# vB and Too-short Search Terms (a note for the tech people) **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 13, 2007, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824 "2007-06-13T07:46:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/1 "2007-06-13T07:46:09Z")
I just upgraded the fathom board from vb 2.2.9 to 3.6.7. I noticed a really cool feature that they added somewhere in there–not sure if it’s in your version or if it was added in a later one, but it’s dang nifty, and something to think about if you upgrade if it isn’t in the version the SDMB is running. You know the setting where you set the minimum number of characters for search terms? There is also a big text box where you can add words that can be searched for even if they fall below that limit. (The example they give is a board dedicated to php programming that has its search limited to 4 letters or more, might include things like “php” as an allowed search phrase.) Anyway, I just thought I’d mention it because it is pretty cool (for example, you could put “24” there because probably a lot of people who follow the show want to search for previous threads about it). ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/2 "2007-06-13T19:02:44Z")
vBulletin 2.2.9? :eek: Old skool! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/3 "2007-06-13T20:43:40Z")
Yeah it was an impressive upgrade, since the (fairly automated) upgrade process involves upgrading to each and every version in between, including all betas and release candidates. It took a while. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/4 "2007-06-14T12:58:00Z")
That’s an option not available in the version of vB we’re currently running, alas. I do not know of any current plans to upgrade the vB software though I could be pleasantly surprised, you never know, I’m always hopeful for better. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/5 "2007-06-14T13:02:16Z")
I agree that uncommon short words should be allowed if possible, but allowing “php” on a board devoted to PHP programming strikes me as rather useless, since you’d get too many hits. It would make more sense to allow “php” on a board devoted to some other subject, or on a general board like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/6 "2007-06-14T14:29:10Z")
Is it (technically) possible on the new version to set the limit at 3 characters or more, then create a blacklist of words you don’t want indexed (‘the’, ‘and’, ‘sex’, etc)? ---
**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:** [June 14, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/7 "2007-06-14T14:55:12Z")
That IS cool. One of these days I’m going to look forward to doing stuff like that. ::: filing away notes for future reference ::: ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/8 "2007-06-14T22:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] I agree that uncommon short words should be allowed if possible, but allowing “php” on a board devoted to PHP programming strikes me as rather useless, since you’d get too many hits. It would make more sense to allow “php” on a board devoted to some other subject, or on a general board like this one. [/QUOTE] I don’t think they were giving their example whole lot of deep thought, just coming up with something to demonstrate the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/9 "2007-06-14T23:50:46Z")
Can I put in a petition now to have my username on the list of searchable 3-letter terms, if and when an upgrade to that version happens? I am _sooooo_ out of luck in the vanity-search contest. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/10 "2007-06-15T17:34:24Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] I am _sooooo_ out of luck in the vanity-search contest. 😃 [/QUOTE] Might be for the best. Are you _sure_ you want to know what people are saying about you? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vb-and-too-short-search-terms-a-note-for-the-tech-people/407824/11 "2007-06-15T20:07:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Is it (technically) possible on the new version to set the limit at 3 characters or more, then create a blacklist of words you don’t want indexed (‘the’, ‘and’, ‘sex’, etc)? I’m pretty sure it is, and I think that would be a better solution, if it had been implemented at the start. There are a lot of three-letter words in text, but most of those are just repeated instances of the common ones. Throw out the 30 or so most common 3-letter words, and you’d probably be left with a reasonably-sized and fairly useful addition to the database. On the other hand, to turn that on right now would mean that the server would have to go back through the entire archive, and add all those newly-eligible words to the search index. I don’t know how long that would take, but I can’t imagine it’d be easy or fun.