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[gacl]

Hi,

     I was searching for something on flash drives and it kind of annoys me that people give them so many different names - some of those names are actually trademarks - such as pendrives and thumbdrives, because searching takes more time, and many people won't know the alternative names. So, if you search for one, you won't find the others. Wouldn't it be effective to flag posts with keywords? So, if i post something about pendrives it could be flagged with "thumbdrive" and "flash drive", and thus cut down on unnecessary posting? Or, instead of flagging every post, links between those keywords could be stored on the forum permanently. Maybe misspellings could be included. . . Of course i'm not speaking only about flash drive searches but all kinds of technical issues.

Also, i noticed that the titles of posts that i have done at the Puppy board are usually rewritten by the moderators to make the board easier to browse. I don't use titles like "I have a problem with my computer", though, which should definitely be rewritten.

Chao.

Gus

[JohnB316]

We could edit the word filter for the forum so that when "pendrive" or "thumbdrive" is used in a post, the forum software will substitute "flash drive." However, given that so many people use "pen drive" or "thumb drive" instead of or in addition to "flash drive," I don't know whether this is such a good idea. However, I'm open to feedback from others on this.

Cheers,
John

[gacl]

The idea is that _all_ of the terms could show _all_ of the results. So if i search by "thumbdrive" it will also show "pendrive" _and_ "jumpdrive" _and_ "keydrive" _and_ "flash drive", and if i search by "keydrive" i will get all of those results too. No big deal though. . . just an idea.

By the way, if you search for pendrive, thumbdrive, keydrive, jumpdrive, etc, in wikipedia they all redirect to USB Flash Drive.

Chao.

Gus

[lagagnon]

Google doesn't even do that! 

[gacl]

Google doesn't even do that!

Really? Is Google hiring? Wait. . . i don't know how to code. Damn it!

[metvas]

Hi gacl:
Why don't you join us on the board and help out with that editing? should'nt take to long each day. Seems like a good idea, right.
Wait to hear from you.
thxs
regards
Darrell

[Triarius Fidelis]

Google doesn't even do that!

Really? Is Google hiring? Wait. . . i don't know how to code. Damn it!

That's actually a suggestion worth putting forward to them.

One of the problems I run into when doing academic research is that there are so many ways to transliterate names that had to be transliterated into Latin script, or haven't always been written in Latin script. It's a bugger. On top of that, Google sometimes does a crappy job of stemming foreign languages; for example, Google appears not to notice that someone who searches for an inflected Swedish verb may want to see results for its infinitive, or vice versa.

Unfortunately, the problem with implementing a work-around is that they'll have to consult countless experts to collect data on what's equivalent.

[gacl]

metvas: What kind of skills are required?

hanumizzle: Who knows if Google will get around to that. Didn't Jimmy Wales launch a wikified search engine? I can't remember.

Chao.

Gus

[metvas]

Hi gacl:
You would have to run that by one of the admins. They are more familiar with that issue than I am. Try a PM to JohnB316.
regards
Darrell

[Megamieuwsel]

Just to toss in my pitifull bunch of coppers:
Last time, I managed these boards, the only option to achieve the desired effect was manual editing.
Messageboard-software is not as flexible as is desired sometimes.

While certainly a desirable feature, I think the peeps to talk to would be the ones creating the MB-software and ask them to add the following feature:
An editable list of word-filters, so that synonyms could be added to the post-flags.

This way, the admin would just(Going by the example of the O.P.) need to pick "thumb drive" and insert the required synonyms "flash drives" , "pen drives" , "Solid State Drives" , and so on in a single row and have the search-function apply them all to any search for each of them.

Without such a function, coded into the boardsoftware it'll be just a gargantuan PITA.(of the admin, that is...)

[retired1af]

The idea is that _all_ of the terms could show _all_ of the results. So if i search by "thumbdrive" it will also show "pendrive" _and_ "jumpdrive" _and_ "keydrive" _and_ "flash drive", and if i search by "keydrive" i will get all of those results too. No big deal though. . . just an idea.

By the way, if you search for pendrive, thumbdrive, keydrive, jumpdrive, etc, in wikipedia they all redirect to USB Flash Drive.

Chao.

Gus

I don't know of any db search tool that would allow this. The resources and server load required would cripple the forum in seconds. Better to learn how to utilize search parameters than attempt to reprogram the way db searches are done.

[rbistolfi]

031870]
I don't know of any db search tool that would allow this. The resources and server load required would cripple the forum in seconds.

hmm, I dont know. May be you can just add an extra field in the table, something like "tags" or "search_terms" and index it, so the search engine will use it to do the job. Actually the server load will decrease, because the tags are less than the full post. The thing is how the script will select search terms to the extra field, but looks doable. Just a little extra hd space would be needed.

Better to learn how to utilize search parameters than attempt to reprogram the way db searches are done.

That is a good solution too...

[mr_volvo]

This definitely seems to be the realm of the forum software designer, not the admins here. But tags with each post do seem like a pretty simple way to accomplish the goal. This way when I go to post I could scan the list of previously entered tags and see if 'pen drive', 'usb flash drive' etc appears anywhere, if not I make up a new tag. If someone takes issue with the tag then the post author or an admin should be able to edit the tag. 

Tags do seem to be fairly common everywhere else on the net these days ;-) I'm currently searching the SMF website.

Edit(I came across this):
http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=579

[muskrat]

The idea is that _all_ of the terms could show _all_ of the results. So if i search by "thumbdrive" it will also show "pendrive" _and_ "jumpdrive" _and_ "keydrive" _and_ "flash drive", and if i search by "keydrive" i will get all of those results too. No big deal though. . . just an idea.

By the way, if you search for pendrive, thumbdrive, keydrive, jumpdrive, etc, in wikipedia they all redirect to USB Flash Drive.

That would seem to me to be a mistake, because there is a difference in some of these.

For example "keydrive" is a special USB device to lock PCs without which you can't boot a PC.

I'm not sure about jumpdrive never heard of it.

Flash drive is generaly used for the cards that go in cammeras and such.

In reality the guts of all of them have some of the same parts, it's just if I'm looking for info on a pendrive/thumbdrive I really don't want to weed out all the flashcard/flashdrive entries.

[GrannyGeek]

I'm not sure about jumpdrive never heard of it.

Flash drive is generaly used for the cards that go in cammeras and such.

Jumpdrive is a commonly used term for the device, as is flash drive. The thing you put in a camera is a flash CARD, not a flash drive--or maybe a memory card would be a better term.

The whole point of the multiple keywords suggestion is that there is some imprecision in the way terms are used, of which thumb drive, flash drive, pendrive, etc., etc., are good examples.
--GrannyGeek