Search function kaput

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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

Ok, it may not be kaput but everytime I try to use it, whether on my smart phone or computer, the system thinks a while and then tells me the page cannot be displayed. Is the search broken?
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Matt_K
Posts: 4809
Joined: Mar 21, 2018

by Matt_K »

Just tested; works on PC and Phone for me. What OS/browser are you running?
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Matt_K
Posts: 4809
Joined: Mar 21, 2018

by Matt_K »

And do you have any addons installed?
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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

[quote="Matt K"]And do you have any addons installed?[/quote]

I use chrome on my android, Windows 10 and IE at work, and Windows 10 with Firefox at home. Same results all around.
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Matt_K
Posts: 4809
Joined: Mar 21, 2018

by Matt_K »

Have you reset your cookies or refreshed the cache on any of the machines since November 1, 2018? (Or are any of these browsers fresh sine that date)?
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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

[quote="Matt K"]Have you reset your cookies or refreshed the cache on any of the machines since November 1, 2018? (Or are any of these browsers fresh sine that date)?[/quote]

I tried this all on my phone and still no luck. No worries, I just put my search in Google and it works that way. Thanks!
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ghmerrill
Posts: 2193
Joined: Apr 02, 2018

by ghmerrill »

Hmmm ...

if ( user == "norbie2018" ) then display = NO;

???
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Posaunus
Posts: 5018
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by Posaunus »

[quote="ghmerrill"]Hmmm ...

if ( user == "norbie2018" ) then display = NO;

???[/quote]

I just used TromboneChat Search to search for norbie2018 - got results in less than 2 seconds! :good:
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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

I feel popular.
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Backbone
Posts: 150
Joined: Apr 08, 2018

by Backbone »

[quote="norbie2018"]Ok, it may not be kaput but everytime I try to use it, whether on my smart phone or computer, the system thinks a while and then tells me the page cannot be displayed. Is the search broken?[/quote]

Not gonna lie. I had this same problem about a week ago. But I just tried the search function and it worked perfectly.
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norbie2018
Posts: 1051
Joined: Apr 05, 2018

by norbie2018 »

I tried again - no luck.
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Matt_K
Posts: 4809
Joined: Mar 21, 2018

by Matt_K »

I'll try to poke around with it this weekend. We also had another issue with a user that I've been meaning to try to get to but I've been busy the last few months. About to finish a major client project here... hopefully today... so that should free some time up.
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StefanHaller
Posts: 63
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by StefanHaller »

I never use the search function, but type "my search terms site:trombonechat.com" into google search. I got used to that with the old forum, where the search just never seemed to work.
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Matt_K
Posts: 4809
Joined: Mar 21, 2018

by Matt_K »

[quote="StefanHaller"]I never use the search function, but type "my search terms site:trombonechat.com" into google search. I got used to that with the old forum, where the search just never seemed to work.[/quote]

Functionally, they should be very similar. We let the Google (and other search engines) index the site as if they were a non user (in other words, your contact info is never indexed on Google from oursite unless you put it in an add as like, 'soandso at gmail dot com'). Google might be a touch faster maybe but they should essentially do the same thing unless you want more advanced searching (like for a specific user, subforum, or similar). It does work for me but that's the infamous, 'works on my machine' defense!! Replicating user bugs isn't always easy as it could be just about anything between end user and the server in addition to your own software!
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ghmerrill
Posts: 2193
Joined: Apr 02, 2018

by ghmerrill »

The search function seems totally broken (Error 500) for me as well.

In terms of Google search vs search functionality of phpBB, my own experience is that in general any web application that implements its own search technology is vastly inferior to using Google to search the site. There's just not any motivation implement or improve an alternative indexing and search engine for these things. And you can tell just by looking at the search interfaces for them that the underlying approach appears to be out of the early 2000s or so, at best.

This is no reflection on those who support phpBB forums (or similar applications). About the only time it's better to use a "native" search application in a web app when the implementers have licensed the Google engines and tailored them to the app users' needs. (There have been and are some exceptions to this, but they involve pretty esoteric applications -- which are, again, tailored to specific needs.)
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ghmerrill
Posts: 2193
Joined: Apr 02, 2018

by ghmerrill »

[quote="ghmerrill"]The search function seems totally broken (Error 500) for me as well.[/quote]

Oops. It turns out that it's not TOTALLY broken, and therein lies a tale ...

It seems as though it may be a function of the logic or resources required for multi-term search strings. To wit: "trombone" and "bass trombone" and "tenor trombone" all work for me. But "Olds bass trombone" and "Yamaha tenor trombone" fail.

That's all I'm able to tell you at the moment without charging you a huge amount of money for software diagnosis. :? :roll: But it may help point you in a fruitful direction.