# Will Memberships be "comped" for the equivalent length of time that search is gone? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 18, 2008, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751 "2008-03-18T08:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/61 "2008-03-20T18:12:53Z")
Count me in the searching-is-why-I-pay-camp. I don’t know if my posts-per-day count keeps me out of lurker status or not, but it certainly reflects a paucity of posting. I’m not saying I search the way Handy used to post, but it’s the core to my membership. For example, I don’t watch movies when they come out (unless they’re at the drive-in), so reading interpretations is unavailable now. There are few products out there that I’m tangentially interested in (e.g., GPS, Roomba) that haven’t been discussed here in multiple threads. The list goes on… I must say I’m baffled by the “I don’t use search that much, so therefore it’s not that big of a deal” crowd. Not that I don’t understand how people can use the board differently, more that I don’t understand the dismissive attitude toward those who raise the issue. I also saw it when ads started appearing, the “it doesn’t bother me so you it shouldn’t bother you,” or “I use adblock so you should to and not object,” or “if you’ve got nothing to hide you shouldn’t object to a warrantless” or … or … well, you get the picture. So yeah, searching is that critical to my enjoyment of the Dope, the main reason I pay to subscribe. Just a data point. Rhythm ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/62 "2008-03-20T23:07:42Z")
Just for the record,\* I\* pay for the pleasure of your company. Yes, you. All of you. Even \*\*Hostile Dialect \*\* over there, despite his horrific body odor. Not being able to search is a f\*\*king pain though. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/63 "2008-03-21T01:26:38Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] QFT [/QUOTE] I actually don’t know what that means. I would look it up… I use search at least 5 times a day. I have found myself interested by something and immediately search for it on the dope. If I heard a figure, story, anything really, I will look on the dope and see what they say. If I want to see if my father is posting anything (as rare as that is) I search. If I want to ask a question but think it’s been asked before, I search. Without it, I am noticeably angry. I’m not trying to bitch at administrators or anything like that. But don’t underestimate how important this is to some people. Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/64 "2008-03-21T01:47:10Z")
Quoted For Truth ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/65 "2008-03-21T03:07:05Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Yes, you. All of you. Even Hostile Dialect over there, despite his horrific body odor. :eek: OK, really, where the hell did that come from? I shower at least once a day. Surely you can’t smell me from Florida. > [@Surbey](#): > > I would look it up… But Google, Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary are all down? Huh. That’s weird. They work fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/66 "2008-03-21T04:05:26Z")
[QUOTE=Hostile Dialect] But Google, Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary are all down? Huh. That’s weird. They work fine for me. [/QUOTE] Twas merely a way of reiterating the OP’s main point. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/67 "2008-03-21T04:13:54Z")
Search was good. It was very helpful in what was once considered the board’s primary purpose, fighting ignorance via GQ. It was much better to search and reference previous GQ topic summaries that were put together by some very sharp minds, when the same questions were asked over and over. Much easier than putting together the same information once again. Now the expectation is that someone is to just zip over to Wiki and cut and paste a few statements and a link. The lowest acceptable response is becoming the de facto standard. There were giants in those days. Sigh… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/68 "2008-03-21T04:23:05Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Now the expectation is that someone is to just zip over to Wiki and cut and paste a few statements and a link. The lowest acceptable response is becoming the de facto standard. > > There were giants in those days. Sigh… Fortunately, that problem will get a little better soon unless **Ed** was lying to us about cutting back on free memberships. ---
**Author:** ![Basandre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@Basandre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Basandre)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/69 "2008-03-21T13:56:39Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I guess I just don’t understand the importance being placed on the Search function. I rarely use it–on average, maybe two or three times a month. If people hadn’t started all these outraged threads over it, I’d have probably not even noticed it was gone yet. [/QUOTE] Fine, _you_ don’t use search that often. Some of the rest of us think it’s worth $15/year. And now they have our $15 and it’s gone. You think I paid to post? Hah, check out my post count. And I could have done entirely without those couple hundred posts over 8 years, but this board has a huge backlog of information in it, and there’s no substitute for searching to getting at that information, unless it still happens to be up on a forum page. If I’m thinking about getting LASIK, and I remember that someone posted a “considering getting LASIK done, please tell me your experiences” thread, I want to go back and read that thread, but I have to search for it first. If I’m trying to show my boyfriend a hilarious post I read last week, gotta search for it first. If I want to go see a movie and then read the thread about it, but I don’t get a chance to see the movie for a few weeks after it comes out, gotta search for the thread. So you don’t search often, do you really not understand that some people do? ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/70 "2008-03-21T14:24:23Z")
I seldom use the search for topics but I do click on my own recent posts to remember what I posted about and check if there is any feedback. Not being able to search has eliminated that behavior. I don’t give two shits about reparations for the time search is down and I care less how long it is down. I just want to get back to normal ASAP. BTW, I must have a blessed computer or a providence connection because, with or without search I have seldom if ever had… ahem… performance problems on the dope, not that there’s anything wrong with that. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/71 "2008-03-21T14:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] I have to agree with Q.E.D. The search function going out for a week or so is relatively minor. I think the problem here is the culmination of this and all the other problems with the board coming to a head. We’ve got to give Jerry his best shot. I imagine to him fixing this board is like building a Rolls-Royce with Chevy parts. [/QUOTE] You _do_ realize that in terms of reliability, Chevys **beat** the dogshit out of most Rolls-Royces, don’t you? What Jerry’s doing is trying to keep a Chevy running with Rolls-Royce parts. (Seriously, from the end of WWII until the Germans did to the diamond of the British automotive industry what they were unbable to do to Britain during the war, Rolls were overpriced pieces of junk.) ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/72 "2008-03-21T16:29:12Z")
[QUOTE=Basandre] Fine, _you_ don’t use search that often. Some of the rest of us think it’s worth $15/year. [/QUOTE] I understand that, but it’s only been unavailable for three days as of this posting. You have every right to be annoyed that you can’t search, but it’s just a minor inconvenience, really. You seem to be focussed on the money, but get a grip–you’re complaining, literally, over _pennies_. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/73 "2008-03-21T17:33:25Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] I understand that, but it’s only been unavailable for three days as of this posting. You have every right to be annoyed that you can’t search, but it’s just a minor inconvenience, really. You seem to be focussed on the money, but get a grip–you’re complaining, literally, over _pennies_. [/QUOTE] Great point. Then would it kill the PTB to extend the memberships three days\*? After all, it’s only pennies. \*or however many days this continues… Oh, and as long as we’re removing buttons from the header (search and new posts) lets shit-can Members List and Calendar since they never worked anyway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/74 "2008-03-21T17:39:41Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] \*\*Ed Zotti \*\* gave an update yesterday and it sounds like he will give us another today. At least I am hoping he does. Here is the [link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9590070&postcount=37) and the post. [/QUOTE] I wanted to read the rest of the linked thread to get all the details before preparing my bouquets and/or brickbats for TPTB . . . but search is disabled! No link at the top to view entire thread! I weep. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/75 "2008-03-21T17:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=Daerlyn] I wanted to read the rest of the linked thread to get all the details before preparing my bouquets and/or brickbats for TPTB . . . but search is disabled! No link at the top to view entire thread! I weep. [/QUOTE] There’s a work-around. Click the **reply** button in that window and it’ll take you to a window that you can navigate the thread in. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/76 "2008-03-21T18:15:05Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] There’s a work-around. Click the **reply** button in that window and it’ll take you to a window that you can navigate the thread in. [/QUOTE] Just remember that in a reply screen, the posts are backwards with the most recent at the top. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/77 "2008-03-21T18:15:25Z")
[QUOTE=Daerlyn] I wanted to read the rest of the linked thread to get all the details before preparing my bouquets and/or brickbats for TPTB . . . but search is disabled! No link at the top to view entire thread! I weep. [/QUOTE] Here you go: [Search has been disabled - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460148) It was the link in the upper right hand corner. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/78 "2008-03-21T18:48:36Z")
[QUOTE=Uncommon Sense] Great point. Then would it kill the PTB to extend the memberships three days\*? After all, it’s only pennies. [/QUOTE] Probably not. But, starting in with the complaints and demands for compensation within _hours_ of the search feature being disabled strikes me as petty. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/79 "2008-03-21T19:19:28Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] Just remember that in a reply screen, the posts are backwards with the most recent at the top. [/QUOTE] Take it one step further and click on the hotlink for the actual thread which is in the same window. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751/80 "2008-03-21T19:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=What Exit?] Here you go: [Search has been disabled - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460148) It was the link in the upper right hand corner. [/QUOTE] Douh! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-memberships-be-comped-for-the-equivalent-length-of-time-that-search-is-gone/441751.md?page=5)