mirror in a mirror in mirror in a mirror...

As for:

BTW, I think you meant -- start by clicking on Search in the line HOME>HELP>SEARCH...

... for me that's just an extra step, since there's already a Search bar open on that page. To each his own, though.

[Jaws]

My mistake. though you meant clicking on the search and then typing in the field. You're right though, six of one - half dozen of the other, same thing, just what you get used to.

Cheers

[Joble]

I have often used the advanced search from the menu bar to find some of my old posts, and prefer it to the search box for most situations.  BTW:  Have you searched for search? 

[daveleh]

It seems to me that an increasing number of people have been trying to search the forums, only to be frustrated by eventually posting a question and getting the reply, "That's been asked before - search the forums!"

Well, because of a quirk in these forums that I have seldom seen elsewhere, that's just not as easy as it sounds.If you are in the Sandbox, for instance, and you type in search words and hit enter, your results only pertain to the Sandbox; of course, the same is true for any other section.

If you want to do a global search (and really, who doesn't? ), start by clicking on Home (the one in the line HOME>HELP>SEARCH..., not the one in the Home>Support>Forum>Help... line at the very top of the page) and launch your search from there. You'll probably end up with so many results you need to trim your search!

I know this is a simple and obvious tip, but it's also obvious to me that a great many people struggle with that when they first arrive here. Hope someone finds it helpful.

Thanks, wasnt aware of that

Regards

[Nibiruet]

Good post ElCuervo.

I think this should be a sticky and de rigueur for all newcomers; it will lessen frustration and the need for "first search the forum" responses to posts.

Regards!

[exterm]

Going to make this a Sticky ELC  Thank you for your Time 

[travisN000]

..I just created a solution to my PCLOS search woes; Anyone that wants to use it is welcome to it:

simultaneous multiple PCLOS site search plugin for Firefox

It searches the following (including subdomains like wiki.site.com, tiny.site.com, or hack.site.com) using google:
pclinuxos.com
mypclinuxos.com
pclosbe.org
pclosmag.com
linuxgator.org

..and of course, it also comes with a PCLOS logo!

Install it from here:
http://mycroft.mozdev.org/developer/devlist.html?email=travisn000%40hotmail.com

.Post comments & suggestions here:
http://www.pclinuxos.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=58&topic=50338.0

 


UPDATE:

I also created separate search plugins for the pclinuxOS.com and pclosbe.org FORUMS that are now available at the link above (they use the build in search functions of the respective sites, not google). The pclosbe.org plugin uses the pclos icon, as the BEL galleries are down at the moment. If anyone has a suitable icon, let me know and I will update it, otherwise feel free to use, abuse and redistribute to your hearts content!