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Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:19 am
by Chris21wen
I cannot find squat when doing a search of the AE forum, even a google search finds nothing. This situation is beginning to tee me off in the extreme. I know Matrix have a major problem but google should work.

This is what I'm using for google as per another post.

site:+"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" (your search term)

If I remove /+"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition it works but it's searching all forums. So what the h&*& an I doing wrong. I should add I've tried removing the + sign

RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:33 am
by wdolson
Google's syntax doesn't require and I don't think it supports the plus sign. I usually find what I'm looking for with just

site:http://www.matrixgames.com/forums search terms

This sub-forum is such a dominant part of the Matrix forums that it usually brings up hits from this forum, but doing

site:http://www.matrixgames.com/forums "War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" search terms

would narrow things down a bit.

Bill

RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 9:27 am
by Bullwinkle58
The syntax posted long ago by witpqs was:

site:matrixgames.com +"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> Tech Support" crash

so you've got extra slashes and such.

The Tech Support piece just refines the search to a named sub-forum if you know where the item you want would have been posted. It gives fewer returns. If you don't use it I believe the close quotes go after Edition.

This format works for me today and always has.

RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:21 pm
by warspite1
ORIGINAL: Chris H

I cannot find squat when doing a search of the AE forum, even a google search finds nothing. This situation is beginning to tee me off in the extreme. I know Matrix have a major problem but google should work.

This is what I'm using for google as per another post.

site:+"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" (your search term)

If I remove /+"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition it works but it's searching all forums. So what the h&*& an I doing wrong. I should add I've tried removing the + sign
warspite1

Its been that way for me for a few weeks now - and its not just the WITP-AE forum; its all forums. The search function no longer seems to work at all [:(].

RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:22 pm
by PaxMondo
As Alfred noted in another recent thread on this, searching by author works ... but little else ...

RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 10:49 pm
by glyphoglossus
The plus ("+") sign tells Google that the search term has to be present in the results (as opposed to just increasing its score/ranking if it happens to be present), while words in quotes, of course, searches for the entire phrase as opposed to each word individually.

I have had quite a bit of success with this formula to search for, e.g. posts with "training" and/or "mission":

Code: Select all

site:matrixgames.com +"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" training mission

Or, more strictly (each result must have BOTH "training" AND "mission"):

Code: Select all

site:matrixgames.com +"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" +training +mission

Or, even more strictly (each result must have the exact phrase "training mission"):

Code: Select all

site:matrixgames.com +"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" +"training mission"

What is challenging is telling Google to find posts by author, e.g. Depending on things, you can just do:

Code: Select all

site:matrixgames.com +"War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition" +Alfred training mission

but, of course, this returns any page with "Alfred" on it anywhere, rather than post specifically by "Alfred" mentioning "training" .


RE: Please please help

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2016 11:52 pm
by rustysi
but, of course, this returns any page with "Alfred" on it anywhere, rather than

Well what's wrong with that. Just read all of it and you're good to go.[:D]

RE: Please please help

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:36 am
by Chris21wen
ORIGINAL: rustysi
but, of course, this returns any page with "Alfred" on it anywhere, rather than

Well what's wrong with that. Just read all of it and you're good to go.[:D]

Might never need to post again.

RE: Please please help

Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:49 am
by Chris21wen
I've found the real culpret. I copied and pasted all into a search and they worked except mine.

I needed a space before the the +sign. First time I can remember where nothing has been of benifit.

Thanks