A Quiet Rant – Use the Search Feature Before Posting a Question - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 02:15:14 pm
content: I'm having a quiet rant this morning. The forum is getting many posts like "Help me choose a soldering station" or "I want to build a power supply."Many soldering stations have been reviewed here, and have been discussed and debated numerous times. And believe me, you're not the first person who has decided that an ATX power supply would be perfect as a bench supply – how could it not be with 20 amps available at 5 volts? This has been discussed to death too.Why not realize that your problems may not be new or unique and use the search function before posting a new topic? Maybe your question is unique, but you may find the answers are already here if you take a few minutes to read previous topics.Rant over.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 02:20:27 pm
content: People will always post questions without searching.It's just a fact of life on forums.

author: smashedProton
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 02:25:35 pm
content: What soldering station should I get???

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 02:51:18 pm
content: Quote from: smashedProton on September 28, 2013, 02:25:35 pmi have had great success using a big block of steel heated close to red heat in a charcoal fire.......

author: eevblogfan
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 03:05:18 pm
content: HeyI recently tried to search for few of previous threads I saw/participated at / looking for answersAnd I saw that the search didn't allow me A proper results , Although I knew it was out there !Hence my point is :*Is it possible to upgrade the search engine ?*I really think that there should be few common threads or perhaps new board just for that (1)*There should be basic building block's threads , High/Low side current sensing , input bias current of Op-Amps ( I am talking about the things dave havn't covered , or , perhaps simply include the vid's in the thread )(1) new board that allows to open threads specifically in order to help with the recommended field and task ,Eg:Amspier's power supply , I really think She should replace that annoying LM317's based power supply , it is very bad and limited designed , there are lots of things to look for and take care , why not just build a true power supply ? ( the beginners must try any simple thing , I am aware of that , I Am talking about the advanced that actually go into the trouble of one LM317 for voltage and one for CC and there is A power supply ! . well , Amspier's is better IMHO .. )the main concern of mine is total mess , there should be Good way to gather all the related threads ( from the beginning of the forum and to the present ) and create guidance ,want to build PS ? , there is small guidance for you , it contains only 13~30 threads , read them all and try the ideas there ...Just saying ....Cheers

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 03:08:36 pm
content: Google the required keywords with site:eevblog.com as a limiter. that always works for me.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 03:50:18 pm
content: Quote from: Jon Chandler on September 28, 2013, 02:15:14 pmThis is apparently not obvious for many people that prefer to be spoonfed. We also discussed this in the 'be nice to newbies' thread.The forum search is indeed quite useless, it would be good to add something like Google custom search to the forum.Quote from: eevblogfan on September 28, 2013, 03:05:18 pmSomething like this would require more strict moderation to prevent them from getting derailed by only tangentially related arguments.Quote from: eevblogfan on September 28, 2013, 03:05:18 pmUnless you come up with a much better question, your 'how to build a PS' thread will probably end up exactly the same. The quality of the contributions will be somewhat variable, depending on the people that happen to respond. Just like those other ~30 threads. So now you have 31 similar threads, how is that an improvement? You might as well have picked one of those 30 and read it in much less time.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2013, 05:04:37 pm
content: Quote from: alm on September 28, 2013, 03:50:18 pmThese are forums for people with shared interest to interact, not a wikipedia like normalized knowledge base. I think you are barking up the wrong tree.

author: codeboy2k
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 07:35:15 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on September 28, 2013, 03:08:36 pmThis is the best answer... so much so that it might be wise for Dave to put a sticky on the front forum page about this trick, or do a simple video showing it to the masses....I've never been able to find anything useful using the forum's built in search, so I can clearly understand why there are so many duplicate posts when the search isn't providing anything useful.For example, sometimes I am looking for something that I know a specific poster said, about something...If I put those two keywords into the forum's search, they are logically OR'ed so I get every single post from that poster, and every single post about that topic from everyone else.I see literally pages and pages of kruft that I have to sift through. I can't even restrict the date ...However, using google search with the constraintsite:eevblog.com, I can use all of google's advanced search capabilities.

author: Skimask
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2013, 08:36:53 pm
content: How about a "Didn't use the freeking Search Function" rating?A rating which could be voted on by the more prolific members of the forums?