Searching DCL Forum

[Mike Bartenhagen]

Why is the search function no longer available on the DCL board? I would guess it is because of increased pressure on the server but I would think it may eliminate some of the questions posted. I know I have posted questions that could be answered many times over with a search of the previous posts but I don't think this is possible. I have been reading this forum for 2 years and I know there is tons of great information that has been posted over the years that is not available. The thing that has brought this to mind is a few posts on scuba diving. On the 7 day crusie I dove at St. M and St. T. When I returned there were some questions as the the scuba excursions. I typed some lengthy replies that listed dive sites, operators, temperatures, my opinions, etc. After typing this a few times I got lazy. On the last post I saw I replied that the diving was good at both sites and that was the extent of my comments. I just was tired of typing the same thing over and over. I am not sure what others think but it would be great to have the search up and running again but I do realize that this is a free forum and the owners must do what is best for them.

 

[Parrotheader]

I remember when they were going to the new forum/servers a couple months ago that they had the search feature disabled for awhile. But it seems to be working now, albeit very slow.

Nobody knows their situation better than they do, but I still say the best way to maintain a good balance of speed and search functionality is to limit the search feature to ONLY the subject field. Doing full-text searching on archives of a fairly active board is an absolute nightmare. Searching via subject field still maintains a lot of the useful functionality of a search while greatly increasing performance on the server's end. This is the solution I see more and more major forums turning to everyday. Most of my favorites are adopting this technique. Some even offer paid memberships for regular visitors and enables full-text searching for those users only. Very pragmatic in my opinion, although I'm not sure paid memberships would be quite as useful here as it's more a help site and not a professional forum.

 

[cinda65]

I also used the search feature the other day to search for Radisson information. It is at the bottom of the screen. It returned LOTS of results.

 

[CathyCanada]

Hi Mike,
You can access the search function from any board (when search is up and it frequently is). I found your thread here and you can bookmark the link or whatever to help others. It is great info!!
Hope it helps!
CC

 

[Mike Bartenhagen]

vBulletin Message
Sorry. The search function has been disabled by the administrator.

Here is what I got when I did a search a minute ago. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Gillian]

It seems like you get that message when too many other people are searching. I rarely get it a 5:30 AM, but often do at 5:30 PM. If you try again in a few minutes, it should work.

 

[Michelle]

Search is "load limited" which means it is only available when the load on the database is low, and that doesn't happen too often. It slows down the boards immensely so it is unfortunately only available when the load is low enough that it won't slow things down. If you try during off-peak hours (early, late, and weekends) you'll have the best luck.