SNOWEST POLL: Searching this forum

christopher · Sep 2, 2009

This sled forum has several thousand posts in it. When you log in and go looking for an answer to a specific question you have, knowing that it already out there somewhere, does the current layout of having all the threads in one massive forum make it EASIER or HARDER for you to locate what your searching for.?

tudizzle · Sep 2, 2009

responded about searching on the other poll, but I will repeat here

The only problem is you cannot seach for words with only 3 letters such as REV XP. You get zero results. Can this be changed???

christopher · Sep 2, 2009

Bizarre.
LOTS of people are READING THIS thread, but almost none of them are casting their votes.

I will check on the String Functions in the search engine, but I am not sure if it can work on 3 letters only and NOT find every word in the dictionar with those three letters.

THE SOLUTION IS "TAGS" which will be coming in a couple weeks.

AK-Rider · Sep 3, 2009

Won't tags only work if the poster actually lists tags when they post?

AK-Rider · Sep 3, 2009

tudizzle said:
The only problem is you cannot seach for words with only 3 letters such as REV XP. You get zero results. Can this be changed???

If you want to search for a two-letter string like "XP", you have to use a wildcard (*) at the end.

Search for XP in the Skidoo forum and you get this:
The following errors occurred with your search:
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

Search for XP* in the Skidoo forum and you get this:
search results
Yep... 500 results, which seems like the board search limit.

If newbs (or even vets) don't know how to search, of course they could get frustrated looking for info. But, if that's true, it's a failure on the part of the site administration for not telling them how to search more effectively.

Splitting all the posts into a bunch of "handy" little bins won't make it any easier to find what you're looking for. You'll just have to search multiple forums to make sure you didn't miss anything. How's that better?

Alaskan_awd · Sep 3, 2009

AK-Rider said:
If you want to search for a two-letter string like "XP", you have to use a wildcard (*) at the end.

Search for XP in the Skidoo forum and you get this:
The following errors occurred with your search:
Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms.

Search for XP* in the Skidoo forum and you get this:
search results
Yep... 500 results, which seems like the board search limit.

If newbs (or even vets) don't know how to search, of course they could get frustrated looking for info. But, if that's true, it's a failure on the part of the site administration for not telling them how to search more effectively.

Splitting all the posts into a bunch of "handy" little bins won't make it any easier to find what you're looking for. You'll just have to search multiple forums to make sure you didn't miss anything. How's that better?

I agree a search engine tutorial would be great for people that are less search savvy.

Your search above could be further narrowed down by searching only Thread Titles and narrowing down the date to the last few years since the XP's release.

Quotations also work for searching exact phrases "XP track" will only search for that term, and not threads containing just xp or track.

Maybe I'll be productive and work on a search tutorial.

christopher · Sep 3, 2009

Alaskan_awd said:
I agree a search engine tutorial would be great for people that are less search savvy.
.

Let me see what I can do for you on that !!

coyote9090 · Sep 3, 2009

A FAQ section would be great.

for all the threads with good information, tutorials and for repeat questions

christopher · Sep 3, 2009

FAQ for the whole site, or for each of the forums?

coyote9090 · Sep 3, 2009

for each of the sled forums

IE 1:skidoo
a:FAQ
b:all skidoo
c:Summit
d:Trail
e:Racing
f:Utility
2:Arctic cat
a:FAQ
b:all Arctic cat
c:M
(ETC.)

NorthMNSledder · Sep 3, 2009

coyote9090 said:
for each of the sled forums

IE 1:skidoo
a:FAQ
b:all skidoo
c:Summit
d:Trail
e:Racing
f:Utility
2:Arctic cat
a:FAQ
b:all Arctic cat
c:M
(ETC.)

How would you put things into the FAQ under each topic?

Alaskan_awd · Sep 3, 2009

I would make one FAQ. It is a FAQ based on the forum, not a manufacturer. The forum usage is the same no matter where you are at. Searching for something in Ski-Doo or posting in Ski-Doo is no different then searching or posting any where else in the forum.

Now, a FAQ could be created as a stickied post in the General section of each manufacturer. This could detail common problems and important threads for each manufacturer, but it does not deserve it's own sub-forum.

coyote9090 · Sep 3, 2009

mod's would move it there

I was just thinking about how may times new users seem to sign up to ask the same question that was asked 2 months ago

What pipe for my xp ?
my rev idles but wont rev up?

christopher · Sep 3, 2009

As we move forward and I beging the long process of asigning moderators to each of the forums, I WILL ask that each of them create an FAQ that is Appropriate to their unique special forum.

But, that will take some time to determine just what information NEEDS to be in each of the FAQs.

But its a great idea, and I support it.

Search

SNOWEST POLL: Searching this forum

Searching for data in the Ski-Doo forum is

Very easy and efficient "As-Is"

Can be a challenge because it lacks organization

christopher

Well-known member

tudizzle

Well-known member

christopher

Well-known member

AK-Rider

Free Member

AK-Rider

Free Member

Alaskan_awd

Free Member

christopher

Well-known member

coyote9090

Free Member

christopher

Well-known member

coyote9090

Free Member

NorthMNSledder

Trail Coordinator

Alaskan_awd

Free Member

coyote9090

Free Member

christopher

Well-known member

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