Looking for beta testers

I think Dave is getting messages on that part. I think it is up in this post somewhere. If I 'bait' the search, like hitting in specific info for a plant I know, it does pull up some of them. I agree that part of the problem is lack of info on some entries.

I'm having trouble with the advanced search too.

I entered the information this afternoon on a couple of tomatoes.When I used the advanced search for..
vegetable
full sun
parts toxic
start from seed indoors
ferment seeds

I got nothing.
I went back and widened it some.
Vegetable
full sun
ferment seeds

Still no results.This should have at least pulled up the tomatoes I entered.It was in the live database that I did the entering,so it's there.

If you still need anyone else, I'd like to help, too! I've done this and gotten paid when wearing my other hat. Seriously, I would love to check it out and help with any feedback. Search engines are probably the most lacking of superior technology with regard to the internet. I worked on a project to bring a search engine to our company internally & it's not as refined or precise as our minds think. I've learned to try to think like a search engine does and found that I've had better luck with my results.

There are a few certainties:

The current search (not the advanced search, but the regular search) is currently vastly superior to the old search engine.

The current search will continue to improve all the time, especially with specific feedback like vols was saying. Here is the kind of feedback I want:

'I typed in "lycoperison esculentum" and was expecting some tomatoes but I got nothing.'

The advanced search engine is a very theoritcal design with a lot of complicated code behind it. I did this for reasons that are not yet clear but will be in a few weeks, when Phase 2 of the PDB is opened for the world to see. Because there is so little actual data in the database, the advanced search is less valuable. With each plant characteristic specified, the advanced search will become more usable and more reliable.

Melody: Tomatoes won't come up in the advanced search by querying for Vegetables. Tomatoes are not categories at all right now. Vols: What do you think about this? Should we add Category to the tomatoes limits area? Folks might search for veggies and expect tomatoes and whatever else.

Melody: Check this out: http://tomatoes.plantsdatabase.com/ Go there and try your advanced search.

We'll get that extra propagation method inserted soon.

I think that covers everything so far.

dave

Hi, I haven't been able to spend alot of time here today but noticed in search: when I type in palmetto I get only Sabal palmetto, genus/species but not Saw Palmetto, common name. The advanced search in some instances worked great, in others not at all, but I see your reasons for that happening. All in all I really like this new look, the changes and the way some things have been reworded to take in zonal differences.

When you do a search for Caladium, you get the caladiums, but also some other ****ium and also unrelated families.

This worked fine dave.When I put in the characteristics that I knew would only give me one option as far as varieties go,it gave me the expected answer.When I put in a more general search,that worked too.

I type in curcubit and the only listing I get is for M&S Watermelon.Curcubitaceae will get you everything in the family.

Curcubit is such a common slang word,it should be included with all of the entries.

There needs to be an option on the watermelon entry for sowing seed outside when there is no chance of frost.I couldn't find anything that would work for spring sowing there.Would you consider melons in the fruit and nut category??Or,do they need another designation?

Found some more stuff...'legume' gives you 12 different plants...none of which are beans.

This message was edited Wednesday, May 1st 11:56 PM

Dave, re the tomatoes and vegetables - I dunno. Perhaps they should be included in the category, but I'm too cross-eyed tonight to think it through. I'll get my thoughts together in the morning.

Regarding the searches for words like legumes and curcubits. Keep in mind that the regular search is going to look at the Common Name, Family, Genus, Species and Cultivar fields - if the term doesn't appear in one of those five fields, no entries will come up in a search. (It can't intuitively know that legumes = peas and beans.)

As Dave mentioned, the direct sowing will be added soon - that was my "ooopsie" :(

Regarding melons - I hesitate to put them in fruit and nuts, as I think of that as grapes, berries, rhubarb, nut trees, and probably cashes and peanuts.

They may eventually need their own category, but I can also see beans needing their own category - probably before melons. Any other thoughts/opinions?

I'll be spending some time tomorrow on the searching; I've been busy adding all the flower colors that couldn't be mapped over automatically, and I think I'm about 60-70% of the way done with that. (WHY didn't I go ahead with a standard color list when we did the last upgrade???? wahhhhh!)

That rudbeckia is for real Badseed. I was going to buy one last year but I couldn't find one in stock:

http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/00355.html

http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/wildflower/1997wi_rudbekia.html

Jon, you are seeing the fixed version. There was a cute picture of a little boy before. :)

Oh...lol Well, I don't think THAT would be a rudbeckia. Maybe someone uploaded it by mistake.

A search for Lycoris pulls up a bunch of Lychnis along with the Lycoris.

Disregard this one. That only happens if you have a colon between the L and y. LOL Must be time to cut my fingernails again. :)

This message was edited Thursday, May 2nd 10:26 AM

Sounds like my garden, though: I try just pulling up lycoris and pull up a bunch of lychnis along with it. Can't keep 'em apart. I don't have any lycoris, so this is a bald-faced lie, 'Chele. ;)