Being that we discuss our cars in terms of double digits and letters, I find that many of the searches I would like to perform are prohibited by the minimum three letter term.
Ie. 89 GT
Can't search for an '89 GT. And there are other examples I'm forgetting, but even using the * as a wildcard, the search refuses to function.
What's wrong with letting us search for any word length? Why not two term searches? Please?

 

Hi Gregg,

At this time - no... See, I need to upgrade the OS on this server - and the hardware. Keep in mind - it was new just 5 months ago (as were the circuits) - but, I didn't plan on the growth of the Rennlist Forums that has occurred over the past several months... So, if I re-index on "2" letters, rather then "3" - the database grows exponentially.

Now - I know this isn't the answer you wanted - but it's the truth. I hope to be able to make some core changes in both the OS and the hardware for this Forum in the next month, or when I can afford it. Until then, please bear with me, OK???

Thanks for your understanding and support!

John D.

 

Hey Gregg.....

Your search question has really been bugging me... So, I have an idea that I'm working on. Can you go to the Rennlist Member site - Log in - and try the new search engine I just put up? They go back to the 1998 year from the e-mail lists, and include all the posts by model (928, 911, etc...). There are about 500,000 or so right now. That search also has a free text query, and results are ranked by importance. So - when I tried "89 AND GT oil change" in the 928 archives - I had about 300 posts that were brought up..???

Now, if that works - there may be a way to bring some of these Forum posts into that area as well....

Just a thought..???

Best to you!

- John D.

 

Very interesting, as I'm the new owner of that 89 GT, and have been really needing to search.
Do you have a link for the rennlist member site? Sorry, I just don't have a clue.

 

Here's the link...

Rennlist Member Site

You might need your membership number to log in.

 

Thanks much John. I feel a bit silly not knowing the url.

John D., congrats on your new car. And I'd like to say how much I appreciate this search engine. Very nicely done. It's the email list, which I don't participate in, but seems to have a ton of info.

 

Good suggestion, Gregg. I posted about this problem myself and now I can't seem to find that thread. Weird....

A two-character string search would be very helpful indeed for a technical site such as this with crucial terms such as years "87, 95,...", gas rating "90, 92,...", model name "RS, GT, C4...", part names "VC (viscous clutch)", locations "TX, NY,..." as well as general words such as "CD".

Probably loads more I can't think of right now

I understand the extra resources required but one in three of the searches I would like to make are prevented by this limit. I have no reason to believe that I am any different to other users.