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HOW TO SEARCH THIS SITE -- searching

Marusho

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This is old hat . . . unless it is new to you. To search within a website that doesn't have adequate searching capability, use Google with the "SITE:" option.

With the built-in search function you will often get this message: "The search could not be completed because the search keywords were too short, too long, or too common. "
Unfortunately, we live in an age of acronyms. You cannot search for "BUG", meaning "Bed Utility Group". You can't search for "bed utility group" either because searching for phrases is not offered. You are going to get results for BED, UTILITY and GROUP, which is not useful.

To search for whatever YOU want to search for - a short word, something you can't spell (like Harmon Kardon, or is it "Harmin Kardin"?), a phrase, one of several words or phrases (all of which will satisfy you), an EXACT phrase, or more advanced search techniques (which you can research on YouTube) try searches such as those below. In many cases you will have to click on the phrase , "More results from 5thGenRams.com" at the end of the first or second result

SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY "BED UTILITY GROUP" (quotations mean "I want this exact phrase")
SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY ("BED UTILITY GROUP",BUG, "BED GROUP") (any of the words or phrases in parentheses will satisfy me)

SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY TOW MIRRORS (this will probably work, even without the quotes, because Google is smart)
SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY TOW MIRROR* (the asterisk is a "wild card", meaning "I don't care what, if anything, is in this position - might be an "S" or nothing at all)

SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY BUG (no problem searching for a short or even a common word (like "and"))

SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY "hk" (again, short words not a problem)
SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY hk (no difference since this is not a phrase)

SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY harman kardon
SITE:WWW.5THGENRAMS.COM/COMMUNITY harmin kardin
(you can spell it wrong and still get results, and a suggestion from Google about the correct spelling)

DON'T EXPECT MIRACLES. Searching for the build code "KN" will get you "well-KNown member".

I also use this technique to search for junk on Craigslist around the country, where the default is to search in your community. An example:
SITE:CRAIGSLIST.COM HEATHKIT
Unfortunately, this works poorly for automotive parts, but it's a tool worth knowing about.

FINALLY, WHEN YOU ARE POSTING, BE KIND AND MAKE SURE YOUR TEXT, AND YOUR POST TITLE, HAVE PLENTY OF SEARCHABLE (AND MEANINGFUL) WORDS AND PHRASES, SPELLED CORRECTLY, AND NOT ABBREVIATED. "Yo, I need advice" is lame, where "Yo, I need advice on the Lumbar Support" is not that much more work to type.
 

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