UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums UBB.classic UBB.classic 6 Support Recurring search problems

For some reason I can't search the main forum on my v6.02 UBB bulletin board, although there's no problem searching any of the other four forums.

I've tried rebuilding the search index - many, many times(!), I've tried using separate index files and cleared out the cache repeatedly all to no avail - all I ever get is a completely blank HTML page.

The only difference I can think of is that the main forum ('general forum') is substantially busier than the other four, usually picking up something like 20,000 posts a month...

It's now starting to seriously annoy regulars on the board and I'm at a complete loss as to how to fix it.

Has anyone got any ideas? Please! (bear in mind that I'm not the guy that installed the UBB, so a little tender technical instruction may be needed!)

Mike

The UBB's search engine has a number of issues, including lack of accuracy and use of quite too much memory.

We are quite well aware of these issues and are working to address them in future releases.

Thanks for the prompt reply Charles, but I'm sure you can appreciate my concern: I purchased UBB in good faith yet I'm having to apologise to the regulars of my site who aren't able to search for content.

Seeing as my licence is due to expire in the not too distant future, I'm also concerned that I might have to shell out for another licence for the boards on my non-profit site to fix an inherited problem which hardly seems fair....

As I have stated, we ARE working on trying to fix the problem...

If you do indeed need to purchase additional licenses, may I advise doing so now? <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Most UBB items, including Members Area renewals, are on sale until the end of the month...

Er, thanks for the tip, but why on earth do you expect me to buy a licence again for a broken product?

Surely your (i.e. Infopop's) obligation is firstly to remedy the original faults in the purchased product rather than expecting sites like mine to keep forking out till it's fixed?

The search function has been buggy on my site since I bought the product, and - frankly - unless it's fixed without further expenditure, I will think long and hard before throwing more money Infopop's way.

Although my site is very popular, it's staunchly non profit and I really can't afford or justify continually shelling out for (ahem) 'upgrades' just to arrive at a fully working product.

And - to be fair - you should know that I'm also a journalist for one of the UKs biggest web mags, and naturally any further reviews and recommendations for the product will reflect my personal experiences with UBB.

Mike
PS Have you all got beards at UBB? <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I'm posting this to get it back to the top of th epage as it seems to have been completely ignored.

But let me get this right: there is an accepted problem running searches on some UBBs and the solution is simply to ask the user to keep on shelling out for new licences until it's eventually fixed?

I do hope that is not the case - particularly so as I'm a writer for the UK's most popular web magazine and I can't see me enthusiastically endorsing such a product in my forthcoming review...

In any system which receives 20,000 posts per month in a singe forum there will be problems in a search: Reason - most ISP's will simply not allow a website to pull up 3 or 4 megabyte index files into memory and then start manipulating them.

As Charles stated - we are working on it and Charles is pretty sharp, if anyone can make that work, he can.

So - let's focus on fixing your problem.

Here is what you can do for me right now:

• Break up that main forum into 3 or 4 unique forums. That will break up the Indexes and should alleviate the blank HTML pages you get in return.
• Prune that one large forum into the last 30 or 50 days worth of posts - that will clear out the dead or resolved posts which are clogging that Index file.
• Reindex after you prune and have broken that forum up - let me know the results.
• Keep your Members Area access current - While we understand that we are working on the Search feature, it's also important that you as the site owner keep your board pruned, current & indexed for optimum performance.

Please let me know if you have questions regarding this matter.

Brett
Thanks for the reply.

Unfortunately I have tried just about all your suggestions: the urban75 boards are aready split into 5 unique forums and the problem with the empty search pages was around long before they got as popular as they are now.

I've regularly been pruning forums - I've even tried knocking it down to 30 days with no effect. Naturally, I've rebuilt the index every time.

Bizarely, the search has always worked just fine for the other four forums, but not for the main (and, sadly, most important) one.

There also seems to be a problem with pruning all posts from a single user too.

I understand - let's consider a Trouble Ticket - which means that I get to FTP to your server and play around under the hood.

What you did for me earlier was a Question Ticket - which does not have the same weight overall as I don't get much info.

Can you go here for me:
http://www.infopop.com/cgi-bin/support/support_request.cgi?type=UBB

Choose - UBB Not Functioning Properly and give me all the gory details. I will take ownership of the ticket and work with Charles and the crew to figure out what is going on. As you mention - it's only this forum so let's figure out what is wrong and fix it with you.

Cheers Brett: I've just sent on all my details

I've read this post with interest as we have just upgraded this version as well. Before, our members only had to do a search in the private forums by clicking on the tiny words under the usual search category. Now, I've had to turn the search off entirely due to the fact that we have one board open for "visitors" and the rest are for members. My members are restless and we rely on being able to search our private forums.

I see from this post that you are working on it, can you please tell me if you have reached a solution?

Personal Chefs Network

Thanks!

~Sharon

THere are a few search quirks in 6.0x related to private forums that were fixed in 6.05 and 6.1.0...

Please note that it's considered a Bad Thing to append your unrelated post to a thread started by someone else. Please, in the future, start your own new thread rather than posting in an existing one. Thank you! <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Without wanting to appear like I'm hussling you guys, but what kind of time span should I expect for you to resolve the problems on my board?

I'm a tad concerned at the security risk of having my FTP details held at a third party, so would appreciate notice of when the job's going to get done so that I might be able to change my password.

Not that I don't trust you guys, of course! <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Thank you - I will be looking into this one on Monday - if you would like to change that password for now and then return it on Monday - that would be great.