Why does the Free Republic search go by relevance before order of posting?

6/7/03 | 7 x 77

[7 x 77]

How often do people search by relevance first? If I'm a barometer it would be about 1% of the time.

[aynrandfreak]

Agree

[I_Love_My_Husband]

The default imho should be date, but it's not. Maybe someone should ping JimRob?

[Jim Robinson]

Try pasting the full title into the search box and see what happens.

[TaxRelief]

What if you don't know the full title? It would still be better to sort by date, perhaps.

[Mike Darancette]

I've noticed that FR's idea of relevance and mine tend to differ.

[Diogenesis]

agree

[Old Professer]

Type why in the search window and click on find; you will see what this is about.

[mrsmith]

Visitors are probably best served the way it is.

Us Freepers usually prefer the date search, but heck it's only one click away.

[Jim Robinson]

Well, this particular search was meant for people who are posting articles to do a search on title to see if the article about to be posted is already posted. Therefore he probably has the title. If not, use significant words and change the default to date. You can also click on "Search" at the top of the page instead of using the default search box.

[7 x 77]

Try pasting the full title into the search box and see what happens.

I search for two reasons: 1) not to duplicate posts and 2) to see the latest on a subject that interests me. In both cases it would seem that the most efficient way to do that would be just to type one or two words and do an order of posting search. I'll try your suggestion though.

[7 x 77]

Jim,

As long is your here, thanks for starting and maintaining Free Republic.

[Jim Robinson]

Thank you.

[Dog Gone]

Therefore he probably has the title.

True, unless it's a syndicated column, or even an AP story where local editors often change the title.

I prefer to search on one word that I'm almost sure has to be in any headline for the story, instead of the full title. It means I have to search twice, because the first results are relevance, and I switch to post time in order to make sure.

It's not that big of a deal, but using Post Time as the default search would save the time needed for a second search.

[Mike Darancette]

Type why in the search window

Why, oh why, oh why?

[Jim Robinson]

Don't use the search box then. Click on "Search" link at the top of the page.

[Larry Lucido]

If I'm a barometer

If you were a barometer, what kind of a barometer would you be? < /barbarawalters >

[TaxRelief]

True, unless it's a syndicated column, or even an AP story where local editors often change the title.
I prefer to search on one word that I'm almost sure has to be in any headline for the story, instead of the full title. It means I have to search twice, because the first results are relevance, and I switch to post time in order to make sure.
It's not that big of a deal, but using Post Time as the default search would save the time needed for a second search.

Ditto. And thanks for FR, Jim

[Dog Gone]

It's the same difference, Jim. If you use the Search link, you still have to switch it from relevance to post time.

After years of clicking here at FR, my finger muscles are strong, so I can handle it. But the next time we do an "ease of use" upgrade to the software, changing the default to post time would be quite popular.

It's not important at all to people who are trying to find a thread, but it's somewhat important to people who are trying to determine whether or not they should post a new thread.

[7 x 77]

If you were a barometer, what kind of a barometer would you be?

I'd be the kind that would accurately read the signs of the times.