Alteration of existing thread titles!

[Wodjno]

To aid the Crappy Search function

What i am suggesting is a member of the club to search through the Plethora of threads on the site. And add too, or alter thread titles so when a specific subject is searched for, it brings up alot more of the threads on the subject.
So adding key words will help.

I would volunteer for the job as i know Administrators and Committee members have enough on there plate as it is

That is if i could be trusted to be allowed loose with delete and add buttons

It could be just a temporary job for me until it comes up to scratch. Or maybe permanent ? that would be up to the Committee..
Also i could create a list of key words to use in specific thread titles or how to structure the thread title ie.. Placement of words or commas, brackets, hyphens etc that will aid the search function.
Obviously i would have to find the best way to structure these by trial and error. But i'd be up for that..

Bout time i gave something back to this club, instead of just sitting around ready to jump on NJ when he tell's someone to use the Search Function


Wodja Think

Cheers

Wodj

[Wodjno]

To Add to the above post...

I would take it 1 subject at a time until i think i had exhausted all angles..
Ideas of all subjects from members would be greatly welcomed as well.

EDIT.. Also i could add links at the end of the 1st post in a thread that take you to threads of the same topic or related topics.

Also if the Starters of Threads find any relating topics to theres, they could add the link to the end of there 1st post. And if the thread is to old for them to Edit it. Then pass the links to me via PM or Pager and i could add them.

[miller]

Well volunteered that my man!!

[Confused]

Surely if you can search for all the threads to adjust, then the Search feature is working?

[Davezj]

what happens if you change a title of a thread i am subscribed to does it keep my subscription to the thread or will it remove it.

also the search funtion work on the contents of the thread as well, so if you just added key words to the top of the thread above the text in the first post that would do the same job as adding into the title. e.g. if you search on "lending library" it comes up with one thread i started and it does not have "lending library" in the title.

my be it should a request that all threads are started with some key words on the top line of the first post.

just a thought

[Wodjno]

Surely if you can search for all the threads to adjust, then the Search feature is working?

Yes in a way..
But there could be 12 key words on a subject, but only 1 or 2 key words for that subject used in a thread. thus only bringing up a small portion of the threads for that subject.

[Wodjno]

what happens if you change a title of a thread i am subscribed to does it keep my subscription to the thread or will it remove it.

also the search funtion work on the contents of the thread as well, so if you just added key words to the top of the thread above the text in the first post that would do the same job as adding into the title. e.g. if you search on "lending library" it comes up with one thread i started and it does not have "lending library" in the title.

my be it should a request that all threads are started with some key words on the top line of the first post.

just a thought

Yep thats a good thought and 1 i had already in mind
But if this go's ahead, it will be up to the Committee themselves, on what i would be allowed to change or alter. If i was allowed to add key words to posts as well as Thread titles it would make it much more efficient and also keep the thread title looking normal, rather than just an exhaustive list of key words.

I'm pretty certain that if the Thread title is altered, you would still keep your subscription. Admins alter thread titles fairly often, and i'm sure it alters the title of your subscribed thread also..

[Confused]

Thread subscriptions are based on ThreadID, which won't change.

[Mark 4]

I think this is a great idea Wodj. Hopefully the bods in charge will allow it.

[Wodjno]

So ???
Any thoughts ?
Any word from those that can

[Nick Mann]

My gut feeling is that this should be a continuation of the library function. Reference interesting threads from appropriate areas back to the library. So when I go into the library looking for brakes, there is a post in there referencing brake thread stuff, including maintenance, size info, upgrades, opinions on upgrades etc. The committee are going to meet in January, I will make sure that this is on the agenda.

[apeman69]

Club VR-4 Forums Statistics
Threads: 43,553, Posts: 487,697

I'm all in favour of keeping you quiet wodj, but do you really want to do this?
It could turn into one of those projects that never has an end.

It seems that you're aiming to (within the limitations of the existing database software) categorise threads and move towards a more dynamic database than that which exists. The software used for the forum(s) appears to be quite basic in terms of data handling. Ideally, when creating a thread, the user would be stepped through a series of processes which would effectively categorise the thread in accordance with pre-defined standards. The software would maintain links behind the scenes and incorporate all this into a more useful search function as everything that is important within the thread would have been 'stated' during it's creation. This approach does rely on users being aware of the contents/direction of their posts, however. (I currently have no idea where I'm going with this!).
A simple example of this is how e-bay categorises items.

ClubVR-4 is divided into forums and sub-forums and perhaps this, when the site was initially developed, could have been used to aid the sorting of data and general good housekeeping. What a useful comment that was!

I think the committee should, perhaps, consider whether things need to be improved and if so then what would be the best way to go about it.
Performing the type and scope of task that wodj has offered to do would need input from database administrators and others who know information systems inside out. There are obviously techies in the committee who should have input on this and there must be data handling techniques that could take much of the work out of manually trawling through threads, so long as the conditions, parameters, specifications and objectives are thought through and understood.

During my service in Local Government (!???) I worked on information systems for many years, attempting to put right badly designed data capture, usage and reporting systems and though I think you're a brave man, wodj, I fear it won't be as simple as it sounds.

It's got to be a positive step forward though, 'cos the search is cr@p!

There are a number of roads to go down one of which could simply be re-coding of the search function/parameters if feasible.

[Wodjno]

So anymore thoughts on the Subject ?

Cheers

Wodj

[Nick Mann]

The committee are going to meet in January, I will make sure that this is on the agenda.

There is a link to this thread on the agenda list for our meeting.

[Wodjno]

OK Nick

I'll keep Shtummm!!!

[Nick Mann]

No need to keep shtummm!

The more ideas the better, in my opinion. If you or someone else has a new, different, or better idea, then it should be talked about.

[Wodjno]

AJAX

As previously discussed

Cheers

Wodj

[The Vee]

Doesn't seem a bad idea to be fair. So meeting will be discussed. But what has VIM, JIF, CIF, PERSIL et al got to do with it?

[Wodjno]

Doesn't seem a bad idea to be fair. So meeting will be discussed. But what has VIM, JIF, CIF, PERSIL et al got to do with it?

In True "Nutter John" Styleee!

Use the Bloody Search Button

[Nutter_John]

Sorry but you missed off

You lazy git