# help me search please!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [October 12, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975 "2002-10-12T17:28:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975/1 "2002-10-12T17:28:57Z")

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I’m trying to search the SD message boards. Every time I post a new thread, I find the topic has been covered before by helpful members who point me to the previous postings.

But when I try to do searches myself prior to making a new thread, I can’t get results. That is, I can leave the system running for 20 minutes on the “your search is in progress” page and it won’t post results.

I’ve even tried limiting my searches to a single word in the subject title only, in just one message board, in just the past day of posts, but the system does not give me a response.

Am I doing something wrong? Or do I need to plan on waiting 30 minutes instead of 20? By the way, the same (lack of) results happen at all hours of the day and night, and while using different computers at different locations.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975/2 "2002-10-12T18:17:47Z")

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Search at night or on weekends, to ease strain on the system. Searching is very resource-intensive.

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**Author:** ![AZCowboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@AZCowboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZCowboy)\
**Post date:** [October 12, 2002, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975/3 "2002-10-12T18:51:38Z")

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Better yet, do your SDMB board searches over on [BoardReader](http://www.boardreader.com/).

Put in your search terms, click search. When you get the results page, in the drop down just to the right, select "Site (Descending). Then page into the results till you get the ones from the SDMB.

The SDMB hamsters will thank you.

[sub]Credit to **minty green** for this tip.[/sub]

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975/4 "2002-10-13T01:49:15Z")

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Since this is a question about this message board, I’ll move this thread to ATMB (even if you’re trying to search GQ).

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**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2002, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-search-please/131975/5 "2002-10-13T14:45:10Z")

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Or just include “straightdope” as a term in the Boradreader search field–that weeds out nearly everything from the other boards they cover. Not sure how often they update their database, but unless you’re looking for something from the last week or two, Boardreader is the fastest way to find it. And if you click on the “cached” results instead of the thread title, you won’t even stress the hamster in reading the thread.