Tech: Searching for Previous Posts as a Guest

Subject: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 02:14 PM

Is there any way for a Guest to search for previous posts they have sent to Mudcat? Since a lot of people post as "Guest", searching for "Guest" alone would not be specific enough. Can you search for posts sent from a specific E-mail address? I have posted to Mudcat both as a guest and using a specific username, using 2 different E-mail addresses, over about the last 5 years.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Amos
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 02:18 PM

If you put the email names in the Guest box, you can use it as a differentiator in the search. If you are looking for a particular post and can remember a unique phrase the Forum search might find it. This is one of the disadvantages of the super-anonymity of not using a consistent handle, let alone a real name.


A

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Bert
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 02:26 PM

If you don't have the courage to put your name to a post, then you probably don't have anything worth saying.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 02:50 PM

Be fair Bert, when I first posted, I used GUEST because I was looking at the site with a view to joining if I liked it, and signed that way cos I didn't know any better. Benefit of doubt maybe?

Don T.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: PoppaGator
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 03:01 PM

Before I joined and assumed this fake name, I would occasionally write a post, always putting my real name in the "from" box, usually typing FirstnameLastname with no space.

I've never bothered to search out my old posts, but sometimes, when an old thread gets resurrected, I'll see a message from "GUEST,TomHenehan." That's me.

I've seen some non-members who are semi-regular guest posters type in their email addresses. Anyone who consistently enters such an identity (name, nickname, email, etc.) should be able to find their old posts easily enough.

If you never entered any kind of self-identification, or if you have been wildly inconsistent, using a diffferent name almost every time, I don't believe that your posts would be searchable.

By the way, I've been guilty of posting a few anonymous GUEST[blank] postings recently. When I've been unable to get into Mudcat except by the "backdoor," I haven't always remembered that I've been cookieless and not automatically identified. Sorry!

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 05:47 PM

Only I can post as GUEST!
Skipy

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Azizi
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 06:36 PM

Before I joined Mudcat I wrote some posts initally just using "Guest", and then using "Guest + Azizi."

And Bert, I felt I had something to say then. I just didn't know
1} whether I wanted to join
2} what the advantages of joining were and
3) how to join

And with regard to courage, I wasn't afraid of feedback from people regarding what I said..I had concerns about giving out any confidential information like my home address & email address over the Internet {I still do have these concerns}..

But I eventually concluded that the advantages of membership on Mudcat were probably far worth the minimal risks of identity theft..

Here's how I remember joining...One day I came a-lurking to the 'Cat and saw a post by somebody who wrote that by Afrikaaners were the ones who had origninally composed the song Kumbaya.

Now as an African American, that was beyond too much so I sat me down and wrote what for me was a rather biting comment saying in essence, "Nope sorry. And though Kumbaya is widely believed to be an African religious song, it actually came from the African Amerian Gullah people..

I figured that that comment would be ignored. But it wasn't. And I wasn't. I remember that a couple of 'Catters encouraged me to join this online community. So I did. Right then and there. I took the plunge quickly before I lost my nerve.

And that was one of the best moves that I ever made.

Occasionally, I will be searching through old threads [what can I say, I think this is an enjoyable pastime] and I'll be surprised to see a comment that I made as a guest.

So, Guest who posed this question, if you remember the subject matter of your comments, that might help you to find your posts.

But I really would encourage you to join Mudcat. That way you will have a listing of all your posts and you will be able to send and receive Private Messages for follow-up and conversational purposes.

It's worth it. And it's free.

Thank you Max!

Best wishes,
Azizi

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Burke
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 07:14 PM

Recent members, relax, Please. I'm sure Bert does not mean you.

Most of us started out as Guests. I know I used several different names before I decided on Burke. Many of us still do the occasional completly anonymous Guest post by accident. We're all kind of stuck in finding those messages.

I almost think this is a troll. Any consisent monicker can be used as a search key. The easiest way is to find one of them and click on your name. I find one Guest, Burke article & will get to the rest.

Another way is to go to the Quick Links at the top of the screeen & scroll down to Old Adv. Forum Search. If you were using your e-mail address in the From line, put it in the box labeled UserName. When I put Burke in the UserName box, I get all mine as Burke and Guest, Burke. I also get Paul Burke, who is a different person.

If you're one of those who won't use a consistent moniker, you created the situation. Too bad for you. You get no sympathy here.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Feb 05 - 07:24 PM

Of course if you click on the GUEST at the front of a post, up will come all the GUEST posts made by everyone over the years. Working through them to dig out the ones you made would be quite a chore.

But of course, if you had come in with a label, even as a GUEST, (for example like GUEST,Skipy in this thread), clicking on that, at the head of a post, would give you all the posts you'd made that way.

That's just another reason why using a label, even a temporary one, is quite a good idea.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 12 Feb 05 - 12:06 AM

As I've mentioned a bunch of times, I am a member BUT when I post it still shows me as a Guest. Some have shown me ways to rectify this, but I can't make headway on those directions. So I remain a Guest.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Bert
Date: 12 Feb 05 - 12:49 AM

You can post as a GUEST and still use your name or nickname. But when I have something to say I want people to know it's me who said it. P'raps I'm just a big 'ead.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 12 Feb 05 - 01:49 AM

Membership does have some advantages, and being able to easily search for past posts is one of them.

For some Guest posters, a search on the name of the person with whom one argues debates regularly should significantly narrow the search - unless that someone is also Guest.

Most who have been around long enough to have much to search for should have a good idea of a few people who are fairly often interested in the same things they are. This method also gives one a chance to learn what other bizarre things are of interest to the people who seemed so rational when they agreed with you.

John

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Bert
Date: 12 Feb 05 - 01:53 AM

Actually "Lyrics & Knowledge Search [Advanced]" above will usually find anything that you want.

Subject: RE: SEARCHING FOR PREVIOUS POSTS AS A GUEST
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Feb 05 - 04:54 PM

The Filter is the best tool for finding threads by thread name. Just put a pertinent word from the thread title in the search box, and set the age back. If you're not registered but put something in the "from" box in a message, you can find your old posts by using the Old Advanced Forum Search in the QuickLinks dropdown menu on most Mudcat pages - that tool searches by sender name, or by message title. Our Forum Search tool is the most universal search engine we have - but sometimes it's hard to narrow things down with it.
If you can't find something, feel free to contact me by e-mail, and I'll do what I can to help.
-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]