Searching forums (fora?) usually works well, but I've been frustrated at times searching for things that have words that are too common. Case in point: sockets that use 5/16" square drive. Searching for 5/16 drive finds every post that has both words. That's a LOT! Many search places can specify an exact phrase by putting it in quotes: "5/16 drive". That's a huge improvement, but it still breaks down on this example if you consider that the common abbreviation for inches is the quotation mark! Entering "5/16" drive" produces the same search results as if you hadn't used the quotes at all. Entering "5/16 in drive" would work if the poster had used this alternate abbreviation for inch.
To complicate things, the search designer has to decide how to handle such things as spaces, dashes, commas and periods. In my example, you might want to ignore all punctuation except " just because of the nature of this website. Indicating an exact phrase could be done by putting it in parentheses, for instance. This syntax could all be made invisible to the user by adding a check box for Search For Exact Phrase.
Please forgive me if this capability already exists. I did try to find it ... by searching.
To complicate things, the search designer has to decide how to handle such things as spaces, dashes, commas and periods. In my example, you might want to ignore all punctuation except " just because of the nature of this website. Indicating an exact phrase could be done by putting it in parentheses, for instance. This syntax could all be made invisible to the user by adding a check box for Search For Exact Phrase.
Please forgive me if this capability already exists. I did try to find it ... by searching.