[Alex Ethridge]

I get this just too much when attempting to search for a particular thread at TechGuy:

"An internal server error occurred. Please try again later."

Trying again later doesn't help. I can try for days sometimes and it still returns the same error.

Can this be fixed?

Details: The search this time was for the word, video, in the title of a thread by myself, Alex Ethridge; but, it doesn't matter what the search is for. The result is too often the same error.

[etaf]

havent had a problem on search for the last month or so

I just tried your search using

advanced search
video

username
Alex Ethridge

and it worked fine ...

[Alex Ethridge]

Well, it worked for me, too, this time.

[JohnWill]

This is a known issue and has been discussed at length in the past.

The simple answer is that search for vB is simply not up to the task of managing a board of this size.

Mike is looking into alternatives, but it takes time and money to upgrade the search. I'm sure he'd be glad for some help with the money side of the equation.

[John Musbach]

You can search using google with a query like: <search terms> site:forums.techguy.org

[TheOutcaste]

If you click on search, there is an option for Search Using Google. Works well when the forum search is acting up.

Perhaps if the older posts were archived, that might help. Looking at the dates in the archives it looks like its been a while.
Though if the archive gets too big, we'll have problems searching them, so maybe creating separate archives for a given time frame would be a workaround, at least until a better search engine can be implemented.

[Alex Ethridge]

I'm sure he'd be glad for some help with the money side of the equation.

I'm proud to say I'm already donating several time the minimum--and getting several times that in return.

No complaints here. If it's never fixed, I'm still happy.

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by John Musbach

You can search using google with a query like: <search terms> site:forums.techguy.org

You can also just use the "search using google" link from the search menu.

[John Musbach]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

You can also just use the "search using google" link from the search menu.

Same thing

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by John Musbach

Same thing

Well, not really. You don't have to open a new browser window for my suggestion.

[John Musbach]

Originally Posted by JohnWill

Well, not really. You don't have to open a new browser window for my suggestion.

whatever

[lotuseclat79]

I waited about 30 seconds after a previous search, and then Search dinged me with the message about having to wait at least 20 seconds before trying the search again - it said try again in 4 seconds - ???

Either something is busted with the timer between searches, or well, we all know it hasn't been up to snuff lately and Mike is looking at alternatives - How's that "search" going Mike?

-- Tom

[John Musbach]

It's possible that not all the servers have their time properly sync'd. But that should be easy enough to fix by making a crontab to run ntpdate or some such....

[TechGuy]

Good call, John -- all of the servers do have a cron for ntp every hour -- not sure how one of them could be that far out of sync.

The current search system really stinks. There's rumors that the vBulletin 4.0 system will have an update search function, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm keeping an eye on a guy who is writing a new search system for vBulletin, but I'm worried that he may end up holding off on releasing it until vBulletin 4.0 comes out so he can make it compatible.