The ATS Search Function Sucks..., Anyone Else Have This Problem ?

Forget the placating posts from Mods that say to take this to "Complaints/Suggestions", please address it in this thread for all to see.

The tags are gone.
I spent a considerable bit of time adding about 20,000 tags to threads, but it's all gone and my time was wasted. I thought I was making a positive contribution to the site, but it's all in the trash now.

I go to the "search" button at the top of the page but can never find what I'm looking for.

I can't even find what I want using the "Google" search box on the upper right of a page....
Funny thing is, if I go to the "Google" search page I have better luck.


I'm not exactly new at this interwebby thing so I place the blame on ATS and SkepticOverlord. It's totally unacceptable that I can't locate the information I want on a site of this caliber.

Work on your search function SO. It was just getting to work for me but was destroyed over the last little while because of changes.

What were you searching for?

Old threads by title.

A recipe called "Cabbage Rolls 101", no hits.
I tried "Members Doing Mods", as a test, but no hits.

At least with tags I could type in a key word and find what I wanted.

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Maybe it's just another glitch with the ATS works. I haven't been able to long in for two days and have receive no reply from the mods so far.

Sanity Lost

reply to post by anxietydisorder


Maybe it's just another glitch with the ATS works. I haven't been able to long in for two days and have receive no reply from the mods so far.

Sanity Lost

You mean this one below?

Cabbage rolls 101

Search, Search Thread Titiles, Word or Phrase one = Cabage Rolls,,,,came right up.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder.
I tried "Members Doing Mods", as a test, but no hits.

Go to search, select search threads...
word 1 = "members"
word 2 = "doing"

Two results...
Members Doing Mods. Revisited...... (with pictures)
Are Any Members Doing Mods.???

I see said the blind man.........

I didn't realize that single words needed to be entered in each field.
If I'm the bonehead on this, and with a lot of experience on the net, my confusion on the search function must be multiplied many times by other users.

I bet most members don't even bother searching after a few attempts and just go on to something else. That would seem to hurt the page view stats for ATS if people don't locate a page they want.

Is there a way to improve the search to incorporate the tags ?
I would often add a tag to a thread to just search for similar threads by clicking the tag I just placed.

Is the Google search box supposed to be just site related ?

Well, as you've seen, ATS doesn't use the tagging system by any means anymore, and my guestimate on this is due to the fact that there might have been a hole in the code, or it may have been just another thing which contributes to high server load, so it too had to be removed with the views. My assumption is since tags are quite popular that as soon as a solution is presented to deal with high server load, that tags be introduced, but that is only if there isn't an actual issue with the script itself.

I can't imagine the later being an issue, since keywords are still requested in posts, whether or not ATS saves those tags is another story, but I know doing the general tagging on a thread-to-thread basis (the old system, where other users could tag the thread) had to at least incorporate ANOTHER write statement and that wouldn't be good at the moment.

Best bet is to be patient, and confide that eventally a server upgrade will happen (in that, ATS will have enough money to support another upgrade.)

reply to post by anxietydisorder


I have to totally agree, it sucks. Keywords don't work right, you can type in the entire correct title of a thread and it won't pull it up. I hate that you cannot just return to your own threads ( that is what I would have thought 'My ATS" would be about, but alas, it only shows a couple of my threads, the others are lost in ATS oblivion, they won't come up under the search function, and I can't find them.

reply to post by space cadet


I know this isn't EXACTLY what you are looking for, but that's not exactly true.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

That link should take you to a complete list of your subscribed threads, and to my knowledge that includes all threads you've replied to, including your own.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
I bet most members don't even bother searching after a few attempts

According to our site analytics, there have been 49,372 visits to the search page in the past 30 days, and 68% of those visitors clicked on a link as a result of their search.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

68% of those visitors clicked on a link as a result of their search.

The stat is impressive but false.
Yes they clicked on something in the search results, but was it what they were searching for ?

I use the search and often find something else that looks good, so I take that path. Not the road I intended to travel, but still, I found something of interest and it would count on that statistic.

Yes, I'm easily distracted, but any improvement in the search function that includes tags would be nice.

I too once complained on the search function and thought it was completely ineffective. I believe I even authored a thread just like this one complaining about it publicly. Then I listened to a few details on how to improve my searches and immediately I was uncovering every thread that I looked for, on the first chance.

The search function is not the problem, it is the means in which we use it at times.

If I can remember the thread author, it makes it that much easier. If I can not, a few keywords typically uncovers it within a few seconds.

Outside of someone doing the search for me, I'm not really sure how the system could be improved.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
The stat is impressive but false.
Yes they clicked on something in the search results, but was it what they were searching for ?

When was the last time you clicked on a link that wasn't the material you were searching for?

reply to post by anxietydisorder


How is it false?
68% of users use the search...how is that information false?

For an effective manner, do you have evidence to support otherwise? Now it sounds like you're just trying to find things to complain about. You know, it wouldn't kill you to use google search either, it searches ATS too, don't you know.