Mudcat Search Tips

Subject: SEARCH TIPS
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jan 25 - 04:19 PM

I keep trying to come up with a clear and easy and brief guide to searching Mudcat. We have so many search engines, plus a "supersearch" that doesn't work. Everybody goes to the Supersearch and fails, and then they give up. Don't give up. If you can't find something, you can always ask one of us moderators. That's our job.

But let me try to make a list of the various search tools we have, and explain what their purposes are. To search for almost anything, there are only two places to go:

1. The Filter - to find threads by thread name. It's that box at the top of the list of threads. Put one or two distinctive words or a partial word, set the age back to "all" or whatever, and "refresh." If you want to find all our threads on Tom Paxton, put Paxton in the Filter box. If you get too many results, use CTRL-F on your keyboard to refine your results.

2. Old Advanced Forum Search (click) (in the Quicklinks dropdown menu on almost every Mudcat Page)
   This is a collection of almost all the search utilities we've had at Mudcat over the years, and (most) of them still work.
   • Subject Search is my favorite, and it's right at the top. It searches for things by Message title.
     Since 1997, I have been constantly editing and standardizing message and thread titles to make the Filter and the Subject Search work better. If you're looking for a song, put one word or phrase from the song title in the "Subject" box and search.
     
   • UserName searches messages by the name of the person who posted them. Put Max in the search box and it will bring up all messages posted by people named Max.
     Hint: You can also click on the poster's name in any message, and it will conduct this same search and bring up all messages posted by that person. As with all searches, you can refine the results by using CTRL-F on your keyboard.

That's it, just two places to go to find almost everything. If you get a 500 - Internal server error, you can usually click past it by refreshing your page. But it doesn't work on the Lyrics & Knowledge Search - that search engine is broken.

Subject: RE: SEARCH TIPS
From: Joe Offer
Date: 01 Jan 25 - 04:22 PM

From the Mudcat FAQ/Newcomers' Guide - I've been working to refine this guide for twenty years. I think it includes everything we have. Use the message above if you want a Short and Sweet guide.

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Mudcat has many search tools - see Old Advanced Forum Search (click) in the QuickLinks dropdown menu.

Almost all of these search tools work just fine.
-Joe-

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Remember that the main search engine depends on an index that has to be generated, so the recency of those searches depends on how recently Max updated the index.

There are other search engines on the Old Advanced Forum Search on the quicklinks dropdown menu on most Mudcat pages.

My favorite search engine is the Filter box at the top of the list of threads on the Forum Menu. It searches by thread name, and it's quick and accurate. Use one or two key words in the Filter, and then set the Age back. You can do a secondary search of the results with CTRL-F.

Other search tips in the FAQ.

And if you still can't find it, ask a moderator or start a thread and ask.

-Joe-

Searching Mudcat for Information

Subject: RE: MUDCAT SEARCH TIPS
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Jan 25 - 06:40 PM

Good luck with this, Joe. I'll trace this one and make a point of sharing it when the question comes up (which it will - again and again).

Have a good 2025!

Subject: RE: Mudcat Search Tips
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Feb 26 - 07:17 PM

Since I became a moderator in 1997, I have been renaming threads and messages to make them easier to find. My renaming tactics are designed to work well with the Filter and with the "Subject" search engines at Mudcat - they are focused on keywords.
The Filter at the top of the list of threads searches for threads by thread name, and that's the Mudcat search engine I use most often.
The Old Advanced Forum Search is in the QuickLinks dropdown menu on almost every Mudcat page. The best tool on that page is the "Subject" search, which searches by message title.
https://mudcat.org/forumsearch.cfm
The trick in both the Filter and "subject" search is not to make your search too narrow. Put one word or one phrase in the search box, a term that is not likely to have alternates. Search for something distinctive, not for the full title.
We don't have a full text search that works very well. It's better to use Google to search Mudcat for that. Search for "phrase in quotes" mudcat.org, and you'll be amazed at what you'll come up with. Better yet, use Google to search for TWO phrases in quotes.

Oftentimes, you're best off doing a two-stage search. Do a broad search first, and then use CTRL-F to search the results.

That's as simple as I can make it:

• Use the Filter to search for thread titles
• Use the "Subject" section of the Old Advanced Forum Search to search message titles
• Use Google to search Mudcat for a full text search. Search for "phrase in quotes" mudcat.org
  Better yet: TWO distinctive phrases, each in quotes.

Subject: RE: Mudcat Search Tips
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 22 Feb 26 - 07:43 PM

If in doubt, just use Google (or similar) and search: 'Required words (partial lyrics / song title)', a couple of spaces and 'Mudcat'

Even if Mudcat's search engines don't work, the more general ones do.