Tips on Searching the site...

[mblanch330]

First of all, find the "search" button. On every page there’s a green button below the navigation bar (the one that shows you which forum or topic you are currently browsing). Click it and a small window will show up.

This small window is the basic search. It doesn’t give you any options besides entering one or more keywords. A little trick (that can also be used in the advanced search field of course) is to exclude certain words you don’t want the engine to find in the posts you're looking for. You can do this by putting a “-“ in front of the word you want the engine to ignore.

The asterisk is a wildcard, meaning that you can find words that contain the term you entered. If you are looking for something very specific (keywords that aren’t included in many threads), the basic search interface is all you need to find information on that subject. But for most purposes, you’ll need to use the advanced interface to get useful results without having to wade through hundreds of threads that don’t really pertain to the subject you’re looking for.

If your search returns a blank page or a browser error along the lines of "The page cannot be displayed. The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings", your search may be overloading the server because your keyword is very common. That means that you need to use a more specific keyword or try one or more of the options that help you narrow down your search (explained below).

To access the advanced search, you have to click “Advanced Search” in the basic search window (who woulda thunk it?).

The advanced search gives you several options. Of course you can enter your keyword(s) here too, in the upper left corner. Below the keyword field, the first important advanced feature comes into play. The pull-down menu lets you specify that only threads with the keywords in their subject line (as opposed to the whole body of the message) will show up. This is particularly useful to let the search engine sort out threads that don’t primarily pertain to the keyword(s) entered.
For example, a basic query for “mobile” will trigger 500 results (the maximum number of results the engine can handle) and most of them don’t have much to do with the subject you’re looking for. Narrowing it down by selecting “Search Titles Only” will provide you with fewer results.

You can also search by user name. This field is located in the upper right corner of the advanced search page. This feature comes in handy when you remember that a certain member made a particularly helpful post on a topic and you can’t find it by using keywords alone.
An example would be entering “Mogul” (a phone model) in the keyword field and “D/\sh” in the user field. This will provide you with all threads where D/\sh mentioned the Mogul.
You can further limit the results by searching for threads started by that user. This feature can be found in the pull-down menu.
If you can’t remember the whole name/nickname of the user you are looking for, enter the partial name and “un-check” the “Exact name” box (it won’t correct misspellings though).

Then there’s the “Find Threads with at least/at most X Replies” option. This is particularly useful if you want to find a long, extensive discussion on a subject you want to know more about or if you want to find a particular thread you remember as being very short or long.

Another option that can help you narrow the results down is the feature that allows you to limit your search to a particular timespan. Very helpful if you remember that the thread you’re looking for was posted within the last month or more than a year ago, for example.

In order to get a better overview, you can sort the results by different attributes, like the number of replies in order to get the threads that were the most active first.

Then there’s the Show Results as Threads/Posts feature which lets you access individual posts instead of entire threads. The advantage of this is that you can preview these posts in order to find the information you’re looking for without clicking through countless threads.

You may also search individual forums, just click on a forum in the “Search in Forum(s)” field. You can also select more than one forum by pressing the Ctrl key while clicking them. Or you can press Shift while selecting two different forums to mark them and everything in between. This is often helpful in order to exclude posts in the “Members Birthdays” forums, for example.

A final, but important hint: be a bit creative.
For example, if you're looking for people's opinions on the "Mogul" or the "Touch", feeding the search engine with their titles won't get you far. These names are just too common on this board - and in a different context no less. That's where you come into play: think about which terms would usually be associated with these phones and mentioned when these phones are discussed. The words "custom" and "mods" come to mind. Be creative and you will find plenty of useful posts. :rapture:

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by mblanch330

First of all, find the "search" button. On every page theres a green button below the navigation bar (the one that shows you which forum or topic you are currently browsing). Click it and a small window will show up.

This small window is the basic search. It doesnt give you any options besides entering one or more keywords. A little trick (that can also be used in the advanced search field of course) is to exclude certain words you dont want the engine to find in the posts you're looking for. You can do this by putting a “-“ in front of the word you want the engine to ignore.

The asterisk is a wildcard, meaning that you can find words that contain the term you entered. If you are looking for something very specific (keywords that arent included in many threads), the basic search interface is all you need to find information on that subject. But for most purposes, youll need to use the advanced interface to get useful results without having to wade through hundreds of threads that dont really pertain to the subject youre looking for.

If your search returns a blank page or a browser error along the lines of "The page cannot be displayed. The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings", your search may be overloading the server because your keyword is very common. That means that you need to use a more specific keyword or try one or more of the options that help you narrow down your search (explained below).

To access the advanced search, you have to click “Advanced Search” in the basic search window (who woulda thunk it?).

The advanced search gives you several options. Of course you can enter your keyword(s) here too, in the upper left corner. Below the keyword field, the first important advanced feature comes into play. The pull-down menu lets you specify that only threads with the keywords in their subject line (as opposed to the whole body of the message) will show up. This is particularly useful to let the search engine sort out threads that dont primarily pertain to the keyword(s) entered.
For example, a basic query for “mobile” will trigger 500 results (the maximum number of results the engine can handle) and most of them dont have much to do with the subject youre looking for. Narrowing it down by selecting “Search Titles Only” will provide you with fewer results.

You can also search by user name. This field is located in the upper right corner of the advanced search page. This feature comes in handy when you remember that a certain member made a particularly helpful post on a topic and you cant find it by using keywords alone.
An example would be entering “Mogul” (a phone model) in the keyword field and “D/\sh” in the user field. This will provide you with all threads where D/\sh mentioned the Mogul.
You can further limit the results by searching for threads started by that user. This feature can be found in the pull-down menu.
If you cant remember the whole name/nickname of the user you are looking for, enter the partial name and “un-check” the “Exact name” box (it wont correct misspellings though).

Then theres the “Find Threads with at least/at most X Replies” option. This is particularly useful if you want to find a long, extensive discussion on a subject you want to know more about or if you want to find a particular thread you remember as being very short or long.

Another option that can help you narrow the results down is the feature that allows you to limit your search to a particular timespan. Very helpful if you remember that the thread youre looking for was posted within the last month or more than a year ago, for example.

In order to get a better overview, you can sort the results by different attributes, like the number of replies in order to get the threads that were the most active first.

Then theres the Show Results as Threads/Posts feature which lets you access individual posts instead of entire threads. The advantage of this is that you can preview these posts in order to find the information youre looking for without clicking through countless threads.

You may also search individual forums, just click on a forum in the “Search in Forum(s)” field. You can also select more than one forum by pressing the Ctrl key while clicking them. Or you can press Shift while selecting two different forums to mark them and everything in between. This is often helpful in order to exclude posts in the “Members Birthdays” forums, for example.

A final, but important hint: be a bit creative.
For example, if you're looking for people's opinions on the "Mogul" or the "Touch", feeding the search engine with their titles won't get you far. These names are just too common on this board - and in a different context no less. That's where you come into play: think about which terms would usually be associated with these phones and mentioned when these phones are discussed. The words "custom" and "mods" come to mind. Be creative and you will find plenty of useful posts. :rapture:

damn thank you bro this is getting a sticky.

[BiG JeW]

LMAO!! i was going to work on something Similar to this in the next few days, but getting into more detail, but i think you have done enough! This is a GREAT THREAD!! I am thrilled you did this. So with that said, thank you so much for going out of your way and making this Thread.!! DASh I know if you could sticky this thing 100times you would...LOL... thanks again!

BiG JeW

[mblanch330]

Thanks guys. After having helped run a kids forum for the the game "Toontown Online" for more than 2 years, I know from first hand experience the old "Search" button is vastly under used. Most of the time it's just laziness and easier to ask the same old questions, but I think a lot of people don't realize what a helpful tool it really is.
Hopefully this will open a few eyes. :^^:

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by mblanch330

First of all, find the "search" button. On every page theres a green button below the navigation bar (the one that shows you which forum or topic you are currently browsing). Click it and a small window will show up.

This small window is the basic search. It doesnt give you any options besides entering one or more keywords. A little trick (that can also be used in the advanced search field of course) is to exclude certain words you dont want the engine to find in the posts you're looking for. You can do this by putting a “-“ in front of the word you want the engine to ignore.

The asterisk is a wildcard, meaning that you can find words that contain the term you entered. If you are looking for something very specific (keywords that arent included in many threads), the basic search interface is all you need to find information on that subject. But for most purposes, youll need to use the advanced interface to get useful results without having to wade through hundreds of threads that dont really pertain to the subject youre looking for.

If your search returns a blank page or a browser error along the lines of "The page cannot be displayed. The page you are looking for is currently unavailable. The Web site might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your browser settings", your search may be overloading the server because your keyword is very common. That means that you need to use a more specific keyword or try one or more of the options that help you narrow down your search (explained below).

To access the advanced search, you have to click “Advanced Search” in the basic search window (who woulda thunk it?).

The advanced search gives you several options. Of course you can enter your keyword(s) here too, in the upper left corner. Below the keyword field, the first important advanced feature comes into play. The pull-down menu lets you specify that only threads with the keywords in their subject line (as opposed to the whole body of the message) will show up. This is particularly useful to let the search engine sort out threads that dont primarily pertain to the keyword(s) entered.
For example, a basic query for “mobile” will trigger 500 results (the maximum number of results the engine can handle) and most of them dont have much to do with the subject youre looking for. Narrowing it down by selecting “Search Titles Only” will provide you with fewer results.

You can also search by user name. This field is located in the upper right corner of the advanced search page. This feature comes in handy when you remember that a certain member made a particularly helpful post on a topic and you cant find it by using keywords alone.
An example would be entering “Mogul” (a phone model) in the keyword field and “D/\sh” in the user field. This will provide you with all threads where D/\sh mentioned the Mogul.
You can further limit the results by searching for threads started by that user. This feature can be found in the pull-down menu.
If you cant remember the whole name/nickname of the user you are looking for, enter the partial name and “un-check” the “Exact name” box (it wont correct misspellings though).

Then theres the “Find Threads with at least/at most X Replies” option. This is particularly useful if you want to find a long, extensive discussion on a subject you want to know more about or if you want to find a particular thread you remember as being very short or long.

Another option that can help you narrow the results down is the feature that allows you to limit your search to a particular timespan. Very helpful if you remember that the thread youre looking for was posted within the last month or more than a year ago, for example.

In order to get a better overview, you can sort the results by different attributes, like the number of replies in order to get the threads that were the most active first.

Then theres the Show Results as Threads/Posts feature which lets you access individual posts instead of entire threads. The advantage of this is that you can preview these posts in order to find the information youre looking for without clicking through countless threads.

You may also search individual forums, just click on a forum in the “Search in Forum(s)” field. You can also select more than one forum by pressing the Ctrl key while clicking them. Or you can press Shift while selecting two different forums to mark them and everything in between. This is often helpful in order to exclude posts in the “Members Birthdays” forums, for example.

A final, but important hint: be a bit creative.
For example, if you're looking for people's opinions on the "Mogul" or the "Touch", feeding the search engine with their titles won't get you far. These names are just too common on this board - and in a different context no less. That's where you come into play: think about which terms would usually be associated with these phones and mentioned when these phones are discussed. The words "custom" and "mods" come to mind. Be creative and you will find plenty of useful posts. :rapture:

Originally Posted by mblanch330

Thanks guys. After having helped run a kids forum for the the game "Toontown Online" for more than 2 years, I know from first hand experience the old "Search" button is vastly under used. Most of the time it's just laziness and easier to ask the same old questions, but I think a lot of people don't realize what a helpful tool it really is.
Hopefully this will open a few eyes. :^^:

same here im keeping my fingers crossed.

[elboriyorker]

nice intro and well written it will be sticky..nice job

[broSki]

yesssssssss, luv this post already :viannen_77:

[TAR]

very good post

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by tarblueriver

very good post

i agree take a look at the signature.

[TAR]

Originally Posted by D/\SH

i agree take a look at the signature.

yea i noticed it earlier. i must say like it...lol

[broSki]

Originally Posted by D/\SH

i agree take a look at the signature.

nice sig, I think all staff at Wckediden should have that sig with the click here, like you have it, it should save time. I want it also.

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by brol1k

nice sig, I think all staff at Wckediden should have that sig with the click here, like you have it, it should save time. I want it also.

do her up than bro.

[simplyput3456]

Ok...i'm not trying to be mean & I don't want to start a war on Wckediden..but since i'm a "noob" I want to throw in my 2 cents & DEFEND the newbies like myself.

#1. I love this forum with ALL my heart, but it's one of the most difficult & advanced forum's I've EVER been a part of. I think you guys 4get that part. It took me TWO days just to figure out HOW to join the part of the board that I was interested in. I had to email Dash AND kaos just to do THAT PART!!!

#2. When a new person joins..there is NO tab that says "Noob" or "Newbie"!! You have NO IDEA WHERE TO GO or what to look for. If you look at the above tabs..it's confusing to ANY normal person.

#3. The first thing I did when I joined was go to the FAQ tab...It didn't even ADDRESS that there WAS a "noob" section. I even tried the search & typed in "newbie"...not "noob" so my results were off. Imagine my surprise when Dash "gently" directed me there lol.

#4. My next problem was I had NO idea what the name of what I wanted on the phone was called. I watched the youtube videos but..if you're not familiar with the app names, you really have no idea what the apps are called OR how to spell them.

I'm still treading thin water on this forum & doing things wrong every single day. I'm also learning everything as I learn how to get around every day. Luckily I haven't been scolded too harshly. But I know that I SHOULD have been or WOULD have been scolded much harder if I was a dude.

And one LAST thing before I stop defending (although there are lots more)...When you log on the site you can't even SEE the sticky's!! The only way I find them is to click the unread posts link (which I just found last Friday) lol.

My point is..be patient with us...we're NEW. And most of us will try our best to follow the rules!!

*please don't be mad at me for telling the truth* lol *defense stance*

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by simplyput3456

Ok...i'm not trying to be mean & I don't want to start a war on Wckediden..but since i'm a "noob" I want to throw in my 2 cents & DEFEND the newbies like myself.

#1. I love this forum with ALL my heart, but it's one of the most difficult & advanced forum's I've EVER been a part of. I think you guys 4get that part. It took me TWO days just to figure out HOW to join the part of the board that I was interested in. I had to email Dash AND kaos just to do THAT PART!!!

#2. When a new person joins..there is NO tab that says "Noob" or "Newbie"!! You have NO IDEA WHERE TO GO or what to look for. If you look at the above tabs..it's confusing to ANY normal person.

#3. The first thing I did when I joined was go to the FAQ tab...It didn't even ADDRESS that there WAS a "noob" section. I even tried the search & typed in "newbie"...not "noob" so my results were off. Imagine my surprise when Dash "gently" directed me there lol.

#4. My next problem was I had NO idea what the name of what I wanted on the phone was called. I watched the youtube videos but..if you're not familiar with the app names, you really have no idea what the apps are called OR how to spell them.

I'm still treading thin water on this forum & doing things wrong every single day. I'm also learning everything as I learn how to get around every day. Luckily I haven't been scolded too harshly. But I know that I SHOULD have been or WOULD have been scolded much harder if I was a dude.

And one LAST thing before I stop defending (although there are lots more)...When you log on the site you can't even SEE the sticky's!! The only way I find them is to click the unread posts link (which I just found last Friday) lol.

My point is..be patient with us...we're NEW. And most of us will try our best to follow the rules!!

*please don't be mad at me for telling the truth* lol *defense stance*

first off all thanks for pointing your concerns with us in a mature manner. i really do appreciate that alot.

1. the easiest way to navigate is to on the main page get familiar with the fun stuff that is located there. than you will be able to go to the side emnu and there are your things you need for your phone like the customizations, programs, themes, and the help desk for all questions which includes the noob section.

2. there isnt a forum out there that has the noob section on the opening page since all questions would be asked there no matter what and would be very difficult to keep sorted and make the site harder to find stuff and more congested.

3. yeah in the opening hi from theread i add the post with the Welcome to Wckediden. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the help desk area located from the side menu. Thanks for that very reason.

4. i do have a thread and all with all my mids stickied in the section of the phones that they will work for. in most the videos they do same the name when im describing them. but not all people come from youtube either and thus dont know what they want. a ppc is something that you customize to your liking and not everyonee has the same use for a ppc as the next person does. some use it for the looks and the so called "cool" stuff that can be added to it and others use it for business and just uset eh business oriented apps for it...... so it impossible to get everyone needs covered or the home page and the FAQ would go on forever.

5. and for the stickys they are stickied in that section only that they belong into. so there is no way to show them all since you have to open the forum to see the stickies for that area. there is no way possible to have all stickies just on the main page for say since they have to be linked in the system for the specific forum for such as ppc applications.

once again thanks for the mature input on the site and we will see what we can do to make this more noob friendly. Thanks

[simplyput3456]

Awww Dash! I thought I was gonna get yelled at!! *hugs* and thanks for listening!

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by simplyput3456

Awww Dash! I thought I was gonna get yelled at!! *hugs* and thanks for listening!

no problem got to take care of the people here because without the members there would be no Wckediden. im currently thinking of what i can do to address the issues that you have brought up.

[broSki]

Originally Posted by D/\SH

no problem got to take care of the people here because without the members there would be no Wckediden. im currently thinking of what i can do to address the issues that you have brought up.

kiss ass bro lol j/k

[raybond25]

i am fairly new here at Wckediden and am loving it
i found this thread very helpful actually 'cause before i would do the simple search and would come up with a huge range of results...searching is easier now thanks
i would also like to thank the Wckediden staff for being patient with all of us noobs and for pushing us in the right direction (sometimes not very gently) and it is understandable that you get frustrated when people ask the same questions over and over again...personally i spent a couple days just reading before i posted anything...anyways to the point of the message THANK YOU Wckediden STAFF

[renreq]

Originally Posted by simplyput3456

Ok...i'm not trying to be mean & I don't want to start a war on Wckediden..but since i'm a "noob" I want to throw in my 2 cents & DEFEND the newbies like myself.

#1. I love this forum with ALL my heart, but it's one of the most difficult & advanced forum's I've EVER been a part of. I think you guys 4get that part. It took me TWO days just to figure out HOW to join the part of the board that I was interested in. I had to email Dash AND kaos just to do THAT PART!!!

#2. When a new person joins..there is NO tab that says "Noob" or "Newbie"!! You have NO IDEA WHERE TO GO or what to look for. If you look at the above tabs..it's confusing to ANY normal person.

#3. The first thing I did when I joined was go to the FAQ tab...It didn't even ADDRESS that there WAS a "noob" section. I even tried the search & typed in "newbie"...not "noob" so my results were off. Imagine my surprise when Dash "gently" directed me there lol.

#4. My next problem was I had NO idea what the name of what I wanted on the phone was called. I watched the youtube videos but..if you're not familiar with the app names, you really have no idea what the apps are called OR how to spell them.

I'm still treading thin water on this forum & doing things wrong every single day. I'm also learning everything as I learn how to get around every day. Luckily I haven't been scolded too harshly. But I know that I SHOULD have been or WOULD have been scolded much harder if I was a dude.

And one LAST thing before I stop defending (although there are lots more)...When you log on the site you can't even SEE the sticky's!! The only way I find them is to click the unread posts link (which I just found last Friday) lol.

My point is..be patient with us...we're NEW. And most of us will try our best to follow the rules!!

*please don't be mad at me for telling the truth* lol *defense stance*

On behalf of the rest of us Newbies, I'm proud of you for sharing your thoughts and oppinions about this board! It's true that it can be extremely confusing, even for someone like myself with lots of computer experience. Your points are well taken, but one thing I've discovered (and this is especially true of Dash) is that you'll find some of the nicest and most helpful people here. I'm a male who has probably driven Dash a little crazy because I could never figure out where his "signature" button was that would take me to the area of the board where you can find the helpful prep Guides and join a group, but I've never been ignored or chastised for failing to understand something. Many times, as you point out, the problem starts when we assign different meanings to words, such as referring to a person's picture as their avatar when indeed (as I finally figured out) this avatar is also where you find the person's signature area.

Words. They're tricky little things.

Rene

[jnuts5423]

Im starting to get the hang of mrowsing around this sight. Had no idea about the asteris and such till i found this thread. My main question in coming to this thread is why is there a "search this thread in some threads and not in others. At least for me, unless my computer is acting up, the ATR3 thread does not have a search this thread option. That threads not a huge deal, i found what I was Looking for, But just trying to do my best to be self sufficient. Thanks

[BiG JeW]

Originally Posted by jnuts5423

Im starting to get the hang of mrowsing around this sight. Had no idea about the asteris and such till i found this thread. My main question in coming to this thread is why is there a "search this thread in some threads and not in others. At least for me, unless my computer is acting up, the ATR3 thread does not have a search this thread option. That threads not a huge deal, i found what I was Looking for, But just trying to do my best to be self sufficient. Thanks

its in that thread as well... you may wanna try switching skins at the very bottom left corner of the website,

[jnuts5423]

Thats cool. I like the tech trends dark more anyways. However all three do not show a search this thread on that particular thread. All other threads seem to have it though. Not a big deal, probably just somethin stupid with my computer. Thanks for your help though.

[BiG JeW]

Originally Posted by D/\SH

damn thank you bro this is getting a sticky.

Dash press the thanks button for the poor guy!

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by 13iG Je\/\/

Dash press the thanks button for the poor guy!

i already did......

[CreoleSAV]

Preciate the knowledge this shit is still difficult though lol

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by CreoleSAV

Preciate the knowledge this shit is still difficult though lol

you will get the hang of things.... the best thing that you can do to learn is to do what you are doing and thats reading and asking questions :)

[gadget945]

I'm still confused about the way folks justify not searching for stuff because they are new. I'm new, I whine, I know that I've had to ask for help too.

The search button works, and then you only got to this site because you were looking for help on the web and found this site.

I still say that the staff has got to have nerves of steel and/or the patience of a saint to keep on doing the work they do on this site.

BTW - IMO, it shouldn't matter if you are a dude or a chick on whether or not you get slammed.

[elboriyorker]

Originally Posted by gadget945

I'm still confused about the way folks justify not searching for stuff because they are new. I'm new, I whine, I know that I've had to ask for help too.

The search button works, and then you only got to this site because you were looking for help on the web and found this site.

I still say that the staff has got to have nerves of steel and/or the patience of a saint to keep on doing the work they do on this site.

BTW - IMO, it shouldn't matter if you are a dude or a chick on whether or not you get slammed.

hey don't feel bad with the new skins i added the search feature in plain view.there's no excuse.Some people have the gift with electronics and some don't.and those we have to worry about..lol

[MarleyJR]

all this reading gives me a headache lol. but when people see your phone there like WOW how did you do that.lol it all worth it in the end

[D/\SH]

Originally Posted by MarleyJR

all this reading gives me a headache lol. but when people see your phone there like WOW how did you do that.lol it all worth it in the end

that is for sure, and yeah it does give you a headache but thankfully i am past that stage of it all though lmao, i still do mad reading but makes a lot more sense now than it did when i was beginning. i feel it all over again with the iphone and all but im starting to get the full hang of that as well as well as pretty much got the android platform down pat also :) it will come jst be patient and dont overexert yourself.... remember this is supposed to be fun

until next time
D/\SH Speed Ahead