Search function very picky

[cranetruck]

Looking for an old post, I typed in the number of an instruction sheet, that I knew was in the post, PM-32333. The on-site search function came up with zero hits. When I did the same on Google, I got my post in one of the results....

 

[mangus580]

Bjorn, your post didnt have the - in it. I performed the same search using PM 32333 and came up with your post at the very top.

 

[cranetruck]

See, google didn't care, it wasn't so picky.

 

[mangus580]

google automatically takes punctuation out of its search strings.... Both a good thing, and a bad thing to do!

 

[clinto]

I search for stuff online (and at work within our system for a living and I have a suggestion.

The more characters you add, the more chances there are the search won't find what you need.

For example, you knew you needed PM-32333. But, what if you had accidentally typed "LM" instead of PM in your original post. You wouldn't find it by searching for PM-32333.

To avoid this, search for as few characters as you reasonably can that will still isolate the item you are searching for. In this instance, I would have searched for 32333. The odds of anything other than what you are searching for coming up are slim. Maybe a member's zip code or something, but not enough to significantly increase the search results.