Questions about Search function

I have 3 questions about doing searches on DG.

1. Is it possible to do a search that would include thread titles? Often when I am looking for something I remember the thread title because I see it everytime it comes up on the threads I am watching, but I don't have a specific enough phrase or word to narrow the search down and I can't use the title itself because search seems to ignore it.

2. Is it possible to do a search for a given member's responses to threads on a particular topic? I know I can search the threads a member starts by going to their home page but sometimes I am looking for something different. For example, maybe I know that John Smith discussed how often to turn a compost pile without having it cool down, and I know this was mentioned in the last two weeks. If I put 'compost' in search I am going to get a huge list of responses. If I can put John Smith in (as a poster, not just an initiator), then I might be able to narrow it down to his posts in the last two weeks.

3. Is there any place that gives specific directions on using the DG search option? Using the above example, I don't know if I can combine the phrases 'compost pile' and 'cool down' to narrow a search. Or if I can put in a specific phrase and a time frame to narrow it down.

TIA for your help on this. I do a lot of searches and I am not sure how to do it as efficiently as possible.

I've had a need several times in the last month to search for a member's comments and it sure would have been nice to narrow the time frame of the search down to a specific period (last 24hrs, last week, last month, etc). I'd also like to see the thread title in the search results if it can be done easily enough. My 2¢ Brenda

NoH20, I know you can put a member's name in the regular search box and it will bring up all the threads where they posted a response, beginning with the most recent . Then, on that search results page, you can narrow that search by choosing a specific forum.

Not all the answers you wanted, but it's a start...

Thanks, Darius. That helps a lot. I did notice that when I do that type of search the 'click to skip straight to first instance of' function only applies to the member's name if it is in the text of a post; it doesn't go to the member's name if it is listed under 'Author'.

Hmmm......... didn't know that. Thanks.

Well, there are some yes and no questions here.

Firstly, I added a new feature that should greatly help you. Now you can limit your search specifically by user. So enter your search terms (Compost) and then the user (username) and submit the page. It seems to work pretty well.

Take a look at this, and post to let me know what else is missing!

Dave

Dave, I tried the new search function (thank you!) and it worked great for the first page. Then I had problems. I had entered 'Fire' into the 'What are you searching for' line. The forums option was 'All'. In the 'Only posts by' line I entered 'Ruby42'. The search came up with 2 pages that met the criteria. Page one was fine but when I clicked on page 2 or 'Next', instead of going to page 2 it re-ran the search without using the 'Only posts by' criteria. The search results listed many pages with threads with fire in them, by a variety of posters. 'Ruby42' had been blanked out of the 'Only posts by' line.

I also had some other options I think would be helpful in the search function. It may be they are already there and I just don't know how to use them.

1. Is it possible to select more than one forum? For instance, if I am looking for a thread about compost by John Smith and I know it is either in the Soil forum or the Organic Gardening forum but I am not sure which it would help if I could select both forums to search.

2. Can I specify a particular time frame? For instance, I know John Smith posted that compost comment I am looking for within the last two weeks and I would like to narrow my search to that time frame. Or I remember somebody talking about a particular rose and I remember it was right around Valentine's Day of this year.

3. How specific can I get in the Search box itself? If I remember a post that mentioned using garlic and alcohol in a spray for mealybugs can I enter 'garlic + alcohol + mealybugs' in my search box? If I enter just one of those search items, I can get a long, long list that takes a long, long time to go through.

4. When I do a fairly specific search in the PDB it seems like I get a lot of non-specific responses. I know I am doing something wrong but I don't know what. For example, if I enter 'Iris 'Lady in Red' in the search line I get the following: http://plantsdatabase.com/search.php?search_text=Iris+%27Lady+in+Red%27&Search.x=42&Search.y=17

5. Sometimes I think I would like to just look at pictures of a flower I am not familiar with. So if I type in 'hibiscus' in the PDB search, thinking I will view all the hibiscus in alphabetical order, I get what seems to be a random list of hibiscus: http://plantsdatabase.com/search.php?search_text=Hibiscus&Search=Search

As I said above, a lot of this may already be available and I am just unaware of it or am not using the search function correctly. I did look for instructions on using the search function but didn't find any.

Any help you can give me is appreciated!

On the subject of searching, is there a way to search other peoples' tradelists for a particular plant or seed?

When I use the sidebar's Custom Menu Tradelist Search, it appears to point just to any tradelists I have (none, at present).

http://davesgarden.com/tl/

go there. Not very specific, but it works.

Cheri'

Dave, have you had a chance to look at this since you posted on November 4th? Thanks.