# Why does the SDMB search engine no longer work on threads before a certain date?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [November 15, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489 "2006-11-15T04:46:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/1 "2006-11-15T04:46:33Z")
I’m not sure what that date is, but I know it won’t pick up threads I clearly remember starting more than three years ago. Why not? :mad:
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/2 "2006-11-15T04:49:32Z")
IIRC, they put those threads in a bit of a limbo, until they upgrade the servers. Eventually, all will be set right. In the meantime…
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/3 "2006-11-15T05:26:56Z")
Apparently you didn’t start any threads before 12/28/2005. :dubious:
OTOH, when I do a search for threads I started, they go all the way back to May 2001.
Your missing threads are probably still there, as they were for **Eva Luna** [when she had similar troubles a few weeks ago](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7889991&highlight=threads#post7889991). They just can’t be found by searching.
As I implied in that thread, the search database is probably corrupt.
I wonder how long it’d take **jdavis** to rebuild it from scratch?
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/4 "2006-11-15T05:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Squink]
As I implied in that thread, the search database is probably corrupt.
[/QUOTE]
So how do we bribe it?!
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### Author:  [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/5 "2006-11-15T06:03:03Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
So how do we bribe it?!
[/QUOTE]
Bribes are ineffective in dealing with rogue databases. We must isolate it, and impose meaningful economic sanctions in order to force it to mend its ways. If isolation and sanctions fail, our only recourse is to nuke it from orbit.
I checked on a few other poster’s first OP date:
```auto
tomndebb 2002
Giraffe 2001
samclem 2001
Tubadiva 2001
xash 2001
Aeschines 12/29 2005
duffer 1/2006
CalMeacham 2001
furt 2001
John Mace 2003
Elucidator 2001
Eve 2001
```
From the sample, it looks like maybe 10 to 20% of them are affected.
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### Author:  [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/6 "2006-11-15T06:06:58Z")
[QUOTE=Squink]
As I implied in that thread, the search database is probably corrupt. I wonder how long it’d take **jdavis** to rebuild it from scratch?
[/QUOTE]
I haven’t done it myself in a long while, but if I can make a guess it’d likely take a couple days, maybe longer, and put a pretty good strain on the server (it can be run while the boards are active). It’s a pretty intensive process. And to be clear - you just have to click something and let it go - there’s no manual involvement aside from starting it up and making sure it finishes.
They’re also apparently having some issue where the size of the database is limited, causing crashes when we exceed it. That’s why some old threads are disappearing to perhaps be restored at a later date. This is a consideration for rebuilding the search index as well, as it takes up a significant amount of disk space. The database for my vBulletin site is 1.1 GB total, and almost 400 MB of that is the search index.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2006, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-sdmb-search-engine-no-longer-work-on-threads-before-a-certain-date/380489/7 "2006-11-15T06:55:54Z")
Despite Mr. Angry Smiley, this probably could have gone in ATMB. lol. I say that because Eva Luna noticed a problem with the “Threads Started By” index late last month and [posted about it in ATMB](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=393129). It seems to me it might be the same issue. I posted a workaround in that thread that might find the threads you want.