Searching this Site (with Examples)

cmb

The site redesign in December, 2021, included a number of welcome improvements in searching. You can now search for a combination of words such as "carboplatin and leg pain" and get results that include all three key words, unlike in the past when the system would only find items that matched the exact phrase. And you can search for the comments made by a specific member far more easily than before and limit your results to a specific period of time.

The hints listed below explain some of the system defaults in searching and how to best find what you might be looking for using the available tools.

Example 1: A General Search

I entered "carboplatin and leg pain" in the main search box.

The results from this search illustrate a key difference between the new and old site. In the site redesign, an initial search from the search box on the Uterine Board's page now returns results from across the entire CSN site as a default. Note that a comment from the Ovarian Board is included below.

This differs from the past when you could search from the Uterine Board and ONLY get hits from this Board without any further filtering. Now you MUST use one of more filters to limit your search to a specific Board, date range, member, etc.

Example #2: Uterine Board Only Search

To limit your results to just the Uterine Board comments, click on "Topics" and scroll down on the right side of the page to select Uterine under "Discussion Board" or start typing "Uterine" in the Discussion Board box. And if you've "followed" the Uterine Board, you can also save time by simply clicking the "Search Followed Categories Only," as seen in the next example.

Click on the Filter button when you're done selecting the search criteria. Now you'll see only results from the Uterine Board. You can further refine your search by seeing the comments on "carboplatin and leg pain" made by a specific author (me, in this case), as I've done in this example.

 Example 3: Results Sort Order

The search results are displayed in "best match" sorting order by default. But as the next example shows, a post from 2011 has appeared third in the list that included results for "carboplatin and leg pain" on the Uterine Board (my "followed" category).

While older posts can still provide a lot of valuable information, you'll typically want to start reviewing the more current posts. Therefore, it's usually preferable to choose to sort the result by the "Newest" option.

Replying to Older Posts

The topics on this Board date back to its beginning in 2009. As you would expect, many of the members who posted then are no longer on the Board. In a lot of cases, the members stopped posting once they completed their treatment and moved on from their experience with cancer. Others may have had a specific question or two and didn't post again. And, sadly, others did not survive their cancer.

So, when you get results that include comments that are more than a year or two old and want to reply to a member's past post, click on their user name first to see if that person is still active on the Board. If not, you may get a better response by starting a new topic or keeping your comment general and not directed at a specific member. In the example I flagged above, Ladygeek05 was only active on the Board for about 6 weeks in 2011.

Example #4: Expressions Gallery Search

To search the Expressions Gallery, use the same filters available under "Topics" but select "Expressions Gallery" under "Category." In this example, I've searched for all of my own entries in the Gallery by leaving the Search field blank and entering my user name under "Author."

Note that "Archived categories" and "Tags" options are not currently used by the system so these options can be ignored.

Seeing Your Own Topics and Comments

Also, remember that you can see all the topics you've originated by selecting the "Topics" option under your profile. You can also see the "Comments" you've made to the topics originated by others under your profile.

thatblondegirl

Thank you, cmb! This is a great post about how to navigate around this new format! I will be referring to this for a while! Maybe you can add it at the top of our board with your other navigation tips!

And that’s a good idea to pay attention to dates of older posts! If the thread was begun years ago, it’s likely there won’t be a response….better to start a new thread.

😎, A

ConnieSW

I agree we need this to be at the top of our board. Thanks, cmb. What a treasure you are