rxmd
May contain traces of nut
Dear RFF administrators,
here's a little riddle for you, followed by a petition.
Question:
"Which two things do a Leica M7 and a ZI, an Olympus XA and a Yashica GX, a Canon 5D and a Leica M9, a Nikon SP and a Leica II, a 35 and a 90, and a f2 and a f4 lens have in common?"
Answer:
1. They're heavily discussed on RFF. In fact they're the bulk of RFF's subject matter.
2. You can't search for them using the RFF search function, because the minimum search term length is set too high.
So here's the petition bit.
I know we can use Google search instead, but while it does support searching for XAs and M3s, it will also find them in users' signatures, it will turn up posts made at 11:35 when looking for a 35 mm lens, and it does not support all the other RFF search functions (like searching by thread, or looking for posts by specific users).
So please, the next time you do some maintenance on the RFF site, please decrease the minimum search term length in vBulletin from 3 to 2 or even to 1 while you're at it. It's a simple setting in VBulletin, plus a single configuration option in MySQL (if you use MySQL full text search).
If you work on the site anyway (if because of the Tapatalk situation or for whatever reason), please do this. It's simple, there's no performance penalty except a one-time indexing operation (that the database does on the side), it doesn't require third-party software, and it will make RFF a lot easier and more useful.
here's a little riddle for you, followed by a petition.
Question:
"Which two things do a Leica M7 and a ZI, an Olympus XA and a Yashica GX, a Canon 5D and a Leica M9, a Nikon SP and a Leica II, a 35 and a 90, and a f2 and a f4 lens have in common?"
Answer:
1. They're heavily discussed on RFF. In fact they're the bulk of RFF's subject matter.
2. You can't search for them using the RFF search function, because the minimum search term length is set too high.
So here's the petition bit.
I know we can use Google search instead, but while it does support searching for XAs and M3s, it will also find them in users' signatures, it will turn up posts made at 11:35 when looking for a 35 mm lens, and it does not support all the other RFF search functions (like searching by thread, or looking for posts by specific users).
So please, the next time you do some maintenance on the RFF site, please decrease the minimum search term length in vBulletin from 3 to 2 or even to 1 while you're at it. It's a simple setting in VBulletin, plus a single configuration option in MySQL (if you use MySQL full text search).
If you work on the site anyway (if because of the Tapatalk situation or for whatever reason), please do this. It's simple, there's no performance penalty except a one-time indexing operation (that the database does on the side), it doesn't require third-party software, and it will make RFF a lot easier and more useful.
greyelm
Malcolm
+1 from me.
dogbunny
Registered Boozer
Why not just embed the google "search this site" box that many sites use? I've long since given up on finding anything using this site's search function.
maddoc
... likes film again.
+2. An improved search would be great.
BTMarcais
Well-known
yes please.
-Brian
-Brian
peterm1
Veteran
Hell yes! I have recent frustration with the search function. In fact insofar as I can determine my search string was at least 4-5 words in length even after excluding what appear to be objectionable terms like M8 and F2 or 28mm.
Now there is a real riddle!!!!!!!!
So whats that all about?
Now there is a real riddle!!!!!!!!
So whats that all about?
Last edited:
ChrisN
Striving
Yes please - that would improve the usability of the site tremendously.
Can we also turn off the mandatory 30-second delay between searches?
Thanks.
Can we also turn off the mandatory 30-second delay between searches?
Thanks.
Phantomas
Well-known
Not to be negative, but shortening of the terms won't solve much. Even with proper length searches the results are worse than those with Google you've described. Search engine needs to be overhauled completely. I'd sign for that.