I've seen a lot of cases where people create new threads complaining that the search function on this site does not work well, and then ask a question that has been asked many times before. This generally doesn't bother me because it is the nature of the internet and forums, but it seems to really irritate others. So, maybe those who flame could also suggest this method to fellow readers.

To search within backpackinglight.com, you would include "site:backpackinglight.com" in your Google search. To get even better results, including the sub-forum name helps. For example, to search for posts about knives in the G-Spot forum, go to Google and search:
"knife g-spot site:backpackinglight.com". To manipulate the results even more, you can explore the "search tools" in the new Google sidebar. Happy searching

Edited by zackcentury on 06/16/2010 07:05:25 MDT.

It really works quite well that way. I never use the BPL search function.

"It really works quite well that way. I never use the BPL search function."

The same. It's unfortunate not everyone knows about this.

I'm bumping this thread.

I don't just believe in saving the environment but saving knowledge and not wasting peoples time;->

While this may be a viable solution I believe this line of thinking is what has created most of the issues we face today as a nation.

Instead of fixing the problem (of the site built in search working well) we create complex work arounds that require outside resources and special training to use.

Now this may sound like a gross exaggeration, but not really, if google search was so simple then even the most basic users would already be doing it.

We do this in goverment all the time... problem x arises, instead of addressing problem x, we hold hearings, we create a new controlling regulatory branch, we fund it, we hire 100 people, we create 10K pages of codes no one understands, and then we pay lawyers to interpret it to us, then we all pay more taxes to pay for all our new found protection.

Or we could simply spend the money once, solve the problem (in the case of my government example, usually punish the offender) and move on.

n/m

Edited by Slvravn on 03/24/2011 09:26:09 MDT.

The Google search works well and you can also pick a date period.

Building a better forum search function may not be a high priority for BPL. It probably does not generate enough money from members to even pay for itself.

How do you put in a date range?

While the pre-set date searches in Google are sometimes useful, custom date range searching with Google seems to be a pain. You can use "daterange:startdate-enddate" in your search, but the start and end dates must be in Julian format.

However, this page allows for easy custom range searching with google.

(On a side note, oddly enough the forum's profanity filter didn't like that site's web address, so I had to use a tinyrurl link.)

Edited by roguenode on 03/24/2011 13:46:30 MDT.

Mark, while I totally agree with you, that was one Hell of a reach from linking BPL Google to the woes of our government! :)

Yep cant argue with that, it was a reach, just one of my pet peeves...no one wants to fix the problems just mask them till we forget.

Nick, i wasn't suggesting the new feature would generate more revenue, I was suggesting what revenue that is currently being generated should be used in part for upgrading the forum software to something competitive with similar forums outside of bpl.

We are aware of the limitations of the current software. Sometimes painfully.

I believe work is in progress on another significant upgrade. But it costs money, and the GFC is not kind ... so it will be a while before it is complete.

Cheers

From an old post of mine:

Folks have mentioned on here a few times about doing a site search using Google instead of using the built in search engine. Macworld online has a great article about creating a javascript bookmark (including the javascript 1-line code, just copy and paste!) to make it easy. See article here.

If you're using Chrome you can go here:

chrome://settings/searchEngines

Then at the bottom of the page, add a new search engine with this URL:

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=site%3Abackpackinglight.com%20%s

Give it a keyword like 'bpl'. Thence forth you can just type 'bpl' (or whatever your keyword was) and then your query.

I know there's a way to do the same thing in Firefox, but I've forgotten how.

Very helpful post thank you very much. I belong to several other forums and for a moment I thought I going nuts trying to search for my previous posts here at BPL. Much better :)

Edited by gon2srf on 11/13/2011 17:49:19 MST.