Search function tutorial?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I hope I spelled tutorial right. Can someone give me a lesson in using that function of the forum? The obvious, I can do. Put in a word and hit the button. I’ve even used the advanced search feature. Trouble is, I still seem to come up short a lot. Are there other tricks that I don’t know about? For example: this & that , this + that, or “this & that”.

Any input would be appreciated. Don’t be afraid to talk to me like I’m 4 years old. I am that ignorant about computers. Thanks

2

Murphy - and anyone else -

No great knowledge here, just some observations:

  • “AND” seems to be what it likes;

  • This “General Discussion” Forum seems to be known as “sectionid:111”;

because when I go to the simple “Search Community” in the box to the right and search for “word”, what comes up in the box on the results page is “word AND sectionid:111”.

When you then click on “More Search Options” for the advanced search, I presume you’ve figured out the various options on that page for “With date: (All) - On - Between”, and “Sorted By: Relevance - Oldest First - Newest First” ?

I just looked over in the Community Assistance" Forum at: http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/733.aspx too - no help to be found there.

Sorry - beyond this, I don’t know much. For me then, it’s just “brute force” and looking through a lot of results really fast. Thanks for asking - let’s see what turns up. Have a good weekend !

  • Paul North.
3

Murph –

Google the term “Boolean Search” and you’ll learn a lot. And no, it has nothing to do with Star Trek.

4

(Getting a little OT, but) it’s been my experience that the “advanced search” function on many sites requires a Boolean approach. Entry-lefl searches are pretty direct and simplified by contrast. However I must say that TRAINS’ search sites frustrate me more than the norm. That may simply be my not using enough search terms, or too many. The worst frustrations for me are the “how about that article about XYZ Railroad from four or five years ago?” When you finally get there, you might find that the title of the article (say) is so figurative or poetic you could never have logick’ed onto it either by yourself or Search Func.

So don’t sweat it! It will come. And don’t expect it to be worth the time 100 percent of the time. - al