Association Forum - Search Engine

Assn Members Area · Join

Home.

Association Forum

Ships Store

Cruising

Racing

Technical Tips

Photo Gallery - New

Boat Search - Updated

Manuals & Brochures

Swap Meet

Links

Officer Flag Line & Staff

Bylaws & Constitution

Members Area

Join the Association

Notice:
The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.

Association Forum

Username:	Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

All Forums

Association Business

International Association Business

Search Engine

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Author

Topic

32chevcab
Deckhand

Member Avatar

12 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/27/2009 : 20:08:16

The search engine isn't working. I have tried several topics and it always returns with one item that doesn't apply to the search I requested. I am a member and I have used this site for info for over a year. I have tried old searches and the result is the same.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 04/27/2009 : 20:16:56

Sorry that you're having those issues, it's kinda odd.

I did a bunch of tests before we moved the site over and the search performance was easily better than on the previous host.

Just to make sure all was well, I just did another batch of tests and again all was well.

Would you mind posting the search values you were using so that I can check them out.

(if you want, email them to me. I'm brit in usa and am at g mail dot com.)

Paul

Edited by - on

32chevcab
Deckhand

Members Avatar

12 Posts

Response Posted - 05/05/2009 : 19:07:27

Paul: I tried the Email address (britinusa@gmail.com) and I get someone named Robert replying. Anyway my problem is still with me. I am surprised no one else is complaining. I have found I can get single word searches like "deck" but not strings like "deck repair". Of course "deck" is almost useless as it does not focus on the real need. I have many old strings that I have printed on paper and can use them to revisit but the search engine right now will not find any of them. I am using the Google search on the left hand side of the page. I have tried not signing in as a member and that doesn't help. Does any one have any suggestions?
Richard
'86 TR/SK

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/05/2009 : 21:18:41

The Google search is very fast, but relies on Google's indexing of our entire site (over which we have no control). It does not give you the control that the Search function at the top of this page gives. Try that.

Also, I suspect Paul would like you to edit his precise e-mail address out of your post--it's an invitation to spammers' harvesting systems.

Edit: Forget about the e-mail address--it isn't correct anyway--he's @ somewhere else. The simplest way to e-mail somebody here is to click their name on the left, and then click "Click to send an e-mail".

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/06/2009 06:26:41

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 07:04:28

Paul--I think I found the problem. In the Google search, when you select "Our Website", Google only looks for our .com domain (left over from the transition). (Look at the results.) If you change it to look for .org, under which Google seems to have most of our stuff indexed, I think it will behave as it did before.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/06/2009 07:12:37

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 07:05:14

Ok, now we know that it's the google search feature that seems to have this issue.
I used the google search to find flag pole, water ballast and a few others, it worked fine but not with the indepth results of our forum search.

I used an external google search to look for 'winch handle' on our domain and it found 914 results!

Look at this search term carefully: "winch handle site:catalina-capri-25s.org"
If you go to http://www.google.com and put that in the search field (sans quotes!) you'll see what I mean.

So I think there is some kind of limit on the search when it's built in to the website.

The same search "winch handle" in the forum search provided 8 pages of results!

Oh Well!

Paul

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 07:17:30

One more observation: I enter the site as ".org", and remain that way until I do a Google search, at which time I get changed over to .com for the duration. Hmmmmmmm...

Google (and other search engines) might be a reason to not maintain the .com domain, and only go under .org.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/06/2009 07:22:41

32chevcab
Deckhand

Members Avatar

12 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 17:00:50

Paul/Dave:
Thanks for your help. I did use the Email by clicking the name on the left to answer Paul the first time but after a few days with no reply, I decided I may not of made a connection. So I tried to Email myself using the left click but it didn't arrive either. Next I tried the Email address that Paul left in his note but I got a guy named Robert replying. So then I posted again to see if I could raise anyone. Now I have tried to use the search at the top of the page but it in no way is as good or as quick as the old Google search. If I know the answer the search at the top get me there but if I am truly doing a search where I am looking for help and don't know the answer. Good luck. I have used some of my old search paper copy addresses and I can still get them by using the "http://" address. But that isn't point. I would like the Google search to work like it used to. Is there any hope or is this a monumental task? I'm not a computer geek and use the computer like another tool in my tool box.
Richard
'86 C25 5460 TR/SK

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 17:17:56

I'm hoping my clues will lead Paul to the solution. It appears to me that the Google Search is set up under and using the wrong top-level domain (to use geek-speak)--namely .com.

Paul??? (Bear in mind that he has a life and a business, too.) BTW, I e-mailed myself via the forum and it worked.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/06/2009 17:42:00

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 19:48:32

Glad you guys are on my side.

Yep, I had changed the .org to .com on the pages during the testing phase.. Just returned them to .org.

Paul

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/06/2009 : 20:32:50

Better, Richard?

Edited by - on

32chevcab
Deckhand

Members Avatar

12 Posts

Response Posted - 05/07/2009 : 06:06:25

Paul/Dave
HALLELUJAH!! It works again. Thanks so much. This sites wealth is its data base created by the many people who post here. The ability to access this data base quickly is very useful especially for those of us who have only dial up service. If you never have tried the Google search give it a try it has been a boon for me.
Richard
'86 C25 5460 TR/SK

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

Members Avatar

USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 05/07/2009 : 09:28:52

Paul, I just did a google search: winch handle site:catalina-capri-25s.org, and got 917 hits but doing a search:winch handle site:catalina-capri-25s.com, resulted in-Your search - winch handle site:catalina-capri-25s.com - did not match any documents.
Steve A

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 05/07/2009 : 12:59:45

hmmmmmmm, I never tried the google search. I'll have to do that next time. Thanks for the heads up Richard!

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

Members Avatar

USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 05/08/2009 : 17:18:43

Just to clarify (I love doing this, clarification nearly always leads to confusion

If you use the forum search (that's the link on the top right of this page) then it's a search using the forum software.

If you use the google search feature that is in the sidebar menu on the left side of this page, then it's an external search by google which is the equivalent of doing a search by going to google.com and specifying that the search only shows results in the catalina-capri-25s.org domain.

the biggest difference between the two is that the forum software search results resemble the layout of the forum whereas the google search does not look anything like the forum layout.

Of course, the google search is more powerful, it's just that the results don't look as good.

At least, that is my humble opinion... oh! Did I say that I'm a big fan of Google! Google Rocks!

Paul

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

Members Avatar

Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 05/08/2009 : 18:52:49

I'm a Google fan, too... I've slowly gotten to really appreciate Google Chrome (immature as it is) as a browser. Everything is blindingly fast... Start typing what you're looking for, and it takes you there faster than you can type! If it's somewhere you've been before, it takes you there faster than you can use Internet Explorer bookmarks. However, for anyone familiar with our forum setup, the forum Search function lets you use that familiarity to zero in on something--perhaps C-250-specific, C-25-specific, or Capri-specific. Both are good--each has its advantages. Google's is speed, but with it can come a less helpful dump of "matches" from all over the site.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 05/08/2009 18:54:27

Topic

New Topic

Topic Locked

Printer Friendly

Jump To:

Association Forum

Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.