Modern Vespa

You can imagine my disappointment.

You're using "Advanced Search" incorrectly.

Though if you search by topics, there are a couple of hits.

Much improved *thumbs up*

More like a meal that way 🍸Cheers!

They were small. And, you know, there's inflation.

Hi happy holidays to everyone.
Can you pin this to the top?
Please
Thank you
E.

no.

stickys are used sparingly and with extreme discretion here. this does not fall under that purview.

besides, nobody reads them.

Why not just use search to find it?

🐒💩

Tsigidou
(equivalent of okee dokee)
now shows up in my replied to.
Happy holidays to everyone!!
Thanks for improving the search function.
E.

I actually have to take the new search function offline for a bit -- maybe an hour -- while I rearrange some things on the database. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I'd say you've earned it.

The new search is back online. Thanks for your patience, all!

I love it that Jess is now retired and tinkering with things for our entertainment.

I fear I'm about 10 years too late to make a difference.

Offline again, briefly. Late last night I had a bit of insight into how to make some of the filtered searches much faster, but it requires more index data. We've got room in the database to spare, so I'm going to do some rearranging of the deck chairs database while I have the chance.

If it's any consolation, as a new user who is constantly searching for anything and everything, the new search function is much improved. I appreciate all the hard work that went into it, thank you!!

New search is back online -- I inserted a couple of new columns into the database, which (at the sizes we are dealing with) takes quite a while to complete.

Back to (relative) normal...

Here's what I'm talking about.

Obviously, using Chrome is an option, but I'm usually using Safari (16.2)
My Mac is a late 2014. Like me it's getting old. Maybe it's the machine on the bum. Maybe it's the bum on the machine!

Jess, thanks for all that you do. If I've offended anyone....get over it!<G>

That's extremely helpful! I can see what's happening, at least. I'm not entirely sure why, but there are some specific things at play here.

First, browser cacheing plays havoc with dynamically generated pages. This is most apparent in search, and I've just been through hell and back dealing with related (though not identical) issues on the new xsearch.

The search results you are viewing were the result of a form submission, which has always been a tricky thing for browsers. You will sometimes see it ask you if you want to submit the form again, but sometimes it seems, in your case, like it just skips over that and goes right back to the search form. I honestly don't know why -- I tried the same search on my Safari and I didn't see that behavior.

Ultimately, though, while I definitely sympathize here, it might be moot -- the old search mechanism is going to be decommissioned in the near future.

I would be very, very interested to know if you see similar problems using the new search mechanism. I don't think you will, as I've used some tricks to try to preserve the search results (like opening topics in a new tab) but I've been surprised before. But given that I am investing a lot in the future of xsearch, I am highly motivated to fix any issues you find.

Again, I really do appreciate you taking the time to record the video -- that's the best description of a problem that anyone's ever given me.

Thank you, Jess!

Sorry if I missed it... is there a list of permitted operators somewhere? Or maybe the above set is comprehensive?

There is. Screen shot of the operator table below.

What we are calling "Advanced" is the MariaDB Fulltext Search Boolean mode. I didn't really want to explain the word "Boolean" to the non-techies, nor did I want to explain to the techies why "Boolean" is being grossly misused in this context. It's a terrible word to use for search.

If you're curious, you can read all about it here: https://mariadb.com/kb/en/full-text-index-overview/

Unfortunately, I don't think that page will actually make things clearer.

Thanks! This is very helpful! (Might be worth considering an "info" or "help" link to this info directly on the Advanced search page)

I think the likely solution is to build a better set of examples to be shown in the explanation on the right-hand side. There are some operators that are just not likely to be that useful (like the <and>) but +, -, *, and quotations are all probably reasonable. Going into a detailed explanation of all of them is probably too much.

Anyone want to take a stab at (say) three good examples to list that cover those bases?

I'm browsing on mobile and the explanation panel doesn't appear (unless I use landscape mode). So I hadn't seen it!

I agree the explanation area seems a natural place to put this. I'll give some examples a go when I can make some time if nobody else volunters or otherwise beats me to it.

Yeah, sorry about that. Space is limited on mobile, and I was determined to make at least the basic search panel fit. Sounds great!

just a quick bravo on the new search:

Had 2 part question come up on the shifty forum. I knew how to help the poster with the first part of his inquiry and *knew* there was a post on NSM with the other info he needed. In the old days, I would have likely been unable find the needed post. I found some quality info for them on the first try with the advanced search. Really nice upgrade.

Thanks, man!

Can I just start using Python or SAS?

How about regex?

The new search is great Thank you. When I look at the dates, we have been here along time Thanks Jess.

You are most welcome!

WOW, that's fast and gives relevant results. Great work. You well deserve your martini.

I've updated XSearch to take advantage of some new data I've added to the search index. My guesstimate is that it is somewhat faster at searches where a filter is being used, but it really depends on which filters and the exact thing you're looking for, along with how common those words are in the database.

You might not notice any difference at all.

I am continuing to try to refine it, though, as filtered searches are still pretty slow. Better than the old search, yes, but still too slow.

While playing with the new search, I noticed that if I modify an existing search it sometimes returns no results. But if I then reset the search and enter the exact same search conditions, I get the expected results. Some kind of bug?

A few questions:

• Is it feasible to have member live search when entering them in filter criteria (similar to what happens when using the "Members" section of the site)?
• What is significance of topic "blocks" in the search results? Maybe different batches returned by the server? Just seems a little confusing as-is.
• Is there a way to search for all posts by a user in x-search? The closest I got was applying a blank search field against Posts, and filter for a user. But this gives them in ascending order, when descending is maybe more useful? Best would be to show the "sort by" options that we see if using Topics (but this just gives topics started, not all replies).