# Search not working?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915
**Category:** About This Message Board
**Created:** [July 14, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915 "2002-07-14T13:14:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2002, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/1 "2002-07-14T13:14:12Z")
I did a search today for a term that I know matches a post I made the day before. I requested search in all forums and all posts since a week ago, so it should have matched. I got no matches. Is there a problem with the search function?
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/2 "2002-07-14T13:28:19Z")
I cannot answer if it is a problem, but I can report that ever since the upgrade, this happens to me on a continuous basis. I essentially have stopped using Search in most cases, as a result.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2002, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/3 "2002-07-14T14:15:01Z")
A search for all posts by **KellyM** in the last week turns up the following six:
[Search not working?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=125500)
[Where are you on the Kinsey Scale?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=125074)
[B cup! I’m a B cup!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=125306)
[So when are you to old to breast feed?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=124791)
[Judge orders hospitals/clinics to turnover records](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=124933)
[Non-heterosexual women of the SDMB: A Poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=100720)
I have no idea whether this list is complete or not. The search engine _is_ frustrating when searching for terms. I wanted to search for something yesterday that required use of the word _oil_; three letter search terms just won’t fly.
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### Author:  [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/4 "2002-07-14T14:41:30Z")
I wasn’t searching for my own posts, but for a term that I coincidentially had used in one of my own posts (I wasn’t looking for that post, but for other posts with the same term). In retrospect, it’s possible that I simply misspelled the word, or perhaps used the plural in the post while searching for the singular.
The search function could be better.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [July 14, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/5 "2002-07-14T22:05:08Z")
It is very difficult for us to debug alleged problems with the search function without knowing what search parameters are being used.
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### Author:  [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/6 "2002-07-15T14:58:24Z")
Search the threads for **fritz** and it doesn’t find this one: [Help! My mouse is on the fritz and I need keyboard navigation skills!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=123408) It’s not because it’s only a word in the title, other threads can be located this way. Neither is the thread completely absent from the search index. Search for the contained word **iFeel** , and you find it.
Here’s another one: [“Attractive Nuicance” laws.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=119652) Search for **nuicance** = nothing.
Perhaps the same glitch that incorrectly updates the post database also screws up the search index. Both were multiple/lost OP threads. Is it only them, or can someone give links and search words to unlocatable ‘regular’ threads?
[How did “Ouch” become the universal word for pain?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=125598) Searching for **ouch** and **“Ouch”** doesn’t find it, _ **ouch** _ does. But search for _ **nuicance** _ = still nothing.
Is there somewhere a little more detailed description of how the vBulletin search feature works than in the standard [FAQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/misc.php?action=faq&page=2#search)? Something like a quick intro to how it handles spaces, word delimiting, quotes and phrases, wildcards, and such.
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### Author:  [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2002, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/7 "2002-07-15T15:22:16Z")
**Arnold** , I’m not comfortable posting the details of my searches in public; do y’all have a preferred email contact I should use in the event I experience anomalous behavior in the future?
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/8 "2002-07-17T01:20:25Z")
KellyM, you can e-mail any of the administrators. If you do find a bug in the search it probably wouldn’t be fixed anyway (until/unless we upgrade to a new version of vBulletin where the bug is fixed)
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/9 "2002-07-17T01:24:56Z")
My educated guess: sometimes, when the server is slow, the thread creation process is not complete (as we have all seen with threads with no Original Post). Indexing the subject of the thread is probably part of that process and when the process is interrupted the indexing doesn’t happen.
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### Author:  [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/10 "2002-07-17T02:27:38Z")
**Arnold** -
Do you mean it’s a temporary glitch and it only affects that particular search at that time? Or is it permanent, and the term will never come up, now or tomorrow?
Because I’m in the same boat as **Anthracite** - it misses so many things it’s almost a waste to use it.
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### Author:  [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/11 "2002-07-17T02:56:20Z")
Is there a convenient way to email an administrator, other than trying to remember who they are, finding their profile somehow, and hitting “mail”?
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### Author:  [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/12 "2002-07-17T03:19:22Z")
You could always look at the [forum page](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/index.php?) and click on **Arnold Windelried**.
Or, you could click here- [Arnold Winkelried’s e-mail address]([awinkelried@earthlink.net](mailto:awinkelried@earthlink.net) \<[awinkelried@earthlink.net](mailto:awinkelried@earthlink.net)\>)
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### Author:  [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/13 "2002-07-17T12:46:43Z")
**CnoteChris** , I think … insists on adding “http://”. For email addresses use … instead.
“Arnold Windelried”… Nice typo, that’s a good one. 😃 Any German speakers here?
> [@](#):
>
> **Do you mean it’s a temporary glitch and it only affects that particular search at that time? Or is it permanent, and the term will never come up, now or tomorrow?**
I checked ‘fritz’ and ‘nuicance’ on different days before. You’re never sure there isn’t more than one glitch, but it seems this one occurs when the data gets indexed, and then the search index remains incomplete.
From our [technical FAQ](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=1946046#post1946046):
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by Arnold Winkelried_
> The Chicago Reader IS department says that due to the demands placed upon the server, the full set of database updates needed to successfully complete a thread/post creation gets interrupted, and so you may end up with inconsistent data in the database. Modifying the values of some database parameters might fix the problem but it also might make the board slower, so those parameters will not be changed (at least for now.)
I think it’s time to give those changed parameters a try. Better slower board than faster glitches, what do you think?
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### Author:  [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/14 "2002-07-17T13:52:38Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by femtosecond \*
> **CnoteChris, I think … insists on adding “http://”. For email addresses use … instead.**
Well I’ll be darned, I never knew that. I was so sure it OK, I didn’t even check it after it posted.
**KellyM** must really be getting frustrated now!
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by femtosecond_
> **"Arnold Windelried"… Nice typo, that’s a good one. Any German speakers here?**
I assure you it was a mistake… whatever horrible gaffe I apparently made.
A little help? What did I call him?
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by femtosecond_
> **…it seems this one occurs when the data gets indexed, and then the search index remains incomplete.**
Shoot.
I may not be a big searcher, but the few times I’ve used it, it’s been invaluable.
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### Author:  [@femtosecond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/femtosecond)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/15 "2002-07-17T15:07:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by CnoteChris_
> **A little help? What did I call him?**
Windel = diaper
Now there’s the image in my mind of Arnold complete with diapers, rattle, and pacifier. Oochie woochie coochie coo!
:D, again.
> [@](#):
>
> **I may not be a big searcher, but the few times I’ve used it, it’s been invaluable.**
At least for the search index there is no real data loss. The likelihood of new glitches would make it quite pointless until this gets fixed, but we can re-build the search index from the post data. Last time (for the upgrade) it took a week or so…
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/16 "2002-07-17T19:06:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \*
> Do you mean it’s a temporary glitch and it only affects that particular search at that time? Or is it permanent, and the term will never come up, now or tomorrow?
My guess is that it’s permanent, at least until the index was completely rebuilt, which takes a very long time so it’s not going to happen.
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### Author:  [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-not-working/118915/17 "2002-07-17T19:12:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by KellyM \*
> Is there a convenient way to email an administrator, other than trying to remember who they are, finding their profile somehow, and hitting “mail”?
As CnoteChris said, all the moderator names can be found on the forum home page. Look at their profiles to see which ones are administrators. Currently it’s TubaDiva, C K Dexter Haven, Lynn Bodoni, Gaudere, and Arnold Winkelried.