Tech: Finding threads/messages in Mudcat forum?

Subject: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 04:51 AM

I wanted to find a particular thread that I know was posted in the Mudcat forum and was still there yesterday. But today, I've searched can't find it. The thread was about the BBC Radio 4 programme "The Singer and the Song" and featured Norma Waterson adn Martin Carthy. I can even remember the thread's subject line was all in capital letters. The subject was something like "A MUST LISTEN TO RADIO PROGRAMME".

However, today I tried searching for it, using words like "listen", "Waterson", "Carthy", etc., but drew a blank - I tried searching back 7 days which should be more than enough.

The reason I was searching for it was to discover the name of the programme so I could listen to it. I've now found out the details above by a painstaking trawl through the BBC Radio 4 website (which is not particularly helpful unless you happen to know the title of the programme, which I didn't until I eventually found it!)

My question is: why can't I find the thread? Has it been deleted? Or is there something I'm doing wrong? (I tried both the search DT/forum and filter boxes without success).

I raise this because I've previously searched for things I thought were there and got no results, but on those occasions I thought I might have imagined seeing things. This time however, I know I didn't imagine it - otherwise I wouldn't have known about the programme at all.

Can anyone explain?!

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 05:02 AM

Hi, Scrump. Check the FAQ for more information about searching. Our main search engine depends on an index, but the index hasn't been updated for 18 months because of some technical problems. The easiest tool for finding threads by title is to use the Filter. If I use the Filter for program I'll also get programme," and I'll come up with these results (click). Is this (click) the thread you were seeking?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 05:08 AM

No, Joe, I found that (in fact it gets displayed anyway when I enter the forum). The other thread had a similar title to the one I posted above.

Maybe the poster of that thread will read this and be able to confirm I'm not hallucinating :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 05:13 AM

Remember the name of somebody who posted to the thread? You could try the Old Advanced Forum Search and search under the poster's name.
Oh - I'll bet it's MUST HEAR BBC RADIO PROG TODAY - the thread title had been ALLCAPS, and we routinely change ALLCAPS to Title Case.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Scrump
Date: 17 Jan 07 - 06:37 AM

Thanks Joe, that was it!

I still don't know why I didn't find it though. Maybe I just missed it because I remembered the "all caps" and was scanning for that.

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 01:28 AM

For something recent, if you're having a problem thinking of a word that was in the thread title, a refresh with the time set back to something longer - like a month perhaps, will give you a list of all the threads. You can then use the "Edit|Find On This Page" button in your browser to try several searches on "possibles" without having to wait for the 'cat to reload each search.

Just keep in mind that the thread that was "interesting" will always be remembered as being more recent than it really was.

Going back too far can result in a pretty slow return of the list though.

As in most searches, "less is better" when choosing what to search for. ONE word that you're sure is in the title is much more reliable than a phrase in which someone may or may not have inserted a comma etc. (unless the one word is "BS" or "martin guitar," which may bury you in results)

John

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads in Mudcat forum?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 01:48 AM

While we're looking for things, Jim Dixon and I are looking for at least one missing message from the Dandy Jim of Caroline thread. The SuperSearch shows the first message was posted by Chico, but we can't find it - most likely, it got scrambled into another thread when Max restored Mudcat as few weeks ago. If you notice other theads with missing messages, or if you notice messages that appear to be misplaced, let me know - I guess it's best to contact me by personal message.
Thanks.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads/messages in Mudcat forum?
From: Scrump
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 03:22 AM

Thanks folks - I did go back a week (I knew the thread wasn't any older than a couple of days or so). I was just thrown by the fact that I was looking for an ALL CAPS subject line, which had been changed to "title case" as explained by Joe above.

So I must've scanned down the list and not seen it, even though it was there, because I was ignoring anything that wasn't in ALL CAPS. The seraches I did failed because I used the wrong words (not being able to remember the subject text content).

That'll teach me to remember the text and not the case of the subject, in future :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: Finding threads/messages in Mudcat forum?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Jan 07 - 03:56 AM

We (or I) noticed that you'd found yours. As threads and threaders sometimes do, we're just having second thoughts now about things we should have suggested in case others might find them helpful ... ... I think.

John