# Is the search function not working?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [August 4, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795 "2017-08-04T19:11:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/1 "2017-08-04T19:11:39Z")
I’ve been trying to use the search function all afternoon to search for my old threads in cafe society about hard scifi novels. Every time I do so, I get a message that the website isn’t responding.
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/2 "2017-08-04T19:27:20Z")
It’s working for me. It looks like you’ve started 325 threads in Cafe Society at some point or another. I didn’t look through them in any detail at all.
The search engine here is admittedly more than a bit wonky at times. It doesn’t like certain search terms, although sometimes just rearranging multiple terms will get it to accept terms that it chokes on in a different order.
If you can’t get it to work for you, there’s always this:
HOWTO: Search the SDMB using Google
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051)
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/3 "2017-08-04T20:40:18Z")
I just tried a search and it worked for me.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/4 "2017-08-04T22:07:22Z")
Here’s a link to [your threads in CS.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=14349129)
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### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/5 "2017-08-04T22:08:37Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Here’s a link to [your threads in CS.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/search.php?searchid=14349129)
Note that search IDs expire, so that link won’t be valid for long.
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/6 "2017-08-04T22:15:20Z")
Is it this one: [So what’s good in hard sci fi these days?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777474)
Here are the others I found that have the word “hard” or “sci” in the title:
[Sci Fi Writer David Brin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=725451)
[Sci Fi author Greg Bear](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=720356)
[Crimson Worlds Sci Fi series by Jay Allan](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690281)
[Good Sci Fi and Fantasy that I can probably find for cheap in a used bookstore!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=654946)
[Hard Sci- Fi books](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417716)
[I need some more Sci-fi reading!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=358939)
[Orbit Sci-fi anthologies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=312567)
[Sci Fi Anthologies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=305879)
[Is Alan Dean Foster considered a major Sci-fi writer?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262605)
[Is Michael McCollum considered a major Sci-fi writer?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255365)
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/7 "2017-08-04T22:28:22Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#):
>
> Note that search IDs expire, so that link won’t be valid for long.
How long do they last?
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/8 "2017-08-04T22:56:18Z")
The search function has always been temperamental. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it works for some people, and not for others. For me it works about 99% of the time. Some other people say it doesn’t work at all.
I believe a saved search lasts for about an hour.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/9 "2017-08-04T23:22:00Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#):
>
> I believe a saved search lasts for about an hour.
Thanks. That makes sense.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/10 "2017-08-05T00:48:15Z")
The particular one linked above was still working after about 2 hours, and is now dead after about 2[sup]1[/sup]/[sub]2[/sub] hours
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [August 5, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-search-function-not-working/792795/11 "2017-08-05T19:37:22Z")
> [@Bone](#):
>
> Is it this one: [So what’s good in hard sci fi these days?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=777474)
>
> Here are the others I found that have the word “hard” or “sci” in the title:
>
> [Sci Fi Writer David Brin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=725451)
>
> [Sci Fi author Greg Bear](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=720356)
>
> [Crimson Worlds Sci Fi series by Jay Allan](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=690281)
>
> [Good Sci Fi and Fantasy that I can probably find for cheap in a used bookstore!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=654946)
>
> [Hard Sci- Fi books](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=417716)
>
> [I need some more Sci-fi reading!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=358939)
>
> [Orbit Sci-fi anthologies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=312567)
>
> [Sci Fi Anthologies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=305879)
>
> [Is Alan Dean Foster considered a major Sci-fi writer?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262605)
>
> [Is Michael McCollum considered a major Sci-fi writer?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255365)
Thanks! I often search for my old book and movie suggestion threads as works that were out of print or prohibitively expensive at that time can be released again and be easy to buy.
I always have to remember that we can search by Google.