Why cripple the search tool for registered members?

B

BrianF

Member
Is there a reason that registered members of this forum have to wait 1 minute between searches? :shocked:

Before posting a thread on a new topic, I like to search to see if the topic has already been addressed. But sometimes it can take 3, 5 or even 10 searches to do this thoroughly.

I can understand making non-registered users jump through hoops, as they might be bots. But registered members?

Perhaps there's a solid reason to limit registered members this way, and, if so, apologies for my cranky tone. I've just never run across a registered-member obstacle like this at any other vBulletin forum. They seem to do okay letting registered members search at will.

(And, yes, I did search to see if this topic had been addressed before. I entered the words "search tool limit" and saw no relevant results. I would have tried more searches, but, dang, I don't have all day.)
 
Here's a little workaround. You can use google to skip the search tool limit.

For example, try this at google:

search function site:dvxuser.com

And try different variations with google. I find it much more versatile than the sites vbulleting search feature. And the basic answer for the one minute hoop is bandwidth. Jarred pays for the site out of pocket and the search tool slows down the site function and eats up bandwidth. I don't even use it, I just use google instead because it's faster.
 
I like that I can search within the different rooms and Google doesn't provide that

I would really love it if Jarred had the time to switch plans or the money to simply pay for more bandwith because I get an aneurysm every time the search comes back with no hits... I love DVXuser.com anyway, but this would sweeten our relationship :cheesy:
 
Isaac_Brody said:
Here's a little workaround. You can use google to skip the search tool limit.

For example, try this at google:

search function site:dvxuser.com

And try different variations with google. I find it much more versatile than the sites vbulleting search feature. And the basic answer for the one minute hoop is bandwidth. Jarred pays for the site out of pocket and the search tool slows down the site function and eats up bandwidth. I don't even use it, I just use google instead because it's faster.
Click to expand...

There is a vB plugin that uses google to search internally, and replace the vB search. This would cut down on Database CPU usage, and Bandwidth.
 
I've pretty much given up on searching within the site and use google too. Although the "search within thread" function is pretty useful.
 
There does seem to be a conflict between encouraging people to search (i.e., they ask an obvious question and the response is "USE THE SEARCH TOOL!") and limiting search capability.

I do understand the resources issue (I think in this case the problem is specifically usage of the server's processor more than it is bandwidth), but I've just never heard of a forum search tool getting so much action from registered users that it caused a problem.

Maybe that's the case here -- that if registered users were allowed to perform searches without time limits the server would be overtaxed or trigger extra fees for the forum owner -- but, frankly, I kind of doubt it. Bots hammering scripts are usually what causes processor overtaxing, not actual use from humans.
 
The 60 second wait times between searches has been killing me. Please take it down to at least 10 seconds.
 
Please Jarred, just take a look at what you can do man, we would really appreciate it even if it could be like 30 seconds!
 
Yeah I've also felt that before and the fact that you cant search 3 letter words kinda hurts too, but the google idea is a great work around and as long as I have this site to search I can't complain!
 
3 letter words not being able to be searched is also a bad idea, instead it would be sweet if words like IF AND THE BUT and so on were not allowed but things like RED and HVX should be, hopefully
 
Obviously, it wouldn't have to be a permanent decision.

The administrator could remove the restriction on searches (for registered members only) and then see what happens for a short time (a day? two hours?).

I would be shocked if this site actually slowed down or there were any negative repercussions whatsoever from the change. It would just take one heck of a lot of searches to overtax the processor.
 
The gimpy search annoys the crap out of me as well.

Drop the time limit, three-letter limit (hint: Most of the valuable search terms are TLAs -- THREE LETTER ACRONYMS).

What's the reason for it? I doubt the host is charging for CPU -- this isn't the 70's!

You can see the effect in the forums by the number of times questions keeping repeating themselves. Search is such a PITA that nobody does it.
 
pmark23 said:
You can see the effect in the forums by the number of times questions keeping repeating themselves. Search is such a PITA that nobody does it.
Click to expand...

Excellent point Pmark! This would actually end up saving on storage requirements!
Better Search = Less Threads!

I becha' that's what made Jarred decide to change it! Thanks to you and thank you Jarred for giving it a try!
 
pmark23 said:
What's the reason for it? I doubt the host is charging for CPU -- this isn't the 70's!
Click to expand...

You might be surprised at how many hosts charge for CPU usage. Mine does, and because I run Gallery from Sourceforge, it uses CPU time to process my images into medium and thumbnail files, and create zip files on-demand for users that request downloads, I'm certainly using CPU time. Well within the limit my account has, though.
 
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