The forum Search feature

Is it not working, or am I doing something wrong?

Dunno, need more specifics: exactly what are you searching for, which page (advanced or just the one in the header), what results do you get, et cetera.

It is working for me.

Yeah, it’s not worked for me once since I joined, mobile or desktop.

If you've increased your web browser's percentage size to make web pages bigger that then can cause the search 'magnifier icon' on top of the MoFo pages to not work, if you click dead center on it or to the right. I learned that the hard way as I have Firefox at 145% and if I'm not careful where I click it won't work.

"Seek and ye shall find, search and it's fiddy-fiddy."
Random interweb stranger, 2004

I just tried a quick search for Justice League, which returned a fair sized list of results. Working OK over here!

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Oy, I always hate hearing this; please report these things! It's not a hassle, it's better to know, even if I can't always address something right away. Please PM me specifics when you get a moment and I'll look into it.

Also, a general note to be specific in any bug reports, public or private. If I hear something "doesn't work" that could mean almost anything, from a blank white page, to no results, to bad results, to some other error (in which case I'd need the text of the error). It's impossible to be too specific. Be as pedantic as possible.

All that said, if someone feels the search hasn't worked at any point, I'd say with something like 95% confidence that it simply works in some way other than is being assumed (IE: you think it's searching all posts when the default is thread titles).

Here's a comparison between mobile and desktop search: on mobile, if I search for "Andrew Wyeth" I get no results but I do then have an option to filter to Show Thread or Show Posts. Either option still returns nothing. However, here on my desktop if I search the same two keywords, there are no hits but I default to the more detailed search filters page.

There, I have more specific options. I can use the drop-down under Search by Keyword to select the Search Entire Posts option. Doing so, and clicking Search Now, filters out 5 threads that reference the words I'm looking for.

It's as if the mobile version may only be searching thread titles when the Show Posts option is selected.

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"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

Yeah, that's an important distinction: in order to let people search quickly and easily, the form that comes up in the header (on both desktop and mobile) is very straightforward: it looks for threads. From the "full" or "advanced" search page, there are more options, including the ability to search for specific posts instead.

For some more context, here is a screen cap of my mobile view with the two filters. Either option returns no hits on those keywords. It more or less refreshes the page and returns to this screen as it is here.

I think I can confidently say this appears to be a case of "Wyeth there no results?".

*Hangs head in shame and creeps away

Pretty sure it works for me, I just always forget how to use it.

This sounds like two different outcomes: "returns no results" meaning it gives you a message that nothing was found, and returning to the screen meaning it didn't seem to search at all. Can you clarify?

Here's what I get when I type Wyeth (one word) into my search on my PC:

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My IMDb page

Technically, I don't know what actually is being displayed (or not). My comments of course are just best guesses to interpret my experience. That said, when on mobile I can (lol skip on to #7 to bypass me obsessing):

1. Click on the Magnifying Glass icon, top left of my mobile screen to start a search.
2. The Search Field expands and I can then type in a keyword/phrase. In this example, the search is for Andrew Wyeth (a name I know I've dropped once or twice).
3. Clicking the Search button reveals the screen that I posted as a screen cap, above.
4. This screen does not appear to provide search results, but I am presented with the option of 1) Show Threads or 2) Show Posts. I assume Show Threads will search only thread titles. I assume Show Posts would provide a more thorough search through all posts within all threads.
5. Option 1) Show Thread does not appear to provide search results. That makes sense to me, assuming the search is thread title ONLY. I cannot imagine anyone starting a thread and naming it Andrew Wyeth in a movie forum
6. Option 2) Show Posts also does not appear to provide search results. This is odd to me in that I know I have made at least two replies using his name; and performing the same keyword search on my desktop returns 5 threads that have "Andrew Wyeth" in at least one post within these 5 threads.
   
7. Neither mobile search options (Show Thread and Show Posts) appear to return results. There is no message prompt stating anything like, "There are no threads/posts with your search parameters" to help trace what's actually happening regardless of which mobile search option I choose. Instead, after hitting "Search" for either option, I just refresh to this same screen (the screenshot from earlier).

Okay, got it. That's the key part, whether it actually tells you there were no results. It should, because that's what's happening. Otherwise it could be a completely different thing, like some kind of human verification check that isn't displaying.

I'll look into that, should be a simple fix.

I will write a detailed message once I get the chance and be super-pedantic. It’s not a big deal, I thought it was me.

Yeah, a lot of people think that, actually! And hey, sometimes it is, but in general I'm very cool with over-reporting compared to under-reporting, just to be safe. Even if it is just a mistake, sometimes I can make a tiny suggestion that fixes it.