Can't search for "pH"

[Rocket J Squirrel]

I understand most search engines don't like 2-letter words. But there are some that are important in pool chemistry. I wonder whether there's a way to add exceptions for important 2-letter words like pH, FC, CC, TA, etc.

 

[ajw22]

Can we broaden this thread to issues and tips for search on the new site?

@Leebo It does not look like the old message base that was brought over is indexed by member for Search.

Test case being searching for “Water exchange” by mknauss. Marty has posted many times and the only message which is found is one he created on the new system. None of his coverted messages are found.

Also, advanced search does not seem very advanced. Can we search on phrases?

Is there any tutorial on the capabilities of this shstems search? It seems very rudimentary compared to the old Google based search.

 

[Leebo]

I’m not really worried about searches yet as there’s still multiple redirects to setup and Google hasn’t even completed indexing the new migration. Give it some time, hasn’t even been a week yet.

As for terms like pH and such,
Then old built in search would also ignore these short terms. There maybe a way to expand, but I’d like to let Google complete itself.

 

[JamesW]

You can search directly from Google:

site:troublefreepool.com ph

That will search Google with whatever term you specify.

You can search any site the same way.

 

[Txjole]

I can’t search and sussecfully find anything now. I’m patiently waiting, new systems suck.

 

[Donldson]

Search for pH will produce hundreds of thousands of results, including every single set of test results ever posted. How is that going to be useful? Same with all of your examples. Searching for a 2-letter string is fruitless, so enabling it would be pointless.

You need to be more specific about your search. What are you looking for information on? Low pH? High pH? Drifting pH? Optimal pH? All of those would produce more useful results while also being valid search terms.

 

[Leebo]

There are a few options we have to improve searches at our disposal. First we could add Google as a search option, but that will take a modification to the system which I’m working to avoid for stability reasons. Second is to setup an upgraded search that uses outside algorithms to improve results. This setup will likely result in best results BUT will hand TFP a monthly fee to pay. Lastly we’ve got an option that will allow new posts to get tagged with various phrases and get sorted from there. I’ve held off setting this up as it will be yet another change and I’d like to allow users time to learn the current setup before I go adding more bells and whistles.

 

[ajw22]

You need to be more specific about your search. What are you looking for information on? Low pH? High pH? Drifting pH? Optimal pH? All of those would produce more useful results while also being valid search terms.

Try searching for “drifting ph” and you get

The following words were not included in your search because they are too short, too long, or too common: ph

That is the issue with the current search setup.

I think Lee understands the problem and will impove search in time.

 

[Leebo]

short phrases like pH have never been included on TFP. Google has the algrathyms setup to come close enough but still results are mixed. It's not an issue just with TFP but almost every search out there.

 

[JamesW]

Just go to Google and put this in the search box:

site:troublefreepool.com "drifting ph"