need help with serching

[jazzyjas]

Ok so I try to search topics before asking you wonderful people to pony up your favorite recipes but when I enter something like "potato salad" I get every thread that contained anything about potatoes or salads and nothing helpful -- are there some hints I should know about serching?

Jas

[Gail]

The good thing is that there's a TON of information here. The bad thing is that the bulletin board's search mechanism isn't nearly as sophisticated as CL's recipe finder. Since I've been here since this board's inception, I admit I kind of KNOW where to look for things.

Some hints:
1. Right now, I believe the active forum (Great Foods) contains threads from December on. If you KNOW something was posted before then, go directly to the General Archives or Popular Threads. (There are LOADS of great things in the archives from last year.) Running a search on All Forums will bring up a ton of threads.

2. Try running a search on Subject Only, rather than Searching Entire Message. (This is the reason you're getting everything ever posted about potatoes and salad.) From there, scan the titles of threads. That may help you to weed out topics which aren't worth your time.

3. If you get a kajillion threads on a subject, you can also try typing in an alternate subject-- maybe picnic or barbecue, as an example.

4. You can also narrow your search by typing in a key word plus someone's name-- for example, since Lindrusso has posted a lot of appetizer recipes, you can specify that you only want to look up "appetizer" and "Lindrusso" as user name.

5. You can also try (and this sometimes gives weird results) embellishing your recipe. In other words, if you want a potato salad with dill in it, maybe try potato salad dill and rather than asking to Match all search terms above, change to Match any of the search terms above.

Personally, I like having so many threads to choose from, but I can understand how if you're in a hurry, it might be a bit much.


[This message has been edited by Gail (edited 05-16-2001).]

[Alky]

WOW!!! Thanks for the info Gail. I, too, have had a heck of a time finding things sometimes!!

[Lynn B]

Gail,
Once again, you have impressed me!
Is there anything you DON'T know?!!
Lynn

[LGBurns]

Wow Gail. That was amazing, thanks so much! Just wanted to add that you can also use Search By Date and limit your search to certain time frames (2 days ago, 30 days ago, etc.). I use this if I know someone posted something recently or if I'm searching for something that I think probably comes up often (like chicken salad) and figure the last 30 days will probably yield a helpful thread.

[SandyM]

Well, I've held it in long enough - it's time to blow her cover.

Gail is really Maelynn. Or is it, Maelynn is really Gail? Hmmm......Now I'm really confused...........

[jazzyjas]

Thanks Gail, I knew you'd come through for me. I didn't want to pressure you so didn't address you directly. But I didn't want to clutter the board with last weeks hot topic all the time.

jas

[Maelynn Cheung]

Originally posted by SandyM:
Well, I've held it in long enough - it's time to blow her cover.

Gail is really Maelynn. Or is it, Maelynn is really Gail? Hmmm......Now I'm really confused...........

ROFLOL... I'm soooooo flattered. Oh, to be mistaken for someone with so much knowledge and wit... quite a compliment!

[csmcnamara]

Thanks Gail!! I thought I was doing something wrong and was the only that couldn't find anything!!

[emilycat]

Just wanted to point out, too, that Gail wrote a really great page for new members (or older members who could use some reminders ) several months ago that you can get to from the top left corner of the page -- it has some really helpful information on it, too.

[This message has been edited by emilycat (edited 05-17-2001).]

[Gail]

Originally posted by Maelynn Cheung:
ROFLOL... I'm soooooo flattered. Oh, to be mistaken for someone with so much knowledge and wit... quite a compliment!

(Blushing from head to toe) My turn to be flattered. Gee, thanks, Maelynn...(and the rest of you as well.)

I may not be Maelynn, but would you believe Chocomama/Xavier/MrAlamode?

...nah...

[SandyM]

Originally posted by Gail:
I may not be Maelynn, but would you believe Chocomama/Xavier/MrAlamode?

KitchenAngel?????
<sorry>


[This message has been edited by SandyM (edited 05-17-2001).]

[Gail]

Oh, drat! I didn't even think about that one...