[frugality]

Just a thought for a minor improvement to the search function. Currently we can search just the message body or message body and topic. I think it's handy to be able to only search the topic alone. For example, if I want to find an old thread on Corbin seats, I could search for "Corbin" in the topic only. That way it ignores any posts where someone just mentions their Corbin seat. Or for a newbie like myself, I could plug in "650 vs. 400" and get a number of threads that have gone over (and over) that topic. I participate on a diesel VW forum (http://www.tdiclub.com), and I almost always do searches there by topic, not by message.

Not only does this pare down the amount of threads to read through, but it makes for a speedy search for us and the server, especially as the amount of posts increases.

 

[billmeek]

Dean,

That's a change I'd personally really like to have. I hope it's slated for a later release of the phpBB software.

 

[frugality]

Another cool feature of the tdiclub.com's board is that you can also save threads as 'favorite threads'. They're sort of bookmarked on your personal info page. It's handy for threads you might want to refer back to, like oil change how-to's. I would think that that would be a great one for you, too, Bill, because you seem to point people in the direction of previous threads. Next BB edition, maybe.

 

[billmeek]

Dean,

I've actually got a custom program I've written to do that and a few other functions. I've been too lazy (so far) to stick any of the links into it yet and just do a new search each time. The other problem is if I have one setup for example '650 MPG', there may be useful information in a newer thread that I should include that is not in what I have saved.

 

[pauljo]

One problem that we have on BurgmanUSA is that our threads drift a lot. We are a very conversational bunch, and one thing leads to another - before long we have a completely different discussion going within an existing thread. I belong to some forums that don't allow that. But strict moderation can stifle participation too. If we were only a technical resource it would make sense. But we seem to be more an association of Burgman fans that like to share all things related to riding - and some things that aren't.

The point is that searching on thread titles here would get you some, but not all, of the content you are after - and it will rake in a fair amount of off-topic conversation too. It might still be useful, but it probably won't be quite as effective as it is on some other forums.