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Postby Josh Clarke » Aug 16th, '07, 09:52



Let's admit it, this forum can be hard to search sometimes. Searching is a vital function to this forum to keep it clutter-free. I'm not trying to take over TalkMagic, but I've created a search engine for this forum through Google. Again, I'm not trying to take over. Give it a try. It works quite well.

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Postby Rob » Aug 16th, '07, 09:58

Personally speaking, I can't say I've ever really had much of a problem with the main TM Search Function.

Once you know how to use it correctly, it does a great job!

Whilst I admire your enthusiasm, Josh, the results returned by the Google engine look horrid, in comparison to what I'm used to here (every result starts with, "MAGIC TRICK - ", and it just makes it harder on the eye to pick out what I'm looking for :?

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Postby Josh Clarke » Aug 16th, '07, 10:14

I agree. But for me, and others, the search here is sometimes inadequate. It seems that if you don't spell and format the search exactly as in the thread, it's harder to find. Google is a little more forgiving, it even suggests correct spellings. Also, the search here only sorts by date, starting with the most recent post. Google searches by relevance. I'm not trying to replace the search here, but if it fails there is an alternative.

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Postby AndyRegs » Aug 16th, '07, 10:17

WHat does help when using the searches is to use AND.
For example, if you wanted to search for 13 steps, I would type in 13 AND steps AND to AND mentalism AND Corinda. This makes the search more pinpointed.

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Postby LeftEye » Aug 16th, '07, 10:20

The drop down boxes narrow the search down massively.

I type in what I want and select what forum I think it would be in. If no results return, I select what forum it is but also click "Search for all terms". Usually I get a result after that.

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Postby Farlsborough » Aug 16th, '07, 10:26

Well, I hate the search function too, so well done from me Josh! I just use google and write "site:www.talkmagic.co.uk" before the query.

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Postby Replicant » Aug 16th, '07, 14:23

In my experience, TM's search function can be a bit hit and miss; it all depends on what keywords you are searching for. It allows to Search topic title and message text or just to Search message text only. I think it would have been more useful to allow searching in topic title only, especially when searching for reviews. Searching message text can return too many irrelevant results.

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Postby Tomo » Aug 16th, '07, 15:07

Farlsborough wrote:Well, I hate the search function too, so well done from me Josh! I just use google and write "site:www.talkmagic.co.uk" before the query.


Ditto. It's easy to group words in Google or insist that they must appear in the results with the "+" operator, or never appear with "-".

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Postby IAIN » Aug 16th, '07, 15:17

i just type talkmagic followed by the word or effect name...

talkmagic horsefeathers for example...

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