The Search is dead, long live the Search!

28064212

ibarelycare wrote: »

Is there any way of searching a for a user's posts in a thread?

Doesn't seem to be an easy way of doing it, but if you leave the search box empty and hit go, then change the URL from this:

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=[B]threadnumber[/B]&q=

to this

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=[B]threadnumber[/B]&u=[B]usernumber[/B]

where [usernumber] is replaced by the individual user's number (found by looking at the status bar while hovering over their name, or going to their "Public Profile" and copying the number at the end of the URL.

For example, to get my posts in this thread, I'd put in:

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=2056541991&u=42512

KeithM89_old

ibarelycare wrote: »

Is there any way of searching a for a user's posts in a thread?

All you can really do is click the number of posts beside each thread and search for a user from the list.
The one for this thread is :
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/misc.php?do=whoposted&t=2056541991
Then posts are sorted by time.

28064212

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

No, and as far as I can see there was no way to do it before either - please correct me if I'm wrong

The only thing this part of the search functionality is really missing is the addition of a "Search by thread" section on the Advanced Search page. You wouldn't even need any auto-complete function like there is for forums, just keep it simple with a number-only field. Then update the "Search this Thread => Advanced Search" link to point to

http://www.boards.ie/search/advanced.php?t=threadnum

ibarelycare

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

No, and as far as I can see there was no way to do it before either - please correct me if I'm wrong

There was if you went into advanced search, you could search by username. Handy for stalking in KYN checking what you've posted in old threads that you've forgotten about and so forth.

Boards.ie: Danny

28064212 wrote: »

Doesn't seem to be an easy way of doing it, but if you leave the search box empty and hit go, then change the URL from this:

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=[B]threadnumber[/B]&q=

to this

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=[B]threadnumber[/B]&u=[B]usernumber[/B]

where [usernumber] is replaced by the individual user's number (found by looking at the status bar while hovering over their name, or going to their "Public Profile" and copying the number at the end of the URL.

For example, to get my posts in this thread, I'd put in:

http://www.boards.ie/search/?t=2056541991&u=42512

I'd rather not advocate plugging in values into the address bar, it's why I didn't post up last week that if you just added "t=threadnumber" to the URL you could "search in thread", preferring to wait until I hooked it into the UI. If ever we change to POST data it'll make it a bit harder, and if we drop parameters you won't know what's going on


Ahh, I see now that Advanced Search used to leave you with a different set of options. Will add it onto the search "to-do" list - thanks. For now though, if you really must have it, you can add the param to the URL as suggested

28064212

For anyone who's interested, I created a Greasemonkey script that will allow you to easily use advanced search on single threads. You can install this in Firefox (needs the Greasemonkey extension) or Chrome.

To install:

1. [If Chrome, skip this step] Install Greasemonkey (if you don't already have it)
2. Go here: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/125952
3. Click Install in the top-right hand corner, then:
   • Firefox: Click Install on the dialog box that pops up
   • Chrome: Click continue on the bottom bar, then click Install on the dialog box

To use:

1. While on a thread, click "Search This Thread", then "Go". Do not click "Advanced Search", it just brings you to an empty search.
2. On the search results page (which has a list of all the posts on the thread), click "Advanced Search" at the top
3. This brings you to the standard advanced search page, but with an extra box pre-populated with the thread number. You can then add extra search terms, including username and it will only search on that thread

Disclaimers

1. Rule one on the internet: Don't install code from a stranger. What are you, crazy? Why would you run random code from some weirdo? Seriously, you only have my word that it does what I say it does, and doesn't secretly turn on your webcam
2. This is totally unsupported by Boards.ie, so could break at any time if they change the search on their end

That said, it does do what I say it does, and it works for the moment, so try it out if you're feeling risky

28064212

Update to above script: I removed need to perform a search first. Now (when the script is installed), when you're in a thread, just hit "Search this Thread => Advanced Search" and you'll be taken straight to the standard advanced search page, with the thread box pre-populated.

Further info on this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77172869#post77172869

Install Link: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/125952

pickarooney

I can't get firefox to install the .js file with Greasemonkey. GM is installed and there are a couple of scripts already working with it but when I click on the Install button or save a .js file and open it, the file just displays like text in a browser tab.

28064212

pickarooney wrote: »

I can't get firefox to install the .js file with Greasemonkey. GM is installed and there are a couple of scripts already working with it but when I click on the Install button or save a .js file and open it, the file just displays like text in a browser tab.

Strange one. First thing I'd try is uninstall GM, restart Firefox, then install it and restart FF again (make sure you have a list of your scripts so you can install them all again)