Hello Mark et al,
Just a suggestion that I think might really cut down on the number of new threads started on topics that have already been discussed ad nauseam. There have been so many times when new members (or old members) say "I did a search, and I didn't find anything", when in fact a search via the correct route turns up quite a bit.

The search window at the top right corner of the screen (which, if anything, searches only articles, and not forums) is much more prominent than the small word "search" to the right of the forum drop down menu, which actually searches the forums. My guess is that at least 95% of people who perform searches intend to search the forums, but a much lower percentage actually figure out how to do so.

The big search window should search everything, including forums. If not, it should be made clear on the site how to search forums.

Good luck pandering to all of our multifarious demands! :smile:
Thanks for everything.

 

Thank you for stating that so clearly chrisneal. I've thought the same thing for a long time, but I don't believe I've ever succeeded in describing the problem as well you just did.

Not only do I agree with your thought about the search function, but I also ditto the:

"Good luck pandering to all of our multifarious demands!" comment directed to Mark, et al!

 

yes thanks for that. I think in the past few weeks weve seen at leat three new threads for mini car alarms! ENOUGH ALREADY!

 

Yeah, and Bat Boy drives stolen Mini!

 

How about a separate forum category for Bat Boy. Just a thought... :smile:

 

Everyone,
Thanks for the feedback. This has been on list of things to do for some time but your message gave me an idea that I just implemented. The problem with the original search at the top of the page was that it only searched the news articles on the site and not the forum content. I just changed the header of each page to just show the Search button. Now, when you click the button it will take you to the forum search function so you can enter your criteria. I'd like to add the field back so that you can enter the search criteria without having an additional step...I'll try to get that enhancement in this week. Thanks for getting me thinking about how to get something in place quickly.

Mark

 

Woohoo! Good move! I think this will help a lot of folks, particularly the newcomers.

 

Yes, the "Can't Wait For February" bunch is on the way...we're many...we're newbies...we're organized...and we got attitude! (good attitude) Thanks for this search tip...it will be very helpful.

 

Wow, nice job! Thanks for making that effort so quickly and effectively. I think this will really help people out.

 

Everyone,
I've gotten reports from several people saying that on their Windows XP-based system running IE that the change I made scrambled the way the page is displayed. I don't have immediate access to a Windows XP machine so I've placed the original text field and button back in place (thereby breaking it again). I'll grab a friends machine over the weekend, figure out what the problem is and redeploy the fix. Just wanted to let you know what the old look reappeared. Thanks!

Mark:D

 

One thing that might also help is enabling the forum search feature for guests. Speaking as a newly-signed up user (and MCS owner), I've been reading this site for several weeks now, sometimes pulling my hair out trying to find a workable search feature.

Now that I've gone ahead and registered, I see the text link for search, but that feature is unavailable to guests. At least mention that guests can't perform searches somewhere ...

Great site, however. Glad I registered.

-m2

 

Welcome to MCO, M2! Congrats on your new MCS!

Cheers!
Clover

 

Mark, any progress on the XP snag? My home computer runs XP; let me know if there's any way I can help with testing, etc.

 

I have looked into the issue more but have not resolved it yet. For some reason IE on XP is mangling the HTML that is sent back from the server. This in turn breaks the tables and causes the display weirdness. I hope to get some time later this coming week to look at this issue. Thanks!

Mark

 

I usually run netscape on XP, and the forum seach link usually doesn't even appear for some reason. Now whenever I want to use MCO to the fullest, I open up a copy of IE. It's not a big deal, but if new users are coming to MCO for the first time on Netscape, it would probably be quite frustrating to navigate through MCO.

 

What version of Netscape are you using on XP? Also, the forum search link you are referring to...is it the one to just to the right of the pop-up that lets you select which forum you want to jump to? (Not the one at the top rigth of the window) Thanks!

Mark

 

I'm using Netscape 7.02. The problem is with the search link next to the pull down menu to select the forum area. About 1/4 of the time, the link simply doesn't appear to be there. This has also happened to me from my school computers, who are running IE on XP I beleive.