Modern Vespa

I did a search for the terms "search" and "search function" but there were so many hits that it was really quite useless.

Why do people feel they have to qualify their posts with the above statment?

Here's my two cents.

There are far too many of you out there that feel you have to remind a person to do a search before posting a new post as though it is somehow offensive to you that a person wants to have their own post. It's one thing to gently refer someone to a post because you want them to have all the information available, but it seems sometimes that the intention is more to ridicule someone for not checking first to see if the questions already been asked. Sometimes its just exciting to start your own post. I was happy to have this topic to write about. I only hope someone can find that this topic has already been discussed and point me to that thread.

You can find an article on the search function in the Wiki under the FAQs; Forum-Related Questions
FAQ: How do I Search Modern Vespa?

Granted it's not easy to find, but with patience you'll get to it.

Harvey

Actually that doesn't happen much here compared to other forums. People either don't answer at all, or you get a helpful answer like the one above. QED.

We encourage people to be helpful here and for the majority of us that is the case. You will find some people will go to the trouble of doing the search for the person asking a question and posting the found articles for them. I think this is great and our community here has been extremely helpful this way.

Benito,

I suppose that for the most part your right. There are a lot of people here that go out of there ways to be helpful. I guess it's the ones that make a point of being rude that stand out. Or maybe they're not being rude on purpose. We all know there is a search function. I don't need to be reminded that its there when I ask a question.

I'm sorry that happened to you. There are some snarky members here, just like any other message board, but I think you'll find the helpful ones far outnumber them.

Glad you are here! I was born down the road from you (in Benton Harbor).

I hope I haven't come across as the kind of person the OP is referring to. I often suggest to a new user in an introduction thread that they learn to search as well as check out the wiki. I do also, however, usually tell them that newbie questions are welcome and if they don't find the answer by searching to please ask.
I agree that some will immediately jump on someone for "not searching" and that is unfortunate. Just because someone doesn't state that they tried a search and couldn't find the answer is not an indication that they haven't tried.
Just my 2 cents.

Only slightly off topic:

I think the search function would be vastly improved if it defaulted to searching on ALL the search terms. I tend to search for something like "GTS 250 oil" and hit search - I get results that match GTS along with results that match 250 and results that match oil - why? Surely if I enter 3 terms then I want search on all 3 terms.

It would also be great if there was a simple link at the top that allowed you to see all threads in which you're contributing - at the moment I have to find a thread I'm in - find my post - click my name - and finally click show all my posts!

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

OK. Pretend that I've diligently searched and found the existing thread closest to my subject. My related question hasn't been directly answered even on that thread, so I add my ReplyPost (with or without realizing that it's) several months after the previous Reply.

Is there a MV protocol or etiquette for resurrecting an old thread? (I've seen that derided as well.)

If your question wasn't answered in the previous post then it's probably easiest to start a new thread. To score maximum points you could perhaps provide a link to the old thread saying you couldn't find your answer there

Thanks for the tip. 10 points for you!

I don't agree with your assumptions with why members are encouraged to try their own searchs.

i agree....i see many people posting things for sale, yet either don't include photos/a link to photos/or i don't know how to post photos, yet this site does have a FAQ link describing exactly how to do that.

this is the internet....replying with a "hard to sell without photos", "perform a search" or "check FAQ's" isn't rude, it's a QUICK tip (on the part of the replier) to often point out the obvious.

i pointed out the lack of photos to one seller; she quickly threw up some photos and her scoot sold within a couple of three days.

What were you actually looking for when you searched for those terms?


Dave