Searching

While our forums naturally incorporates a powerful search engine, knowing how to use it is not surprisingly the key to returning successful results!

	Starting a Search
	Syntax
	Quote Marks
Simple or Advanced?
	Simple Search
	Advanced Search

Starting a Search

There is a simple Search field (partnered by an Advanced search text link) in the collapsible top section and a Search option in the main menu.

Syntax

While you can just type (and search for) any combination of characters, you should consider using quotes to make your search really work for you:

Quote Marks

Simple Search

To use the simple search (if enabled), the basic syntax outlined above is all you really need to know. But you might also like to know that this tool searches the entire forum for any or all of what you specify that's been posted during the last 9999 days (which is more than 27 years)! So, to take more control of your search, you should use the advanced search feature.

Advanced Search

Although the advanced search screen might initially seem a little intimidating if a forum has many boards and child boards, it's surprisingly straightforward when reduced to its basic components:

	Despite initial appearances, there are really three options for how to search, with Match all words and Match any words being available from the drop-down, and "Match as phrase" still being available as described above.
	The default * in the by user field is essentially a wildcard matching any poster. Please note that, while you can replace this with any single username for a more specific search, it's not currently possible to search for posts by multiple users except as that single wildcard.
	Show results as messages returns the full message containing the search string (with a reply option) instead of the usual linked excerpt, but will naturally result in much larger results pages which might be significant if you are searching for a popular word or phrase.
	Message age sets the minimum and maximum ages of posts to search.
	Choose a board to search in provides you with another tool to narrow the scope of the search, with the default being 'all' (the whole forum or, more properly, all the boards to which you have read access).
	The Search button not surprisingly sets the whole thing in motion, but hitting 'Enter' direct from any of the search fields is sometimes more convenient.

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