[Q] Help on searching XDA - General Questions and Answers

People here love to use [Brackets] in their thread titles as described here. That's a great way to identify what the thread is about.
HOWEVER...
I have yet to find a way to search this site and limit my results based on those identifiers. I must be missing something obvious.
In other words, if I want to search a forum for an unroot guide, searching for "unroot guide" will return a gazillion results. I'd rather search for "[Guide] unroot". But the search engine discards the brackets.
Any help?

roachkv said:
People here love to use [Brackets] in their thread titles as described here. That's a great way to identify what the thread is about.
HOWEVER...
I have yet to find a way to search this site and limit my results based on those identifiers. I must be missing something obvious.
In other words, if I want to search a forum for an unroot guide, searching for "unroot guide" will return a gazillion results. I'd rather search for "[Guide] unroot". But the search engine discards the brackets.
Any help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to search for a particular type of guide for a particular device is what you can do is navigate to that devices section, then go to the devices General section (Where most guides will be posted) or Development section (If the guides are particularly development related guides, I.E compiling a kernel from source, or building a ROM from source for a particular device), and then in the upper right hand corner is a "Search this forum" search box that you can then search for what your looking for. For example building on your example say I wanted to unroot my Nexus 10, I would navigate to the Nexus 10 General section and then using the "Search this forum" search box I would search "[GUIDE] Unroot Nexus 10" or similar search terms and I should be able to more easily find what I'm looking for. For other topics try narrowing your search range by visiting a particular forum section then using the forum specific search box. Another example might be say I wanted to learn more about ROM development I might navigate to the Android Chef Central forum and then using the "Search this forum" search "[GUIDE] Build your own ROM" or similar search time. Overall I would recommend trying to search in a particular forum section to get more accurate search results. Also you can try using Google search for example and including specific keywords like "xda unroot Nexus 10 guide" which would return a guide for unrooting the Nexus 10, while as you mentioned just searching "xda unroot guide" will return many results. Let me know if you still have questions.

Thanks for your reply!
shimp208 said:
using the "Search this forum" search box I would search "[GUIDE] Unroot Nexus 10"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried doing what you've suggested. My problem, however, that the brackets, [], get discarded in the search, such that the results return anything with "guide" (be it a title or message body search). This occurs whether I search from the site or from Google.
I was hoping to limit my searches, for instance, to only threads that specifically have [Guide] in the title, rather that every thread with "guide" in it.

roachkv said:
Thanks for your reply!
I've tried doing what you've suggested. My problem, however, that the brackets, [], get discarded in the search, such that the results return anything with "guide" (be it a title or message body search). This occurs whether I search from the site or from Google.
I was hoping to limit my searches, for instance, to only threads that specifically have [Guide] in the title, rather that every thread with "guide" in it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another suggestion would be click on the search button in the upper right hand corner and then you should be presented with advanced search options. A couple options you could try is the search keywords section selecting the search titles only option, or the search by tag option searching for the guide tag.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

Use the search plug in for XDA built for Firefox or IE
Wayne Tech Nexus

zelendel said:
Use the search plug in for XDA built for Firefox or IE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this still discards the brackets
shimp208 said:
Another suggestion would be...advanced search options...search by tag option searching for the guide tag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears "tags" are not the same as the [notations]. In other words, if I go into a particular thread and do an advanced search putting "guide" or "[guide]" in the tags section, I will not get a list of all threads with "[guide]" in the title

roachkv said:
this still discards the brackets
It appears "tags" are not the same as the [notations]. In other words, if I go into a particular thread and do an advanced search putting "guide" or "[guide]" in the tags section, I will not get a list of all threads with "[guide]" in the title
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try searching the thread title only in advanced search options for the "guide" keyword?
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium

shimp208 said:
Did you try searching the thread title only in advanced search options for the "guide" keyword?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes

Anybody?
No search gurus with existential wisdom to spare?

roachkv said:
Anybody?
No search gurus with existential wisdom to spare?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use the XDA search engine. Use El Goog and in the search box put;-
site:forum.xda-developers.com [GUIDE]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as well as the keywords you want.
Not perfect, but more likely to return results for you.

Related

[Q] searching does not work

I have just done a search for "XFJP7" and a list came up with no reffrence to XFJP7.
The first result was: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=817703
I did a search in that thread for "XFJP7" and nothing was found.
If this site wants users to search the threads for answers then you need to fix your searching.....
You also need to make it easer to find threads users posted in......
search
hi,
Well me search bought this up :http://www.google.com/cse?q=XFJP7&s...ub-2900107662879704:fs7umqefhnf&ie=ISO-8859-1 with quite a few results.
Not being sarcastic here, but did you ever think to broaden your search field a little to get more results. for example roms, slowdowns, fixs etc?
THe information is out there, you just need to have a little patience and know how to search!
Cheers.

XDA app issues

EDIT: app thread linked in following post
The thread is here : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=841646
(Not an android user so I can't answer your questions)
Thanks
Dave
twvance said:
I tried searching for 'XDA app,' but I guess thats too frequently used to find a thread dedicated to the app, so I thought I would start one in order to address certain issues with the XDA app.
Here are some complaints I have with the app:
1. It won't save my favorite threads. If I navigate to the thread, the menu tells me it is a favorite, yet the thread doesn't show up in my favorites tab.
2. Kind of minor, but I think adding a 'search this thread' option would be nice a well.
Can anyone else confirm these issues?
Sent from my Captivate running Serendipity 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It will show in the favorite tab if you refresh the app. But I personnally prefer to mark it with the star so it is immediately displayed in my favorite threads.
2. I agree. The search function isn't very useful on the application as you get results from all the forum threads which makes it hard to find posts related to your question.

RunnyDroid_v5.0_By_PVTeam

hello;
can you help me to downloa RunnyDroid_v5.0_By_PVTeam and update of it RunnyDroid_V5.1_OTA_By_PVTEAM
thanx
okay i just got you a link to the last rom you made a thread asking for. Now I'm going to need you to actually put forth some effort and search. try putting that rom name in google.
Search Functions
Every Forum has a "SEARCH" option.
Main Forums allow you to search for specific Threads (a specific ROM for example). Or you may search for posts by a specific author.
You can also search for specific content inside threads. At the right of the search box is a "gear". These are the advanced search options.
Learn to use the "Search" features.
Thread Closed.
MD

[Q] Off topic but don't want to have another lost thread in some other forum...

I always thought the foums here at XDA were little counter-intuitive at times as far as navigation, but it never really mattered that much.... However, now I am stuck and cannot seem to do something rather simple... I dunno maybe I am tired.... but I thought I would ask so this doesn't become an obstacle.
I am trying to find all of my posts in this forum (HTC One-S). I didn't see an option, so I went to one of the sub-forums (like this one: One S General). Under advanced search, I entered my username in the correct place ("Find posts by..."). The result is 40 or so threads...but each thread has anywhere from 8 to 95 pages. I appreciate the helpful information to the left of each thread stating "you have X posts in this thread".... but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to bring up those posts.
[Also, I now see the widget icon next to Search All Forums on the Main Forum page... maybe I can search individual forums though that.]
But can someone tell me how to do a search which results in a page of only my posts????
Thanks in advance...!
On the advanced search page there is an option that lets you "show results as posts". It will show individual posts instead of threads.
Edit: nevermind they seem to have drastically simplified the advanced search and removed a lot of options. Try going to your profile page and the "Statistics" tab, then click "find all posts by syntropic".
Scroll to the top of the XDA Website where it says Welcome, "_______" <------ your name. Click on your name. Your profile should come up in the "About me" part of your profile. Scroll down toward the middle park of your profile and click on "Statistics". There should be a list that comes up. Click on "Find all posts by ______" (Your name)..
Thread Closed​
This is not the place to ask this! Just use the statistics tab in your profile, it will show you all of your posts with a marker on which forum they were posted. You could of even PMed one of the moderation team, we are here to help.​

How to search into a thread.

Like the title said... How can i search into a thread on this forum, I can't seem to find it anywhere.
xenius123 said:
Like the title said... How can i search into a thread on this forum, I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to the search bar, and in the menu where it says "everywhere" by default, select "this thread"
Edit: Old answer, newest one here:
Raiz said:
Yep, we knew that when testing. The xda team is working on it (it takes time but it will be addressed eventually)
You can keep using "[your search] site:forum.xda-developers.com" in google to search for threads. To search in thread use control+F and go through as much pages as you can (that's a solution if you REALLLLLLLY want to search. Otherwise look at the right part of your screen, there should be a "most thanked" section. Useful answers are usually there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Raiz said:
Go to the search bar, and in the menu where it says "everywhere" by default, select "this thread"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Didn't work for me. Still shows results same as "Everywhere". Please help.
Raiz said:
Go to the search bar, and in the menu where it says "everywhere" by default, select "this thread"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't work at all. Search "everywhere" or "threads" "forum and devices" all yield identical result. And you'd know that if you actually use the function yourself.
There is another button says "search forums" and all it does is search globally.
I think XDA-Developer's new website is trying to boost the site's activities by deliberately crippling the search function and encourage people to ask the same question again and again.
A prime example of "if it is not broken, let's break it for kicks"
Someone is having some sort of weird satisfaction by watching their users hopelessly trying to find their answer and couldn't find any. It's like watching his pet mouse couldn't get out of a maze.
The previous search was intuitive. It used to produce results sorted to newest first. Please tell me how to get results sorted to descending order of date now.
kngharv said:
It doesn't work at all. Search "everywhere" or "threads" "forum and devices" all yield identical result. And you'd know that if you actually use the function yourself.
There is another button says "search forums" and all it does is search globally.
I think XDA-Developer's new website is trying to boost the site's activities by deliberately crippling the search function and encourage people to ask the same question again and again.
A prime example of "if it is not broken, let's break it for kicks"
Someone is having some sort of weird satisfaction by watching their users hopelessly trying to find their answer and couldn't find any. It's like watching his pet mouse couldn't get out of a maze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This message was from quite long ago, some things may have changed. When I wrote this message I used the function, and it worked just fine.
I know, the search function isn't working flawlessly rn, but things keeps moving, so be patient.
And do you seriously think xda is deliberately breaking the search function to make users mad ?? Do you really think that xda would deliberately force its users to clog the already full Q'n'A forum with useless repeated questions ? You're saying "boost the activity" when it's literally spamming the forum with old questions that contributors will just answer by ("see here: link)" anyway. XDA isn't payed for how much post/thread is created, in fact it's the opposite! You come with assumptions on how works the whole thing, those are assumptions, so you can complain about the search function no problem but keep those theories of yours for yourself.
And if you want you can just use google:
[your search] site:forum.xda-developers.com
I get it you're frustrated, but be nice when posting, I would've happily told you that trick if you did so. I still did, but it wasn't heartily...
that1 said:
The previous search was intuitive. It used to produce results sorted to newest first. Please tell me how to get results sorted to descending order of date now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that1 said:
Didn't work for me. Still shows results same as "Everywhere". Please help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to answer, use google like that it should work fine:
[your search] site:forum.xda-developers.com
It looks like it's broken rn, there surely will be a fix, but for now use google it should get the job done
Experiencing the same issue here.. The search function in the new interface does not work for me..
voided said:
Experiencing the same issue here.. The search function in the new interface does not work for me..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, we knew that when testing. The xda team is working on it (it takes time but it will be addressed eventually)
You can keep using "[your search] site:forum.xda-developers.com" in google to search for threads. To search in thread use control+F and go through as much pages as you can (that's a solution if you REALLLLLLLY want to search. Otherwise look at the right part of your screen, there should be a "most thanked" section. Useful answers are usually there
Trying to use the search function (thread) with no result at all.
Not working, what a pain! Why always need to change the theme when everything was fine before?
ah so it's not just me... There should be like a huge flashing message at the top of every page saying "search does not work properly" or just disable the function until its working.
xenius123 said:
Like the title said... How can i search into a thread on this forum, I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See this post
[CLOSED] XenForo 2.2 Upgrade! Post Bugs, Issues and Comments Here
On 3/11/2021 at around 10am New York time, XDA will be upgrading our forum software to XenForo 2.2 which brings a bunch of new improvements, like a new thread preview tool, a Device Inventory tool to show off which phones you use, a most-thanked...
forum.xda-developers.com
ErismaSS said:
ah so it's not just me... There should be like a huge flashing message at the top of every page saying "search does not work properly" or just disable the function until its working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Especially considering following favorite mechanical answer from exp. devs :
> This has been discussed many times on this thread. Please search the thread for keywords (such as ${search} in this case) before posting. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tags search is working https://forum.xda-developers.com/tags/ , btw @sd_shadow @svetius thanks for having raised them to 10x units, exp. devs must use them more efficiently...
(EDIT: @svetius , technically I should be able to up-vote (or down-vote) my post, shouldn't I ?)
kngharv said:
It doesn't work at all. Search "everywhere" or "threads" "forum and devices" all yield identical result. And you'd know that if you actually use the function yourself.
There is another button says "search forums" and all it does is search globally.
I think XDA-Developer's new website is trying to boost the site's activities by deliberately crippling the search function and encourage people to ask the same question again and again.
A prime example of "if it is not broken, let's break it for kicks"
Someone is having some sort of weird satisfaction by watching their users hopelessly trying to find their answer and couldn't find any. It's like watching his pet mouse couldn't get out of a maze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't agree more with @kngharv : It's impossible that a website like xda-developers hasn't managed (unless intentionally) to fix this issue in months. I'm sure they could fix it in a couple of hourse if they wanted to.
zogoibi said:
I can't agree more with @kngharv : It's impossible that a website like xda-developers hasn't managed (unless intentionally) to fix this issue in months. I'm sure they could fix it in a couple of hourse if they wanted to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In January at the time when the post was created that you quoted the search function was indeed broken. However, at least for me it seems to be completely fixed already for weeks or months. I've personally no issues at all, neither with a general search on XDA or e.g. a specific in-thread search. For me it's obvious that meanwhile the complete database has been transfered and indexed after the transition from vBulletin to Xenforo and the new servers.
If you still have problems please provide some more information, examples or screenshots to allow us to support and assist you in fixing your problem. Such a generic statement like yours isn't really helpful in trouble-shooting.
And I hope you don't mind that I don't respond to the unsubstantial assumptions and accusations in the post to that you completely agree. Even during the times of the broken search we enforced implementation of rule no. 5 of the XDA Forum Rules, and removed duplicated posts or questions or closed threads if a subject matter related one already existed.
Oswald Boelcke said:
In January at the time when the post was created that you quoted the search function was indeed broken. However, at least for me it seems to be completely fixed already for weeks or months. I've personally no issues at all, neither with a general search on XDA or e.g. a specific in-thread search. For me it's obvious that meanwhile the complete database has been transfered and indexed after the transition from vBulletin to Xenforo and the new servers.
If you still have problems please provide some more information, examples or screenshots to allow us to support and assist you in fixing your problem. Such a generic statement like yours isn't really helpful in trouble-shooting.
And I hope you don't mind that I don't respond to the unsubstantial assumptions and accusations in the post to that you completely agree. Even during the times of the broken search we enforced implementation of rule no. 5 of the XDA Forum Rules, and removed duplicated posts or questions or closed threads if a subject matter related one already existed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In thread search rarely works for me.
sd_shadow said:
In thread search rarely works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I said, for me it works fine but probably it's my limited use, too. Can you provide me an example that we can compare our results?
Oswald Boelcke said:
As I said, for me it works fine but probably it's my limited use, too. Can you provide me an example that we can compare our results?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to be working now, but when @zogoibi posted It wasn't.

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