# Search Function Question **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 1, 2000, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246 "2000-05-01T12:55:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2000, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/1 "2000-05-01T12:55:36Z")
OK, so I was as shocked as everyone else this AM to see the new look of the board, but I think I can get used to it. The only thing is, I usually start my SDMB day by catching up on all of the threads I’ve posted to lately, by searching for my username under the “last 5 days” and then checking all the things that come up. So I tried that this morning, and came up with nothing. Are there tricks to using this new search functionality that I need to know (i.e., my username has a space in it, which used to drive the UBB search batty two or three upgrades ago)? Any help would be appreciated; I’d like to know how to find things again. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2000, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/2 "2000-05-02T12:55:48Z")
I can’t even search from one of my posts (namely, the one above). I click on the little “search” icon, and when all’s said and done, this is what appears: Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. Have I ceased to exist? Does anyone know if this new software can handle _any_ searches at all? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/3 "2000-05-02T21:33:23Z")
Well, hey, I’m just sittin’ here, I’ll take a crack at it. Da Ace exact match 5 days search just ATMB entire message Sorry no matches Ace exact match 5 days ATMB entire message Sorry no matches Da exact match 5 days ATMB entire message Sorry no matches Da with a space after it exact match 5 days ATMB entire message sorry no matches Ace with a space in front of it exact match 5 days ATMB entire message sorry no matches Da Ace partial match 5 days search ATMB entire message sorry no matches Ace partial match 5 days ATMB entire message brought up your Search Function question topic and the Weird Earls topic Da partial match 5 days ATMB entire message brought up 32 topics–are you in that many ATMB threads? Da with a space after it partial match 5 days ATMB entire message brought up Shayna’s “What’s new around here…” topic. Ace with a space in front of it partial match 5 days ATMB entire message brought up your Search function question topic “Verrry interrresting…” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/4 "2000-05-03T00:26:05Z")
**Da Ace** , I used **{space}Ace{space}** , with partial match, last 5 days, all forums and ended up with 10 threads and I think your name was in all of them. By putting the {space} at the end, it got rid of **Tracer** for one (with over 3100 posts, Tracer kinda overwhelmed the list). And by putting the {space} at the beginning, it got rid of **SaxFace**. So, I think that should work for you. Kind of a pain, but seems to work. Jim ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/5 "2000-05-03T12:40:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > **Da Ace** , I used **{space}Ace{space}** , with partial match, last 5 days, all forums and ended up with 10 threads and I think your name was in all of them. > > By putting the {space} at the end, it got rid of **Tracer** for one (with over 3100 posts, Tracer kinda overwhelmed the list). And by putting the {space} at the beginning, it got rid of **SaxFace**. > > So, I think that should work for you. Kind of a pain, but seems to work. > > Jim > \*\* Thanks a lot. I’d tried some of the permutations **Notthemama** ran through, but this is a busier week at work than normal, so I didn’t have the concentrated SDMB time I’d like. I wondered if this was a problem with two-word member names, so I tested it on **Arnold Winkelried**. That came up with no problem at all. (Quick, too – anybody else notice the new search function is fast?) Then I tried **Ukulele Ike** – fine – and **Boris B** – aha! didn’t work! **SPOOFE Bo Diddley** also doesn’t work as “exact match,” but just “SPOOFE” works on “partial match.” Other people who don’t work: **Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor** , **Johnny L.A.** , **Alan Q** , and **neuro-trash grrrl**. Others that do: **Little Nemo** , **Anti Pro** , **Chef Troy** , **John Corrado** , **Lux Fiat** , **saucy potato** , **Lord Derfel** , and **Drain Bead**. I guess vBulletin just doesn’t like some words for whatever reason, but at least I’ve got a workaround. I suspect there’s some sort of filter for “words,” and things like “Da” and “B” garble it up (some kinds of punctuation, too, I suspect, like hypens and apostrophes). But it’s clearly not a spell-check or anything of that nature, because non-English words and some “misspellings” it has no trouble with. Anyone familiar with the workings of vBulletin have any idea why this happens? ---
**Author:** ![Dusy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@Dusy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dusy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-function-question/18246/6 "2000-05-03T19:01:38Z")
Aha- A similar bug with mattmanz\_da\_man is on this link:\*\* [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23284](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=23284) \*\*