Search Function on F150Forum.com
Thread Starter
5 Year Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,297
Likes: 325
From: Mississippi
Search Function on F150Forum.com
I see many people complain about the search feature on this website. I wanted to do a quick tutorial on how to properly search for something on this site and you will find that it actually works very well.
First, click or hover over Search, and then click on Advanced Search. This will bring up the Advanced Search Window. First thing to do is put in the Keyword Search box on what you are searching for. Here, you need to be specific on what you are looking for and not vague. For example, I'm having a rear defroster issue on one pane of my rear sliding glass. Therefore, in the Search box, I'll type "rear defroster". Next, since you are searching in the 2015+ section, you will only want to search trucks that match your generation. So, in the bottom right of the Search window, you'll see a section called "Search in Forum(s)". Scroll down and click "2015 - Present Ford F150". This ensures a 2003 F150 will not be in your search results for your 2016 F150 and thus irrelevant. Next, click on "Search Now".
11 Threads pull up with "rear defroster" in the title. The other useful point of the Search feature is you can toggle between looking at titles with "rear defroster", posts with "rear defroster", or you can even pull up Google search results for "rear defroster". This can easily be switched by pushing one of the selections in the Grey bar under "User CP". You'll see "Google Results, Threads, Posts". Going back to my example, when I click Posts, 93 results come up and first part of each post is displayed so you can see what the user is referring to. Also, clicking Google Results pulls up many results as well but beware that it will not be specific to 2015 - Present F150s and will include all posts from all generations. This is why I do not like using the Google Results option. Also, if you click back on Threads after looking at the Google Results, you'll see your "2015 - Present Ford F150" filter isn't present anymore. This is a design flaw in the website (should be fixed) so you'll have to go back to the Advance Search window and start over again.
Hopefully this helps you find that information you look for.
First, click or hover over Search, and then click on Advanced Search. This will bring up the Advanced Search Window. First thing to do is put in the Keyword Search box on what you are searching for. Here, you need to be specific on what you are looking for and not vague. For example, I'm having a rear defroster issue on one pane of my rear sliding glass. Therefore, in the Search box, I'll type "rear defroster". Next, since you are searching in the 2015+ section, you will only want to search trucks that match your generation. So, in the bottom right of the Search window, you'll see a section called "Search in Forum(s)". Scroll down and click "2015 - Present Ford F150". This ensures a 2003 F150 will not be in your search results for your 2016 F150 and thus irrelevant. Next, click on "Search Now".
11 Threads pull up with "rear defroster" in the title. The other useful point of the Search feature is you can toggle between looking at titles with "rear defroster", posts with "rear defroster", or you can even pull up Google search results for "rear defroster". This can easily be switched by pushing one of the selections in the Grey bar under "User CP". You'll see "Google Results, Threads, Posts". Going back to my example, when I click Posts, 93 results come up and first part of each post is displayed so you can see what the user is referring to. Also, clicking Google Results pulls up many results as well but beware that it will not be specific to 2015 - Present F150s and will include all posts from all generations. This is why I do not like using the Google Results option. Also, if you click back on Threads after looking at the Google Results, you'll see your "2015 - Present Ford F150" filter isn't present anymore. This is a design flaw in the website (should be fixed) so you'll have to go back to the Advance Search window and start over again.
Hopefully this helps you find that information you look for.
5 Year Member
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 708
Likes: 216
From: NW Penna
In advanced search I always start with “in titles only” search and use one keyword that I am looking for. I usually get the results I am looking for quickly that way.
Like in your example I would just use the word “defroster” in my title search then sort through the results looking for rear defroster. Using one keyword really seems to help.
Like in your example I would just use the word “defroster” in my title search then sort through the results looking for rear defroster. Using one keyword really seems to help.
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