[SpinnerWebb]

are you logged in?

[dfwgator]

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

[SpaceBar]

I have actually wondered the same thing.

[Maceman]

Good question. That asterisk has always bugged me too, for the same reason.

[steve86]

This is because you are on the NSA hot list.

[Boogieman]

It’s a wildcard character.

Why it is there by default, I have no idea though.

[RJS1950]

Pre-configured wildcard search?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The asterisk is essentially a wildcard. That is, it will search for your selected string plus all terms that mostly match your string...as long as it is at least 4 letters in length. Without the asterisk, your search is an exact match search. Thus, searching for “disk” will return only results that match that word. Searching for “disk*” will return the same but also “disk drive”, etc.

[NonValueAdded]

because it beats seeing a colon?

[sickoflibs]

Not seeing that with Firefox

[oh8eleven]

It might be there as a "focal point" that makes the search field a little more visible to the user.
The FR software might also require a default value for the search field and the webmaster/programmer might have chosen the "*" over - "Hey, over here dummy."

[mmichaels1970]

FR's search function has always been a bit lacking. I recommend using google with the "site:" thing when searching FR. Here is an example.

Google:

site:freerepublic.com "Why is there an asterisk in my FR Search Field (Vanity)"

[Red Badger]

We don't need no steenking asterisks! I gots no asterisk! [Firefox]

[Mr. K]

BECAUSE THAT’S THE WAY WE’VE ALWAYS DONE IT AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO CHANGE NOW FOR YOU BUSTER!

[SES1066]

There is an asterisk in my FR search field

Yes it is there and it is suppose to be there. Yes it is a wildcard and because it is the default search argument it allows all entries to be displayed when you enter Free Republic. When you actually want to search for a specific item, you take the '*' out or use it to broaden your search. It has to be there initially because the search engine would not display any posts at all.

[upchuck]

You're talking about the search box in the upper righthand corner of the forum page.

I have found that to be difficult to use and pretty much without benefit.

Try using this search instead. No asterisks and a lot more usable, IMHO.

[chuckles]

It’s a wild card left over from the DOS days. It helps you find what you are looking for if you aren’t sure of the exact spelling or full title.

[SW6906]

It’s a Zionist conspiracy!

[Java4Jay]

The asterisk is also in my FR saved link between the fwd slashes

[FourtySeven]

Have you told your waiter?

Seriously it bugs me too. I get the whole wildcard thing but the thing is, the asterisk is BEFORE everything you type so if you just happily type away in the box, it searches for an exact match of “*seach” (or whatever word or words you typed in there).

Which of course never matches any criteria. As was pointed out upthread, the asterisk should be AFTER the term(s) being searched to be a real wildcard. At least as far as I understand it.

It’s annoying to delete it. It’s tricky every time. And to put the cursor before the asterisk is also a challenge, because the default (when you click on the text field to enter text to search for) puts the cursor after the asterisk so you have to either delete it or re-position the cursor before it. Especially on a smartphone it’s a challenge.

Pinging John Robinson for this feedback opportunity. If/when the next release comes out.