I know this has been mentioned before (here http://rpol.hyphenit.com.au/di...?gi=36224&ti=532 and here http://rpol.hyphenit.com.au/di...ti=442&msgpage=1 ), but now that there's a shiny new server maybe it could handle it?

The forums have the option to search the forums and I'd like to see that ability in games, preferably for both the game threads and the PMs.  For those who aren't familiar with it, it's at the bottom left in the menu bar ( Main Menu|Forum Menu|Search|Jump ). We don't have even that option in a game, and it would be really useful, even if we can't search within the threads for terms.  I've got pages of threads for both of those and it can take forever for me to find even the correct title of the thread/message because I might scan past it a couple of times.

It's been mention three years running now... Any chance we can get this in an update? :)

Searching within a thread for specific terms is already there.

Open the thread and display the whole thing, then use your browser's search function to find the term you're looking for.

That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about being able to do the same kind of search in a game that we can do in the forum, where it will search multiple pages for a term or a player.  Not within the post: that would be nice to be able to do across the game but that's a separate request.

For example, I know somewhere in the 10+ pages of a game that I have there is a thread with the word "docks" in it.  I could go back and forth through each page trying to find it by sight or by using my browser's search function to search each page, but that's clunky.  RPOL already has the function I'm looking for, it's just not being offered in the games.

This would be extremely useful in the PM page where I have even more pages of PMs to dig through on a regular basis.  Being able to search by poster as well as title keyword would be very helpful.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:07, Mon 05 May 2014.

In your original post, you said:

I was just pointing out that there is, in fact, a way to do exactly that.  I know you weren't asking for that.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:24, Mon 05 May 2014.

Oh!  No, what I was referring to with that comment was the ability to search across multiple threads at once to find something, as previous users requested. That would be useful, but I understand the server load of many different RPOL users searching multiple pages of threads for a single term would be too much. Having to open them one at a time is frustrating, but at least I usually have an idea which thread the post I need is in. :-)

My problem is that I can't always find the right thread, and the way the forum search works, providing a short list of all the threads with the key word in the title, would be much easier for me as a user. Then I can use my browser to search within them.
This message was last edited by the user at 05:33, Mon 05 May 2014.

I don't have anywhere near the number of pages you have, Your Evilness, I simply lack a clear memory and tend toward slothfulness. ;-)  I would really appreciate something like you mentioned above.

I say +1 to this every time it is mentioned.  I think this would be the most helpful function imaginable for this site, particularly for my game that has 8 pages of threads going back 11 years or other people's games that are similarly long.  It would really help with continuity.

+1 :)  That's my opinion, at least.  Perhaps a global limit on X searches within games per day or something, based on how much has to be searched through, so as to not overload the server?

In reply to Genghis the Hutt (msg # 8):

I know another site that makes you wait two minutes or so between searches.  Not too bad except if you're on a roll looking for something in a hurry... like I usually am when I need to find that game reference now!  :p

Wouldn't use it myself, but ...

Just an idea - why not go through those 10+ pages and cut and paste the thread titles to a text file ... then you can search through that list in Notepad using Edit Find (I'm sure there's a Linux/Mac equivalent).  Every time you create a new thread, add it to the list.

Do your Find in Word, and it'll even tell you what line you're on (down at the bottom of the screen) when you Find the keyword ... so it's just a simple 'divide by 25 and round up' to get which Page that thread is currently on.

Searches within threads ... just download each thread in turn and save 'em to text files sitting on your hard disk, and you can Search within them using Windows Explorer (or whatever it's called in Win 7/8 or equivalent in Linux/Mac)

Might be a lot of work up front if you're starting from scratch, but once done you only ever have to add threads as you close 'em.

Personally, I find this MUCH easier than hunting through old threads to find out what some obscure NPC once said.  And yes, I'm paranoid about backups anyway.

:>

Would still like to see this function in the games.  It's already in the non-game forums, so I'm hoping it will be accessible in the game forums, too.

As someone who recently had to track down some info vaguely remembered but surely mentioned somewhere within an inconvenient number of threads, such a feature would be useful and get used.

A definite +1 from me. It's way too easy to miss the thread name I'm looking for when some of the games I'm in have multiple pages of threads.

    So what you are looking for might be a thing that will show you the Count of the number of occurances of the "search word" in each thread, maybe for each characters posted PMs?

    So you know which threads to search?

 No, it would show you the actual threads that match the search. Just like using the search function that's in this forum, it searches the title, not inside the thread.  Being able to search within the threads would be very useful, but I'm willing to start with a function that's already part of the site.

So... maybe like putting in the search word and pulling up the thread listing but putting those with the search word in the title in "notice" position.

I still would like that instead of "replies" the listing has the number of occurances of the term in the thread and a secondary search order for that.  I've had issues finding which thread had a conversation on a certain subject.

Would it be impossible to simply offer an option to show All threads on a page?  Then you could choose to use the browser search feature to fine thread names you are looking for?  Although making a search feature that is already there, available for all or more games would seem fine too, perhaps less work.

That seems like a really great way to get this done, in my opinion. +1 for this if it's possible.

Big +1 from me for a Show All option for threads.  Quite often in RPoL Development or rMail I'd like to be able to search all of 'em at once without having to click through subsequent pages.

That's a great idea! *shifts +1 over to this option*

Show all is nice because I can use my browser to search titles and it's also already an option in the system -- just only within threads and not in the main game screen. If the search function isn't possible, this is an acceptable option for me.