Does this forum use a new host?

[Rex R]

I havent been on the forum for several years.  Has it been moved to a new host?  And have old threads been purged?  Is the search function less robust?  I've tried playing with the search menu, and either i've just forgotten everything I knew or it's just not as user friendly as it used to be.

 

I've also been looking for some old threads with no luck.  And some threads that I had saved on my computer as bookmarks now lead to dead links.

 

 

thanks

[chrisolson]

3 minutes ago, Rex R said:

I havent been on the forum for several years.  Has it been moved to a new host?  And have old threads been purged?  Is the search function less robust?  I've tried playing with the search menu, and either i've just forgotten everything I knew or it's just not as user friendly as it used to be.

 

I've also been looking for some old threads with no luck.  And some threads that I had saved on my computer as bookmarks now lead to dead links.

 

 

thanks

• Yes new hardware host and software with more functionality
• No, in general, old threads have not been purged
• Search function is about the same as the old one
• Any old book marks will not work as they point to a URL that no longer exists

 

If you have something specific ,  post here and we'll see if there is a way to help find it.

 

 

[Rex R]

Thanks Chris.

 

Is there a thread with advice on using the search function?  If not, can you offer some advice?

[chrisolson]

1 hour ago, Rex R said:

Thanks Chris.

 

Is there a thread with advice on using the search function?  If not, can you offer some advice?

 

We have a continuing issue with the current vendor on how far back the search will work.  That is, data is "archived" automatically past a certain date ... and that archived date does not show in any search ... dumb I know ... but yeah thats what it is for now..

 

That historical date has fluctuated from either 10 to 15 years ago ... 

 

Other than that the internal search works best when searching for a "unique" word or two that specifically defines your search

 

Until I can completely resolve the archive issue , you can use the google trick of searching for anything on the site by. .... 

 

using google as a search :

 

 

 

to use it ...enter

 

site:bmwsporttouring.com { search word(s) }

 

such as

 

 

 

will bring up everything with Torrey in it regardless of post date. (small sample below)

Clicking on the listing takes you directly to the post on the site.

 

 

 

 

 

[lkraus]

I don't use any forum's search function very much, just because I've found Google to be more reliable.  The search function here might be OK, I just never tried it.. 

 

Try using the title portion of your dead bookmark as a Google search term along with Chris' suggestion of site:bmwsporttouring.com to return results only from this forum.

 

For example, I have a dead bookmark titled 2007 R1200RT, U-joint failure with a URL of "http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=785163&page=3".  The thread exists but the thread identification has changed so the URL leads to "The page you requested does not exist."  

 

When I Google  site:bmwsporttouring.com "2007 R1200RT, U-joint failure", I find only one result, which has the exact original thread title, with the correct new URL,   The quotes around the unique portion of the thread title restrict the results to that exact phrase.

 

[chrisolson]

2 hours ago, Rex R said:

I havent been on the forum for several years.

 

One of the best new features of this forum software is the ability to upload pictures directly to the site and imbedding them directly in your post  ... (as I did with the screen shots above)

 

(notice the band at the bottom of the post/editor window)

 

No more 3rd party hosting and linking required ... and we have a lot of capacity so no worry on uploading too many pics   ;)

[Rex R]

Thanks guys.

 

As I recall  the old site permitted searches for combinations of words (i.e .  containing "X" and "Y" or alternates "X" or "Y" and phrases "X plus Y")  Anything like that available here?

 

[chrisolson]

12 hours ago, Rex R said:

Thanks guys.

 

As I recall  the old site permitted searches for combinations of words (i.e .  containing "X" and "Y" or alternates "X" or "Y" and phrases "X plus Y")  Anything like that available here?

 

 

Yes, the similar functionality exists .... there is an option  on the form for ALL or ANY option when using more than one search term (the default is ALL). 

 

Default content search is ALL, however I normally restrict the search to "Topics" .  There is an option for searching for items from a particular author (Member screen name) or by topic "tag"  .

 

Using quotes will signify an "exact" match for the phrase

 

One last item ... previous content had for the most part had pictures that were hosted elsewhere and linked to display.  Many of the old hosting sites have

1. disappeared
2. and/or the BMWST member moved the source pictures to another vendor since posting . 

 

In case 1 the pictures will NOT show in the old post and they are most likely gone and not retrievable

In case 2, if the original poster is still a member and still has a copy of the old photo ... it can be restored to the post ..... however this is a long shot

 

Lastly, using the internal search you may or may not find content older than 15 years (maybe even 12 in some cases) ... This is an ongoing issue with our vendor and NOT from data being lost during the conversion a couple of years ago.

 

HOWEVER

 

Using the Google search "hack" will return all results

 

 

 

 

 

[Twisties]

My understanding is that some older threads have been archived (not purged) and are not available. We went to a lot of trouble to ensure that all our older content made the transition to the new software properly.  Then, I guess about a year ago I couldn't find an older thread and was informed that there had been a mandatory or involuntary archiving forced by the software folk.  Style me super disappointed and frustrated.

[chrisolson]

2 hours ago, Twisties said:

My understanding is that some older threads have been archived (not purged) and are not available. We went to a lot of trouble to ensure that all our older content made the transition to the new software properly.  Then, I guess about a year ago I couldn't find an older thread and was informed that there had been a mandatory or involuntary archiving forced by the software folk.  Style me super disappointed and frustrated.

yes, we're still fighting the battle over the forced archiving ... it wasn't indicated when we migrated.  Archived items are not included in the internal search ... but yes, they are still there as data.  But there are still a bunch of advantages for this package that are worth the inconvenience

 

SINCE 

 

There is a workaround ... As indicated,  using Google... as in ...   site:bmwsporttouring.com [ your search term ]  it will find everything including whats in the archive.  Same rules apply when searching for multiple or single items and using quotes for an exact match.

 

 

[chrisolson]

3 hours ago, chrisolson said:

here is a workaround ... As indicated,  using Google... as in ...   site:bmwsporttouring.com [ your search term ]  it will find everything including whats in the archive.  Same rules apply when searching for multiple or single items and using quotes for an exact match.

 

 

I've added a selection under "Search" that when clicked will open another window directly to Google search