The search page lets you search for posts from yesterday and then gives you two options:
yesterday and newer or
yesterday and older
The default is yesterday and newer. I think the default should be yesterday and older because most of the time when I use the search I’m looking for all threads on a particular subject so I have to change the default to “…and older” every time.
It’s possible that it’s just me who has to change the option most of the time but it’s also possible that everyone is doing it. Maybe we should take a vote on this, to see what most users tend to do?
Or maybe not, what do I know? I’m just a humble teeming millionth.
I believe the reason for the default being “and newer” is to encourage limited searches, which put less stress on the server. If you actually need to search for all threads regardless of age then selecting “and older” is your only option. If you click on the arrow to the right of the word “yesterday” you’ll get a drop-down menu allowing you other choices than “yesterday” - things like “last five days,” “last month,” last six months" and “last year.” These can be used if you’re searching for a thread that you are fairly certain was within those time frames.
For example, if you’re trying to find a thread that you know is no more than two weeks old (like a thread on a recent news item), you can select “last month and newer” which will limit the search and get you a response a little faster.
I thought it might be to put less stress on the server but if everyone is just changing the default anyway then it doesn’t really work.
If you want to search for a time frame other than yesterday and newer then that is what you will have to do regardless of what the default says. You’re not going to change your mind about what to search for just because you have to change the default.
So people will do whatever search they’re going to do anyway, whatever the default says. They’ll just change the default. I don’t think having the default as “yesterday and older” will put any more stress on the server.
And you might as well make the search function as user friendly as possible.
Actually, searching is the most server-intensive thing you can do. Lots of searches can kill the boards for any other purpose. So it’s best that limited searches are encouraged.
I use “and newer” all the time looking for recent threads, threads that I just saw earlier today but can’t find now. If you want to search for all threads, just select “any date” from the drop menu.
‘and older’ would seem to be of most use when searching for a thread that you know is very old; suppose there were 3 years of threads in the database:
Yesterday and newer will search across one day
A week ago and newer will search across one weeks
2 weeks ago and newer will search across two weeks
A Month ago and newer will search across a months
3 Months ago and newer will search across 3 months
6 Months ago and newer will search across 6 months
A year ago and newer will search across one year
Any date and newer will (I presume) search the whole database.
Yesterday and OLDER will search across 3 years minus one day
A week ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus one week
2 weeks ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus two weeks
A Month ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus one month
3 Months ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus 3 months
6 Months ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus 6 months
A year ago and OLDER will search across 3 years minus one year
Any date and OLDER will (I presume) search the whole database.
So searching for ‘yesterday and older’ would be quite an intensive search (almost as intensive as searching the whole lot); really, given the volume of historical threads, I can only think of two good reasons to use the ‘and older’ button:
[ul][li]Searching for a thread that you know is older than a year. (if you know it is more recent, then ‘a year ago and newer’ is more economical, if you don’t know when it was, then you’re going to need a broader search anyway)[/li][li]Searching for threads that predate a certain event (say, looking for threads about the shuttle Columbia before the recent accident).[/li][/ul]
(there may be other reasons, but I can’t think of any).
Default used to be “any time”. IT was changed to the smallest possible search so that people had to physically make a decision on what they wanted and change it accordingly. Anyone just doing a quick search on their username (and I do this all the time to find threads I am participating in - note that you search as a username not as a word, which differentiates it from a vanity search) only needs the smallest search so it pays to encourage them to do so.
You want big searches, you have to make the slight extra effort. I would be enormously surprised if this has not had the desired positive effect.
I like the way the default is set up. It allows me to simply type in my username and then hit enter. This brings up my posts from yesterday (and newer) so I can check up on all the responses to anything stupid I may have said.
Tomorrow morning I will type in WHUCKFISTLE in the username window, hit enter, and then open up this post to the last reply to see if MANGETOUT made fun of me or not.
This to me is the easiest and quickest way to reply to all of yesterdays posts.
Bloody hell, it all gets quite complicated when you look into it doesn’t it.
In that case I think the default should be a week ago and newer so that the search takes you to all posts made in the last week up to and including today.
(Whuckfistle, my sympathies. Mangetout also relentlessly follows me around the boards making fun of me as well. Doesn’t that swine have anything better to do).
We are taxed to server capacity as is right now, in large part because of seaches. To add to the server load for your convenience would further degrade capacity.
Then you could have more posts about how difficult it is to get to the board, how slow and annoying the board is to load, etc.
