Searching archive?

[Powermonger]

Is there anyway to search the board's archive or can you only browse? I'm trying to find some old posts but only can go back so far.

[Powermonger]

Hmmm it seems the archived messages are still part of the normal forums as well Anyway to get the search engine to return more then 100 posts or is it not possible?

[therother]

The search engine will only display the first 100 results it finds. It is possible for TosaInu to set this higher, but it'll be more server intensive.

Anyhow, you can usually coax more results out of the search engine as is by narrowing the search criteria using the Advanced Search. Other than using more specific Key Words, there are more options there. For instance, do you have an idea which forum(s) the post is in? If so, only select those forums to search in (multiple forums can be selected by holding down control). Do you know roughly how old the post is? Select the appropriate options, e.g. if you know the post was from more than 6 months ago, select "Find posts from 6 months ago and older". Do you know who posted the post you are looking for? Then stick the name in the User Name box, ensuring that "Find Posts by User" is selected. Similarly, do you know who started the thread? Stick their name in the User Name box and select "Find Threads by Started User". Was it in a popular thread? If so, set the number of replies appropriately. Do you know a word or two from the title of the thread? Change "Search Entire posts" to "Search Titles Only".

Don't select too many of these options, unless you are sure they are right, or you might miss your posts. I find I can usually find most threads/posts using these options, except from the Backroom of the Tavern as that forum isn't indexed.

Edit: The archives are a useful place to scan over the forums with a minimal interface, as you can scan 250 thread titles in one page without all the graphics getting in the way. Its primary purpose, though, is to allow for easier indexing of the forum by external search engines, so the text content of the archives is identical to the forums.

[Powermonger]

Wow thanks for the exhaustive reply, much appreciated. Now I know why a search only returns 100 results back. I tried a few searches to narrow things down and was somewhat successful (such as selecting one year ago or older) so I'll keep plugging away at that.

Thanks again for the quick response. :)

[therother]

No problem, glad you found it useful. I've been meaning to write something about the board search function for the Guild FAQ for a while now, just haven't found the time. Thought this was as good an excuse as any to get my teeth into it.