This came up in the Help Forum, and I thought I'd post a copy of my reply here.

I don't worry too much about thread titles for searching purposes. The Filter is the only thing that searches thread titles, and it covers only three years. The SuperSearch (Digitrad and Forum Search) is based on an index that is rebuilt every few days, so recent messages aren't included in SuperSearch. I don't know if SuperSearch covers thread and message titles, or if it just searches the text of messages.

When I search for songs to harvest, I use the old, reliable Forum Search that's available in QuickLinks. It searches by title and by user name, or both.

If you'd like to help make it easy for Jim Dixon and me to find a song to harvest (if the song doesn't have ADD and the song title in the message title), just post a message below the song - title it ADD and the song's name, and put "see above" in the body of the message. If you've posted songs, it's a good idea to add a link to them in the Songs You've Posted thread. That makes it easy for Jim and me (and Susan, sometimes) to find the songs, and it makes a handy index. I know the thread is past the 100-message cutoff that we usually have, but most of the messages there are reasonably short and it doesn't seem to take that long to load the thread. I think there's a part 2 of the thread, if you're squeamish about adding to part 1. If a song has been posted for over a week and doesn't have harvesting marks, send a personal message to me or to Jim Dixon if you think it warrants harvesting.

If you're making your own changes to songs or if you're adding verses, please take note that we're trying to have mostly the traditional versions of songs in the Digital Tradition. If you want to let people know about your version of a song, please make it clear in the message that the version is your own. If you post a song you've written yourself, please put your name (or Mudcat Nickname) as the songwriter in the usual
Digital Tradition format

• title first line (IN ALL CAPS)
• songwriter name in parentheses next line
• skip a line
• then lyrics
• then explanatory notes
• then initials of the person who submitted the lyrics.

You're free to post whatever you like at Mudcat, although we ask that you don't copy-paste lyrics from the Digital Tradition or from other threads. If it's a song that's of no particular interest to folkies, it's preferable that you just post a link. If it's one that folkies might enjoy (and it isn't in the Digital Tradition or Forum, then please post the complete lyrics, plus give us a link to your source of information (or tell us where it came from, if not from the Web).

Now, although you're free to post anything, that doesn't mean that we're required to harvest it. Dick says we'll accept anything for the Digital Tradition - but Dick doesn't do the harvesting. Susan of DT, Jim Dixon, and I do it, and I think we'll confess that we bypass some songs at times. However, remember that you have three chances - Susan of DT, Jim, and Joe. Your song may make Joe and Susan groan, but Jim's an old softie...

No word yet on when the next edition of the Digital Tradition will come out. Dick had a crash on the computer he uses used to compile the Digital Tradition, and his new computer doesn't handle the softeware he had. The new operating systems from Apple and Microsoft may or may not be compatible with the engines we have available for the database, so that's slowing us down. We're continuing to harvest the songs and Dick continues to compile them, but publishing them is a problem right now. In the meantime, Mudcat serves very well as a searchable supplement to the Digital Tradition.

I think it's important that we take our time with the DT so that it is the best information we can gather.

-Joe Offer-