I have found that it is better to simply use google and do a search for gardenweb and search item. So if you were looking for info on inset cabinets, in google's toolbar just type gardenweb inset cabinets. Works pretty well.

First off, use the search box at the bottom of the list of threads. That works; the one in the header seems useless. Second, use the most unique, rather than specific, search terms you can think of. If you're looking for a specific thread, try to remember a username that was in it, for instance. "Counter" is useless as a search word. It's specific, but not at all unique.

Second, if you're still having trouble, use Google instead. Do "ths gardenweb" and then the search words (you can use punctuation, but I don't find it necessary), and you'll get a more accurate search. Google is updated constantly. The GW search engine is only update periodically, so won't have the newest stuff available.

Hope this helps. If not, post what you're trying to search for and maybe we can assist.

I use google to search this site.

If you use the 'site' operator in your search, google will ONLY search gardenweb for your search term.
example: if you were searching for honed granite, type
site:gardenweb.com honed granite
into your google search.

On the results page you can use the refinements on the left ('search tools') to restrict to a specific date range or sort by date vs relevance.

And wouldn't it be great if the word or phrase you're searching for were highlighted so you didn't have to go through humongous threads, looking for the little bit that pertains to what you're searching for? What a time-saver that would be!

I was meaning to start a whole thread with a petition about this (I still may), but since your brought it up...

Garden Web really needs to upgrade their forum software engine. I don't understand why they don't use vBulletin, like 90% of other forum web sites. Its so much more useful, search works (really!), you can search for posts by the user, see all of your own posts, sort the forums by page views or number of comments to see the most popular, they have built in pre-set buttons for posting pics and links, etc.

I mean, why do I have to google how to code HTML tags just to type out a post with images? It really is backwards. What a waste of such an excellent resource such as GW forums.

sjerin - hit control F to be able to search the thread by your search term.

Wow, really??? Will that highlight the word(s) I'm looking for?
From one Erin to another who is hopefully making her life easier!

It was apparently built in 1996 by a kid living in his mom's basement, and hasn't been updated since.

Wait 'til the periodic crashes where entire pages of threads are lost, those are really fun.

Free forums: we get what we pay for.

Circuspeanut is right, but to give due credit, we haven't had one of those total crashes for quite some time...

One reason for keeping the old format is that what they're selling is eyeballs, something NBC are very old hands at. One of the things that keeps traffic coming through is that each version of Plywood vs. MDF and Is Soapstone Really That Porous [it's not porous at all] gets a new answer and new people answering in new ways. If we just condensed the general knowledge here, we'd have a pretty short book and none of the interactive handholding, relationship building, and fellows along the same roadness. The stupid ancient software keeps us connected and promotes our community. Frustrating, but true.

Yup. I think the problem with those vBulletin forums is that a thread on, say, drawers vs. cupboards would grow to 449,898 posts in length. Newbies would just read the first fifty pages and give up. Those who actually posted would be admonished to "Search! It works!" and it actually would, and so no one would actually be able to contribute unless they had a novel question about living moss countertops.

That said, the search really does blow, and it would take 13 seconds to simply code in a forum-specific Google search in the box. Also, the ad situation is ridiculous. They could earn a lot more money focusing on high end kitchen items than the nonsense I used to see here before I installed Adblock.

Ever since someone on here mentioned to use Google to search this forum, I've been so happy. Before that, it was so frustrating. Put in your search terms and then site:gardenweb.com. If you want your search terms to only show up in the title, use the Google advanced search (bottom of page). Easy peasy.

I totally agree that our ancient software is actually a hidden blessing. Plus, I don't have to repeatedly see everyone's inane avatar or (not-so-) pithy signature line.

I have a related question, however, and this seems like a fine place to ask it. I have noticed that old (in some sense) posts cannot be bumped. Is this true? Does anyone know how old a post must be before it becomes unbumpable?

Angie, I don't think it's age precisely. In slow moving forums, you can add to threads from many many years ago. You've noticed, I'm sure, that there's a finite number of pages of threads. There seems to be a no-man's land of threads that have fallen off the displayed lists but haven't entirely gone poof. You can find them with searches. I think these are the ones you can't add to. There's also a finite thread length. In Kitchens, it's 150 posts. When you see something like 154, it's where the extra replies have been started before the thread closed.

The only thing is if you do a search on google and reply to that search thread even though it is from Garden Web your new reply will not appear in the original thread on the actual GW Forum. Weird! I added new information to a thread I started through a search for it on google. Then I found my original thread on the Garden Web site and it was not there. I could not think of why that would be. I have heard other people say that it does not duplicate to the original thread on this forum for some reason. YMMV