# Search Wierdness **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 11, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837 "2007-09-11T21:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ishamael69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ishamael69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishamael69)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/1 "2007-09-11T21:09:34Z")
I am trying to search for threads started on a particular date, which I apparently cannot do (9-11-2001, for anyone interested…). So, I decided to search for “World Trade Center” instead (Keywords: World Trade Center, Find Posts From: A Year Ago and Older, Sort Results by: Thread Start Date Ascending. It finds 5 threads started in 2000, but then it skips to a thread started on 08-27-2001 and from there to 04-12-2002. I know there are posts from 9/11 containing the words World Trade and Center. For example this one (which is what got me started in the first place): [World Trade Center Plane Crash](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=86458) What gives? ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/2 "2007-09-12T02:36:16Z")
The board went down for a while this evening, the problems with search may be a result of that; otherwise, I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![ishamael69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@ishamael69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ishamael69)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/3 "2007-09-12T05:09:55Z")
Thanks for the reply Tuba. I appreciate it. I just tried the search again, but I got the same results. Any other recommendations for finding threads from that day? I read the one from above, and it was amazing to see the confusion, the reactions, and the sense of community while it was happening. Sometimes you forget just how miserable of a day it really was… ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/4 "2007-09-12T10:56:52Z")
When was the Winter of Our Missed Content? I can never keep that straight… ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/5 "2007-09-14T05:23:40Z")
Actually, I’ve had trouble accessing some old threads too. Scylla’s groundhog thread, in particular. Lots of old links in “Greatest Threads” threads all seem to lead to the same error message. What’s up? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/search-wierdness/418837/6 "2007-09-14T15:40:39Z")
The search engine sucks. My best advice is to set whatever forum you’re looking at to “Show Posts From the Beginning” and then just scroll back to that particular timeframe. Not a perfect solution, but I swear to god there are some threads that still exist that the search engine just won’t ever find. **appleciders** , the missing threads you’re referring to were probably purged. Jerry, the database guy, has been routinely purging old threads from the database in order to make room. They might be put back eventually. Or not. I hope so, though. ETA: Here’s another 9/11-era thread that I have personally bookmarked. [Everything changed](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=87248).