DISCLAIMER: I am in no way, shape, or form supported, endorsed, or compensated by Reef Central, Missing Link Systems, Inc., or phpPortals. I created this tutorial simply to help members of the Reef Central Online Community find what they're looking for more efficiently and effectively by optimizing their search for information. No more, no less. Thank you.
-Ted Giro
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Searching Reef Central Efficiently: A tutorial by Ted Giro
The Search function on Reef Central is a valuable tool that is available to all RC members. Many common as well as complex issues and questions can be researched and/or answered by utilizing the search engine. However, this resource is not used as often as it should be for various reasons. Perhaps the member would rather post a new thread in an effort to get immediate feedback and opinions from other members. Maybe they are simply unfamiliar with or intimidated by the Search engine and its capabilities. Whatever the case, this tutorial will help the new and veteran user alike better understand this valuable resource on RC.
Part 1. The "Search By Keyword" box:
This area is where you input your keyword(s) for the search. If you are searching for something very specific, you can use the words "AND", "OR", or "NOT" (in all capitals) to search for multiple specific words (ex. "sand AND aragonite"), either one of two words (ex. "ich OR cryptocaryon"), or one word but not another (ex. "lights NOT fluorescent"). These words allow you to further narrow your search. By using an asterisk (*), you can search for part of a word (ex. typing "*light*" in the Keyword box will return "lights", "lighting", "enlightened", etc.). This will help search for variations of a word from typing in a single form of a keyword.
Part 2. The "Search By User Name" box:
If you are looking for a particular post or thread written by a specific user, this is where you would type in that person's username. For example, typing "clownfish" in the Keyword box and "k9decoy" in the User Name box would bring up threads containing the word "clownfish" that k9decoy (my user name) had started or responded to.
To include what we covered in part #1, typing "clownfish AND maroon" in the Keyword box and "k9decoy" in the User Name box would return threads that I had started or responded to that contained the words "clownfish" and "maroon".
Part 3. The "Search Forum…" box:
This search-modifying option allows the user to search for a particular keyword(s) within a specific forum on RC. This search option is a little more complex than the first two we've covered since you not only get to choose from a specific forum to search in, but also whether to search the whole thread or just the title, as well as whether you want to see your results as individual posts or individual threads. For example, if your tang has Ich and you'd like to find solutions for curing it, you would want to search for keywords "tang AND ich" in the "Fish Disease Treatment" forum as this would return to you the most relevant and specific information and give you the best chance of finding information. If you'd like a wider range of responses, simply leave the "Search Forum… option in its default position, which searches all open forums for your keywords.
If you would like even more specific results returned in your search, you can choose to view threads that contain your keyword(s) in the thread title by clicking the "Search titles only" button before you submit your search. This will leave out threads that may have contained your keywords, "tang" and "ich" for example, but only referenced to them when someone typed these words in their response. An example of this situation would be if someone was responding to a plumbing thread, but noted how their tang liked to swim in the current caused by the return pipes. This mention of the keyword "tang" would list this thread in the results of the search unless it was specified by the user that they only wanted to search thread titles only. Searching the titles only is a much more specific way of sifting through RC threads for your desired information since you might find a thread in which someone previously asked the same exact question that you were going to ask.
Part 4. The "Search For Posts From…" option:
This option allows users to choose from a specific time frame in the history of Reef Central to find their information or to search for a thread that existed at a specific time. This option is pretty self explanatory and simple to use. To get the widest range of results and to search the most threads, choose to search from posts from "any date". This will search every thread/post since the beginning of RC's existence.
Part 5. The "Sort Results By…" option:
This final option gives the user the ability to choose what order they'd like the results to be displayed in. You can show the results in ascending or descending order segregated by: title, number of replies, number of views, last posing date, poster, or forum.
I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and it enables you to better access the vast amount of information available to you in Reef Central's archive of threads. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask them. Thank you!
-Ted Giro
===========================================
Searching Reef Central Efficiently: A tutorial by Ted Giro
The Search function on Reef Central is a valuable tool that is available to all RC members. Many common as well as complex issues and questions can be researched and/or answered by utilizing the search engine. However, this resource is not used as often as it should be for various reasons. Perhaps the member would rather post a new thread in an effort to get immediate feedback and opinions from other members. Maybe they are simply unfamiliar with or intimidated by the Search engine and its capabilities. Whatever the case, this tutorial will help the new and veteran user alike better understand this valuable resource on RC.
Part 1. The "Search By Keyword" box:
This area is where you input your keyword(s) for the search. If you are searching for something very specific, you can use the words "AND", "OR", or "NOT" (in all capitals) to search for multiple specific words (ex. "sand AND aragonite"), either one of two words (ex. "ich OR cryptocaryon"), or one word but not another (ex. "lights NOT fluorescent"). These words allow you to further narrow your search. By using an asterisk (*), you can search for part of a word (ex. typing "*light*" in the Keyword box will return "lights", "lighting", "enlightened", etc.). This will help search for variations of a word from typing in a single form of a keyword.
Part 2. The "Search By User Name" box:
If you are looking for a particular post or thread written by a specific user, this is where you would type in that person's username. For example, typing "clownfish" in the Keyword box and "k9decoy" in the User Name box would bring up threads containing the word "clownfish" that k9decoy (my user name) had started or responded to.
To include what we covered in part #1, typing "clownfish AND maroon" in the Keyword box and "k9decoy" in the User Name box would return threads that I had started or responded to that contained the words "clownfish" and "maroon".
Part 3. The "Search Forum…" box:
This search-modifying option allows the user to search for a particular keyword(s) within a specific forum on RC. This search option is a little more complex than the first two we've covered since you not only get to choose from a specific forum to search in, but also whether to search the whole thread or just the title, as well as whether you want to see your results as individual posts or individual threads. For example, if your tang has Ich and you'd like to find solutions for curing it, you would want to search for keywords "tang AND ich" in the "Fish Disease Treatment" forum as this would return to you the most relevant and specific information and give you the best chance of finding information. If you'd like a wider range of responses, simply leave the "Search Forum… option in its default position, which searches all open forums for your keywords.
If you would like even more specific results returned in your search, you can choose to view threads that contain your keyword(s) in the thread title by clicking the "Search titles only" button before you submit your search. This will leave out threads that may have contained your keywords, "tang" and "ich" for example, but only referenced to them when someone typed these words in their response. An example of this situation would be if someone was responding to a plumbing thread, but noted how their tang liked to swim in the current caused by the return pipes. This mention of the keyword "tang" would list this thread in the results of the search unless it was specified by the user that they only wanted to search thread titles only. Searching the titles only is a much more specific way of sifting through RC threads for your desired information since you might find a thread in which someone previously asked the same exact question that you were going to ask.
Part 4. The "Search For Posts From…" option:
This option allows users to choose from a specific time frame in the history of Reef Central to find their information or to search for a thread that existed at a specific time. This option is pretty self explanatory and simple to use. To get the widest range of results and to search the most threads, choose to search from posts from "any date". This will search every thread/post since the beginning of RC's existence.
Part 5. The "Sort Results By…" option:
This final option gives the user the ability to choose what order they'd like the results to be displayed in. You can show the results in ascending or descending order segregated by: title, number of replies, number of views, last posing date, poster, or forum.
I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and it enables you to better access the vast amount of information available to you in Reef Central's archive of threads. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to ask them. Thank you!
Last edited by a moderator:
However I need to set-up a pay-pal account first!
