Search function kaput

[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?

[Matt K]

Just tested; works on PC and Phone for me. What OS/browser are you running?

[Matt K]

And do you have any addons installed?

[norbie2018]

And do you have any addons installed?

I use chrome on my android, Windows 10 and IE at work, and Windows 10 with Firefox at home. Same results all around.

[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)?

[norbie2018]

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)?

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!

[ghmerrill]

Hmmm ...

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

???

[Posaunus]

Hmmm ...

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

???

I just used TromboneChat Search to search for norbie2018 - got results in less than 2 seconds!

[norbie2018]

I feel popular.

[Backbone]

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?

Not gonna lie. I had this same problem about a week ago. But I just tried the search function and it worked perfectly.

[norbie2018]

I tried again - no luck.

[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.

[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.

[Matt K]

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.

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!

[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.)

[ghmerrill]

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

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. But it may help point you in a fruitful direction.