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Search engines 101

11K views 19 replies 18 participants last post by  chris vail 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
For a lot of newbie rodders and older rodders alike. When they need an answer to a question they come here. Although Hotrodders has a vast amount of knowledge stored in our Knowledge Base and in the minds of HotRodders we don't always have all the answers, even though we like to think we do. LOL!!! Sometimes, if not many times, the members will use search engines to try and find answer to the question someone is asking. It does take some time, but Hey...that's why we hang here right? Here are some tips so that some can do a search and maybe shorten that search time up. It has tips on how to put in your search and come up with more specific results instead of general results. It also explains web page addresses and how to read them. All in all it just basically tells you how to narrow down the search field. Search Engines 101

Kevin
 
#8 ·
search engines

I often rely on a site called Copernic for doing searches. Copernic is a free download and it uses up to 10-12 different search engines at one time, often getting as many as 120-144 hits on any one topic. It is amazing how well it works.
I heartily recommend it as a good addition to your PC.
Just type or cut and paste Copernic on your search line on your main page, follow the prompts, and it takes about 10 minutes or less to down load the program. Pronounced like Copernicus, only without the us on the end.
 
#10 ·
Search Engine

Thanks Kevin,

Some of us old folks need all the help we can get. We have a general idea what we want, but have a difficult time asking in the proper manner. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated for us new to this site and not well versed with the computer. Thanks again!!!
 
#11 ·
Thank's for the heads up. I never cease to be amazed by the number of people (on this board and several other both car and boat) who have not done any searches on an item themselves before posting a question.
I rather enjoy the quest and have probably posted a thousand links to different things in the past 5 years that have been a regular on various forums.
 
#13 ·
Tips I didn't see in there:

Think about what's weird, unique or slang that is related to what you're searching for.

Example: overdrive relay brick
Plug that into Google and you're almost certain to find discussions of Volvo overdrive relay problems.

Try shift bad bowtie and you'll get info on Chevy transmission problems.

If you're looking for a dimension, add the abbreviation for the metric unit, and the full name of the imperial unit.

Compare the results of these searches:

89 cougar track mm
89 cougar track in.
89 cougar track inches

If you're looking to buy something, add shipping to the search terms:

powerglide shipping

Compare (deliberately using 1 main term just to show the difference):

nash
nash shipping

Of course, knowing a part number is a _real_ boost:

w116
 
#14 ·
There is a search engine on this site to search the forums here for info...... You can use it to see if the question that you were going to ask has already been asked etc.....just scroll back up to the first post at the top of this page....look at the header right above that post...see where it says search? Just click on it.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I didn't see this mentioned, sorry if it is redundant.

For people looking for a more effective way of searching, especially a particular site like hotrodders.com, use the google site search function and it also helps lessen the server load on the site being searched.

Search from google

Examples:
site:hotrodders.com search words

site:hotrodders.com "exact phrase search"

Using quote marks searches for an exact phrase and the site:example.com searches on a specific site. Of course you can also combine the two tricks.

site:hotrodders.com "exact phrase search" plus more search words to include

HTH
 
#19 ·
...and to search a particular section like the Journals,

Jon said:
For now, you can use Google to search the journals. Use the "inurl" search syntax, including the journal url. So, to search for, say "flathead", enter the following in Google:

inurl:hotrodders.com/forum/journal.php flathead

At the bottom of the Google search results, there will be a link to "repeat the search with the omitted results included". Click it, and you'll have plenty of results.

There is a similar problem with searching forum posts: too many results. You can use Google in the same manner to search forum posts.
 
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