No wonder it's a bit different than my forum - we are using standard vBulletin and this place does use MySQL fulltext. I don't know which I like better.

 

So, I guess my new complaint is: "Why aren't the instructions better?".

C'mon, guys! I'm a Unix programmer! I'm used to "cryptic" information and documentation that's really only meant for Unix Guru's. But in Unix, at least, if you poke around enough and are patient, you can find the answer.

Here though, there was no answer, until a kind soul came to my aid. Yes, Thumper, there are worse search engines, but there are better ones too! Why can't this one be improved? I'm only asking for some decent documentation here, nothing more.

And, for those of you who "have never had any trouble", please give me a break! I told you I thought I had tried the "quoted string" method, and I suspect I really did, but, I got thrown off when it seemed to match" "throttle" instead of "throttle body spacer" (I didn't look far enough in the thread). I still think this is weird behavior. Either it should be an "exact match" or it should not match.

Now I feel better!

- Jack

 

You have my sympathy.

I am guessing the reason there is no documentation is because of the differences between the standard vBulletin search engine and the optional MySQL fulltext search. vBulletin is very good software, but in general, its documentation does leave something to be desired anyway.

 

Jack,

After reviewing the instructions at http://www.mysql.com/search/ I'll stick to my original instructions on how the engine is supposed to work. The addition of the quotes around the search string does, of course, force a return on only those results that match the exact sequence of terms in the string.

You are right, there are no directions on this site, other than user's posts, that describe how the search modifiers are to be used. many sites do include a short summary of the them directly on the search page, perhaps the admin can make that improvement.

Steve

Ps.. UNIX?? you have my sympathies also....