I wanted to search the forums for references to Oz whistles.

The search box doesn't like 2 character words. Is there a way to do this without resorting to a google "site:" search?

No, so sorry. The search index is set to a 3 character minimum to keep the database smaller. I'm afraid the Google site: search is your best bet. Or you could try searching for the term Vambrace.

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Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips

Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.

Yes I had the same problem searching for NY (New York State) based flute teachers. And then to make matters more frustrating it said the word "New" was too common so it was just giving me the results for "York", which was unhelpful since I got returns for York, England.

I know the reasons why the general search engine is set this way, so perhaps the forum proper isn't the best location for the Teacher/Student listings?

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Gobae - The Blacksmith
Ancient Celtic Clans
Re: Living History Blog

It ain't that hard to use Google, friends:

GOOGLE-> site:forums.chiffandfipple.com "OZ whistle"
results in http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl ... DYdfZx2tZw

I did a similar search for the flute teachers and only came up with the recent posting by Christel Rice in New York City
viewtopic.php?f=16&t=87710

True. However, that assumes Google's bots are correctly indexing the C&F's php pages; which is not necessarily a guarantee PhpBB has several optional patches to assist Google with its indexing, but are they installed?. Recent postings may not yet have been indexed, nor moved high enough in rankings to show. Google also has it's own 'ignore' word list not to mention its habit of auto-correcting (auto-guess) what you "really" meant. Can these issues be overcome? Sure. But there's a reason I signed up to be a member of this forum instead just using Google.

Finally, I've been on other phpBB forums that have even gone so far as to replace the phpBB search with Google and it stinks. The results are too unfocused and often inaccurate. So Google is not my first choice for searching phpBBs.

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Gobae - The Blacksmith
Ancient Celtic Clans
Re: Living History Blog

They are.


We presume the reason people sign up is to contribute something to the board, not just pull information down.

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Vivat diabolus in musica! MTGuru's (old) GG Clips / Blackbird Clips

Joel Barish: Is there any risk of brain damage?
Dr. Mierzwiak: Well, technically speaking, the procedure is brain damage.

Precisely! I'm here to be part of a community. I did't come here to be told "go use Google" whenever I need help. I can do that all on my own, no community needed. (Out of the 3 questions I've asked 2 have gotten the 'google' reply)

But back to the other topic; if the teacher/student sub-forums are frequently used it might be helpful to move that info to someplace that can accommodate locational searching. Eg search for teachers with in x mile of zip code 12345, etc. Assuming, of course there's enough demand. I don't know perhaps the community is too small to warrant the energy/time/and potential cost?

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Gobae - The Blacksmith
Ancient Celtic Clans
Re: Living History Blog

Have you considered posting your own thread in the teachers wanted/students accepted forum?

Have you considered posting a new thread in the whistle section about Oz whistles?

We get all kinds of threads started, ridiculous ones often started by me. Regarding the Oz whistles, you might even get a dialog started that will answer more questions than you ever thought about. Sometimes folks will even post a link to a similar thread that will cut to the chase and solve all of that private google searching you've tried to accomplish. Folks here are helpful beyond belief. (My favorite is when they'll continue to comment about your topic long after you've gotten your answer because among themselves, they still have things to say.)

Also, welcome.

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Rose tint my world. Keep me safe from my trouble and pain.
白飞梦

TY very much, that too was why I joined. Google gives "results" but it can't give opinions nor insight that communicating in a forum can.

Anyway, I think I've hijacked the OP's thread enough

Cheers!

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Gobae - The Blacksmith
Ancient Celtic Clans
Re: Living History Blog

I dislike the filter computers too, but unfortunately I might be part of the problem. I went to the local libraries and enjoyed looking for things like the word "and". It would tie the local networks for an hour while processing.

Imagine what the search bots (with no malice involved) could do.

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"Be not deceived by the sweet words of proverbial philosophy. Sugar of lead is a poison."