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Suggestion: better search engine

M16_CartM16_Cart Craig fanboy?
edited October 2021 in General Discussion Posts: 541
The biggest flaw of this forum is the poor search engine. I don't see any advanced search feature in the UI (if it's there somewhere, let me know). You can't search for titles or specific phrases. It just brings you to comments.

For example, you want to search a specific thing (like a director's name) and check the threads made specifically about them. You just get comments on threads that have nothing to do with them.

This results in duplicate threads. Before someone posts a thread, they should do their due diligence and search if there are threads like it first. Except they do that, and they still can't find the old thread. So they post a duplicate.

And if you search a question about the bond movies on Google, it's rare to find a link to a thread on this site. Many of the links to go the main site - not so much the threads.

If better search engine is not possible, then maybe something could be done with sticky/pinned posts or more subforum categories to help people find content better.

Comments

  • Creasy47Creasy47 In Cuba with Natalya.Moderator
    Posts: 40,976
    I've usually had no problem searching 'thread title' + 'MI6Community' via Google and getting the best results.

    Regardless, we have a feedback and suggestions thread for this sort of thing. Sadly, the search engine is outside of moderator control and has been in that state for many years now.

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/9702/feedback-and-suggestions-v2/p32
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited October 2021 Posts: 10,591
    Hi @M16_Cart, here is the thread for feedback/suggestions, please post this there.

    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/9702/feedback-and-suggestions-v2

    In the future, when searching for a thread on MI6, the best way to do so is searching the thread name or keywords followed by “MI6 Community” on google. The forum’s built in search engine is designed more towards searching for specific comments and the mod team does not have the ability to make changes to it. Hope this helps.

    Locked.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited October 2021 Posts: 24,184
    We are not Wikipedia but a discussion forum. We don't provide "content"; we have discussions. Topics come and go. Posts are dropped and then end up lost in hundreds of pages. But the more micro-specific threads get created, the more complicated it gets for people to find the proper thread. That's part of the reason why we prefer to funnel all NTTD discussions, for example, off to a mere few "big" threads, rather than have dozens of threads, each individually dealing with just one incredibly detailed item related to NTTD. In the end, they all end up with the same overlapping debates anyway, so what's the point?
    This results in duplicate threads. Before someone posts a thread, they should do their due diligence and search if there are threads like it first. Except they do that, and they still can't find the old thread. So they post a duplicate.

    What results in duplicate threads is the fact that some people don't understand the dynamics of threads. Every NTTD thread is guaranteed to end up talking about the same things, especially as soon as the no-spoilers-bans are lifted. But people are eager to give birth to their own threads, and so they get piled up. And then, indeed, it becomes impossible to figure out where to post what, so we just end up with more of them. It's a simple case of reinforcement through a feedback loop.

    Lastly, my Google search "MI6community + forum + suggestions" yielded this at the top of the list:
    https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/9702/feedback-and-suggestions-v2

    And that's where this very suggestion should go too.
This discussion has been closed.