Posted on 08/05/2008 5:10:10 PM PDT by xcamel
A quick and dirty search of any and all of FreeRepublic thanks to Google 'site:' function.
No more excuses...
Google results for site:freerepublic.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
Yes, this really does work.
Now, why don’t we just use this as an embed in the site instead of the mostly broken and almost never works search function we have now?
Stoooooopidity : On Search Engines and Modern Ignorance (is Google making us lazy ?)
Many newspapers slap their own headlines on stories and columns, thus the same article appearing in one paper may carry a different title in another.
Good question...
Like Why to the monthly donors have to “suffer through freepathons” when it would be soooo easy to tag a a monthy donor’s screen name with a ‘paid’ tag - and avoid all the nagware adds for 50 or 60 days a quarter???
Any external search engine can, and does, index FR
contents.
This is very useful for finding old stuff.
Alas, it is nearly useless for avoiding dupes, because
the indexing is only done a few times a day.
Best way to avoid dupes on recent news:
1. Find the original story publisher.
2. Use FR title search on the exact title from the source.
It still won’t catch the dupe 30 seconds ahead of you.
On unmoderated, or post-moderated sites, this just
comes with the territory. If you are the dupe, ask
a mod to merge, lock or kill you.
searching FYI
So google search works better?
You might have a point.
I’ve done “Search By Title” repeatedly, with null results, and then had a Google search find the exact title I was looking for.
BumpForLater.
Another innovation that should be used is the [img][/img] tags used on other forums. Most everyone knows how to use those - having to do a full HTML embed AND have to go through and add paragraph tags is so 1990s.
Sirs, respectfully calling your attention to this thread. Can we please get some of these issues fixed/resolved/added?
I seem to remember back about a year after google became known that there was some commentary to the effect that google was not including all FR posts. Do not know if this was true or if it has changed.
FYI your pinglist (spread it around)
IIRC, there was a period a few years ago when the Google search engine was prohibited from “indexing” FR threads.
That apparently has changed in recent years.
I use Google frequently to search FR.
I just wish Google had a ‘search only before XXX date’ capability. It would help on locating old articles, etc.
From what I can determine using it often, FR is being indexed about every 2-3 hours.
FR search works just fine if you know how to use it. Make sure you're doing a title search (not a keyword search), and just use ONE key word from the article's title - not the whole title. For instance, if the article you're considering posting is titled "Denver bans buckets of poop at DNC protests," you should just do a title search for "buckets" or perhaps "poop." "Protests" or "Denver" would also be acceptable. I have found that the search engine is unable to handle words shorter than three letters, so keep that in mind.
As for why we don't use the Google search instead - I'm not sure if it's possible to make it sort by date, which is much more useful for these purposes. However with Google you could do a search for a whole string of words within the story and get decent results, I think.
But bottom line - FR search works decently if you do it right.
It works best if you just use one unique word from the source title, rather than the whole thing, in case the first poster changes the punctuation or misspells a word.
It still won’t catch the dupe 30 seconds ahead of you.
True enough.
FR search functions
1) click on “forums” to show all forums
2) select the most unique word in the title of the article you want to post.
3) enter that word alone in the ‘search’ box, and select ‘By title (date), and hit ‘Search’
3a) direct URL >> http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=(your unique word)
4) this will find a duplicate 99% of the time.
(this is based on the older search engine)
On unmoderated, or post-moderated sites, this just comes with the territory. If you are the dupe, ask a mod to merge, lock or kill you.Would there be any ethical problems with this?
If I could just get the time set RIGHT on my Freepmail I would be happy and gay! Well, not gay but REALLY happy!!!!
.
LOL!
At the sound of the pager.....
It is PT everywhere!
Yeah, the pager is a big help but having the time two hours behind is a pain!!
.
CT-2
Yours is wrong too. It’s set to California time I think.
If you are searching for someone's posts, the google system has the most frequently looked-at ones first, rather than the most recent (or some similar calculation of their devising).
I would suggest that “search by title” be the default. That’s certainly what I find myself using the most, on the site search, as that’s the best way to check to avoid a repost.
Post editing is a really bad idea. That’s what Preview is all about.
Live with your words.
Those are vBulletin tags. Learn how to use some basic HTML, it isn’t that hard. vBulletin stinks as a forum format, as you can’t reply to a reply effectively. And making routine use of bouncing smileys easy should be a capital offense.
.
I wonder how some FReepers seem to be able to edit their previous posts?
Lol, we know graphic change outs are easy if not sized. Words are a different matter.
They do have re editing on some other forums. Hey, if I make a bad blunder I just ask for the post to be removed, lol.
.
I know
The SASS forum has editing
For those who shot from the hip
What is SASS, a gun forum?
Which search engine do I use to bring up this thread for later use?
.
Single Action Shooting Society
Period clothing and firearms
Reinactment style shooting
Combination use of vintage longguns and vintage revolvers
Accuracy
Fast draw competitions
And much more
Lots of women members
Many are better with firearms than the men are
SASS has many different threads too
And member*s offerings of authentic antique hats, etc on one thread - usually
-
I’m more into reality with my toys
I know what I can hit and how fast I am
-
“You can never have too much gun!”
Oh, I know HTML. It’s just a PITA to have to do it on ONE forum when the other 50 forums I’m on all have vB tags, whether they’re vB or not!
Even phpBB supports that now.
As for reply to a reply - that sort of threading has been fixed - and it can be configured by the admin anyway.
Post editing is a great idea! When the history is tracked - like it is on vBulletin now.
Yes, you’ve told me about it before. I just didn’t remember the name. Thanks
How about archives?
When I have used google before, my results include posts at
• freerepublic.com
• freerepublic.info
• 209.157.64.200
• 209.157.64.201
(and possibly others)
Sometimes they seem like duplicates, sometimes not.
Are certain things stored on certain sites/servers?
Knowing the structure may facilitate searching for older posts.
X, my pinglist couldnt hold a candle to yours and I think mine is 99.9% redundant.
If you understand the search function here and use it properly, it works just fine. I have looked for older articles when I remember just a word or two of the title, and I find them pretty darn quick and easy.
.
I think they now even have a class for the very early first Colt semiauto pistols
The previous search tool worked very well, in my opinion. With this new one I’m not even sure if I need to get rid of the little asterisk that always shows up.
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