# Search funtion not working (again)?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [October 29, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000 "2016-10-29T06:19:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000/1 "2016-10-29T06:19:48Z")
I have been trying to search a programme name in Cafe Society since yesterday. I sometimes get a blank page, others a message about the ticket being expired and other times another more technical type of message.
Am I the only one with this problem or is it a board problem and if so, when is should we expect it gets fixed?
---
### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2016, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000/2 "2016-10-29T11:59:32Z")
I guess you didn’t notice [the existing thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=808845) opened an hour earlier…
---
### Author:  [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000/3 "2016-10-29T14:54:11Z")
The search engine around here is admittedly a bit wonky. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes you get blank pages or error codes. Sometimes it will tell you that you have to wait 120 seconds between searches, please wait 160 seconds or some similarly large number greater than 120, and sometimes it does that when you haven’t even searched anything recently.
We use an older version of vBulletin specifically because it is more stable and secure than the newer versions. As far as I am aware, they aren’t going to upgrade because of the known security issues in later versions. That means that things that are kinda borked in our version (like the search engine) are just going to stay broken.
If a particular search is failing, try re-ordering the terms. If the search keeps failing no matter what, you can also search the board using google. See this for details:
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051)
---
### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000/4 "2016-10-29T15:31:38Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> I guess you didn’t notice [the existing thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=808845) opened an hour earlier…
He _did_ search for previous threads.
---
### Author:  [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-funtion-not-working-again/770000/5 "2016-10-29T15:57:59Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#):
>
> I guess you didn’t notice [the existing thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=808845) opened an hour earlier…
No, I did see the thread, but the phrasing (and not reading carefully :smack: ) made me think that it was somebody inquiring about having to wait 120 seconds (in general).
Anyway, thanks folks (and ECG for patiently replying to both threads ). 🙂