New Way To Search CC

[Roger_Dooley]

One complaint we get about our forum search function is that it isn't very effective if there are a ton of matching results. So, we are now offering a Google Search option for CC. This doesn't replace our current search, but it may prove more useful at times. Here's our initial take on when to use each search:

Use CC Advanced Search when:

- You are searching for an uncommon term
- You want to find posts by a particular member
- You want to search or sort by date
- You want to search within a particular forum or subforum
- You want to see results as individual posts.

Use Google CC Search when:

- You are searching for a common term that is returning hundreds of pages
- You are searching for a complex phrase, a long search term, or a term with very short words, numbers, etc.
- You want to see results from all CC pages, not just forum pages.

In general, the more complex your search string, the more likely it is that Google's algorithm will work better. Our search engine is quite literal, and it can't separate better or more important content from the rest. Google's search algorithm is a lot more sophisticated, and may tolerate slightly fuzzier matches.

Let us know how it works for you. Enjoy!

[SGupta]

It would nice to have the Google Search on the (Forum's) main page.

I used to try a site search (search terms site:collegeconfidential.com) before this.

Thanks.

[arklogic]

Works great! Thank you.

[flappybird]

Roger, I received fabulous results from Google for a couple searches that CC Advanced Search didn't do well. Great job.

College Confidential is a tremendous resource. Thanks for all your hard work.

[jadpd]

Very very nice. Good thinking

[SpringfieldMom]

Yay! Very much needed. Thank you!

[Roger_Dooley]

One other note - CC search is better for very recent posts. Google constantly has robots scouring our site for new content, but there is a lag before new posts/threads are visible there. Our internal search engine is updated as soon as something new is posted.

So, to get the most recent content on any topic, the CC search function will deliver it.

[Lou Costello]

Oddly the old search method, when not logged in, no longer works for me. It always responds that I need to wait 15 seconds before I can search again, regardless whether this is the first search, and regardless of how long I wait. I can now only search when logged in.

Weird.