Searching The Cove - how to improve search effectiveness

I have been an avid reader of the site for almost two years now and have learned so SO much from it. I have also stumbled upon some really great specific advice, references, and attachments as I've been doing general reading. However, anytime I have tried searching for something specific I have come up empty handed. Searching brings me too much irrelevant stuff to sift through ( I think because of a combo of the fact that it pulls up results from EVERYWHERE the keywords are mentioned and the fact that you have to use at least 4 characters in your search which knocks out a lot of common specific acronyms) and searching the attachments is mostly a game of luck as many of them don't have useful names. Any helpful tips on how to get better results? Am I missing some fundamental concept that's making me deficient or do other people have this problem?

I recommend that you always use the Advance Search feature. That gives you multiple options for narrowing the search. I can't help you with the attachments. I agree they are a mess.

The advanced search is useful. In addition, I will sometimes use external search engines and constrain to this site only. Many website internal search functions do not have the power to do the types of searches we are used to from commercial search engines like Bing or Google. I understand why: It is incredibly expensive. Even things as simple as interpreting a search for "accessory" to mean "accessories" OR "accessory" are tough to implement in the backend of a forum software like this. Multiply that by the entire dictionary, then add our highly technical terms and variants.

As a result, I will sometimes use google or bing with searches like this, limiting results to this website:

"IEC-60601 human body model site:elsmar.com" or "IEC-60601 Medical OR Device OR Class -consumer 2001..2023 site:elsmar.com"

On the flip side, google will correct "measurand" to "measure" and otherwise try its damnedest to bury highly technical, but relevant to us terms that are similar to their common search terms.

Google Search Operators: The Complete List (42 Advanced Operators) (ahrefs.com)

google may be a better option in some cases. You can use operators to search just a specific url like elsmar.com

FRA 2 FDA said:

...and the fact that you have to use at least 4 characters in your search which knocks out a lot of common specific acronyms)...

Click to expand...

This is pet peeve of mine as well.

Mike S. said:

This is pet peeve of mine as well.

Click to expand...

I came here to ask specifically about this. I'm trying to look for resources on using an SQL query to apply SPC tests.

Thanks, guys. Helpful tips! I will give them a try next time I'm searching.

I guess we are to assume the forum is unwilling to change the search parameters to allow only 3 characters, but I have no idea why.

site:elsmar.com/elsmarqualityforum/threads FDA

FDA is a three letter term

site:elsmar.com/elsmarqualityforum/threads FDA - Google Search