# Search Length Restrictions Are Too Strict



## JetwingX (Jun 22, 2004)

ok this is really ridiculous! i was doing a search for the G5 that got turned in to a PC so the first thing i but in the search terms was "G5 PC"
 and i get a response saying 





> The search term you specified (pc) is under the minimum word length (3) and therefore will not be found. Please make this term longer.
> 
> If this term contains a wildcard, please make this term more specific.


so then i decided to do a search for the link (http://www.overclockers.com/tips1133/) and i get 


> A word you searched for (http://www.overclockers.com/tips1133/) is too long. Please search for a shorter word.



what the hell?! it shouldn't be this hard to search for something!
can we take away one end of the search length limits? (preferably the long end?)


and yes i did try doing an advanced search but i got the same results


----------



## Randman (Jun 22, 2004)

I would think having a 2-letter search could take forever. I did a search just for overclockers and 5 threads showed up, 1 of which was about that "G5 PC".
   For a specific link or address as you had, try Google.


----------



## JetwingX (Jun 22, 2004)

well no i didn't want to find the site (or related ones) i wanted to find past posts


----------



## TommyWillB (Jun 22, 2004)

I 2nd the motion!!! Let us do 2 letter searches, at least if there are multiple words!

This trips me up constantly and makes me feel like a child who just got scolded for something that my sister actually did.



Together JetwingX and I have been members for 6 years and have contributed 2500+ posts, so you know this is a loving criticism and not just a newbie whine.


If you do this I'll pay my site supporter fee again!


----------



## mdnky (Jun 23, 2004)

I'm not quite sure that would be an easy thing to implement guys (2 letter searches, at least if there are multiple words).

From what I remember of the vBulletin software (version 2.x), it's coded in and isn't an easy fix.  Even if it was, it could really start to eat into server resources in certain conditions.


----------



## macavenger (Jun 23, 2004)

You may be right, but not being able to search for numerous common two-letter computer terms (CD, PC, etc.) can get really annoying. If I was wanting to search for iMac CD drive replacements, for instance, I could get numerous hits about iMac drive replacements, only a few of which would have anything to do with CD drives. There is probably better examples out there as well.


----------



## JetwingX (Jun 23, 2004)

like a string of search terms?


----------



## mi5moav (Jun 23, 2004)

The easiest solution would be to only allow searches of words containing exactly 5 letters starting with "A".  However, on the second thursday from noon to 3pm est we would be allowed to also start with the letter "X".


----------



## JetwingX (Jun 23, 2004)

wtf are you on?


----------



## TommyWillB (Jun 23, 2004)

mi5moav said:
			
		

> The easiest solution would be to only allow searches of words containing exactly 5 letters starting with "A".  However, on the second thursday from noon to 3pm est we would be allowed to also start with the letter "X".


smart @$$   

lol


----------



## edX (Jun 24, 2004)

searching anywhere is an art. here you just need to be more of an artist when hunting for some things. i just tried googling for "outdoor power extension" and wasted an hour hunting thru sites with nothing like what i wanted. finally i ran across what i wanted and re-searched using "power stake" and got lots of links that were right on the money. so what i'm saying is to think about similar terms that would be used in connection with your 2 letter words and just search for them. 

but just imagine the load on the server if many people were searching for "pc". it would be worse than calling up all of my old posts.


----------



## TommyWillB (Jun 25, 2004)

Yeah, edX.... but I'm not even sure what an "outdoor power extensions" is. 



> but just imagine the load on the server


edX, you know I'm a geek and that I DO understand these types of technical things... (Hell I run a TAX Web  site that can't die on April 14th!) But, that's a lazy answer... Get a bigger server. The site is here for us, not the other way around.

Imagine if the electric company decided that we could only have 90volts of power because anything more is simply "too much load on the generators". Saying that everyone should creatively use only devices that require less power is not the right answer.


----------

