Forum search engine - OR vs '|'

[mvgulik]

Each search engine has its own, usually under-documented, features. which can be a real drag.
Like in:
> "Put a list of words separated by | into brackets if only one of the words must be found."
Sure ...
"skeleton* (bear* | mouflon*)" - Failed. (due to single space after '|')
"skeleton* (bear* |mouflon*)" - Works.
"skeleton* (bear*| mouflon*)" - Failed. (due to missing leading space before '|')

Search doc would be better if it would specify "OR" instead of '|'.
"skeleton* (bear* OR mouflon*)" - Works. (single-space-only after 'OR' being mandatory ... of course)

[MagicManICT]

phpBB has poor documentation, anyway, unless you're a Linux guru, and then it should look familiar enough to get you going.

Let's not forget "bat" can't even be found because word length >= 4. That goes for using wildcard characters, too--beet* works, but bee* does not.

[mvgulik]

That goes for using wildcard characters, too--beet* works, but bee* does not.

> , too--beet*
???

Oddly enough, "bee*" actually works. Interesting

---

Extended search test for "bat"
Next limit in play: Max search words == 10. darn - lol.
(This of course only shows posts that contain "bat" AND that don't contain any of the negative search terms. Which is not the same as only looking for "bat", if that where possible with forum own search)

[MagicManICT]

Hmph... last time I tried searching for a post with a 3 character + wildcard, it failed to return anything.

Also, will remember to include apostrophes or quotation marks to delineate the specific terms used.

(not sure why this is in C&I as it's a forum software issue that potentially can be fixed by the admin, but is more specificly a "software package" issue--needs to be upgraded, bug fixed by the dev, or different software used.)

[mvgulik]

not sure why this is in C&I

Multiple personal reasons/excuses. None being of any significance.
Feel free to move this topic to an other forum section, if you feel that's better.

[MagicManICT]

not sure why this is in C&I

Multiple personal reasons/excuses. None being of any significance.
Feel free to move this topic to an other forum section, if you feel that's better.

Moved it to How Do I? for now as the goal seems to be as much about figuring out how to "best use the built-in search functions."

[mvgulik]

Roger.
Yea, that makes more sense for this topic.
(relaxing personal "game only" view on "How to" section)

[AtoB]

Let's not forget "bat" can't even be found because word length >= 4.

Which is a setting that can be changed, or circumvented using a white list of words that describe game objects.