Posted on 04/28/2008 9:21:51 AM PDT by Perseverando
Jim Robinson has created and maintains a huge treasure trove of news and information here at FreeRepublic.com. He gladly shares it with us Freepers and the rest of the world (a.k.a. - lurkers). And thanks to Jim and staff, FreeRepublic has a fantastic search engine (far surpassing Google), IMHO, due to the plethora of relevant news and information from around the world posted by us Freepers.
For lack of a better description, I would classify FreeRepublic as a huge historical news and information database thanks to all of the postings and comments of Freepers (and a few disrupters - ZOT!!).
And yes, we believe fervently that our fellow Freepers and anyone else perusing FreeRepublic.com should have the maximum opportunity to read, consider, and discuss with us the information that we dig up from the far corners of the internet. Isn’t that's why we spend so many hours every week "getting out the word" through FreeRepublic.com.
That’s why over the past week, I have spent far too much time reviewing posted articles and adding keywords to them. For example, on recent hot topic subjects, I have found far too many articles on Obama, Wright, and Ayers, with only one or two, or even no keywords associated with the posted article. So when searches are done for articles on these individuals, the search engine misses relevant posted articles.
So please, as you are reading various articles, take a look at the keywords and consider adding some of your own if the poster dropped the ball and failed to list relevant keywords.
So may I humbly suggest and encourage my fellow Freepers to more actively use the available tools - "TOPICS" & "KEYWORDS" to make FreeRepublic more user friendly for those who actively research articles for ourselves and for those who just need "a little more" information on various subjects.
Hey, if we use "KeyWords" when we post, won't it make the FreeRepublic news database even more valuable as a reference source for us, and even those who disagree with us?
Finally, if those who disagree with us visit FreeRepublic because it is known for being the best news database on the internet, maybe they will begin to see the world as it really is.
How about it Freepers?
Single greatest source of complaints that Search doesn't work, in my opinion.
Bump!
I still find using Google to search FreeRepublic better, especially for older topics.
” Single greatest source of complaints that Search doesn’t work, in my opinion.”
It works most of the time, in my opinion. But every once in a while, you’ll even do a search on one or two keywords and nothing will come up. So you post and of course the “already posted” nazis spring up everywhere with a link.
It works really well, but it’s not foolproof. But as this indicates, perhaps if posters take more care in setting up the post, it will help close the cracks.
I’ve never understood why Search defaults to “keyword,” and not “title.” And frankly, no . . . whenever someone claims they did a search and couldn’t find the article, how come it (or they) pop-up when I do?
Are you sure you’re logged in? :)
“And frankly, no . . . whenever someone claims they did a search and couldn’t find the article, how come it (or they) pop-up when I do?”
Same here, but there have been a handful of times where I did the search and nothing came up for me either. Like I said, it works well most of the time.
Please use “Times” instead of “Slimes”, etc. Keywords and crucial. With proper keywording, FR is equivalent to a high-priced service such as Lexis-Nexis.
I don’t think the search works for words of fewer than four letters. Also, I’ve found articles where the poster has changed the headline to his or her liking . . . I click abuse and ask the mods to change it back. So it’s theoretically possible that an older article that does not appear for you would appear in the future after the headline is changed.
Satirical key words are great, but yes please make sure the correct ones are there first at least.
“So please, as you are reading various articles, take a look at the keywords and consider adding some of your own if the poster dropped the ball and failed to list relevant keywords.”
Thank you! Even when I wasn’t posting on FR for a couple years, I couldn’t resist adding some keywords. Many articles get posted without any. They make articles SO much easier to find later.
Re: Are you sure you’re logged in? :)
Is there a way to logout of FreeRepublic? LOL!
interesting
vey interestink.
keywords are our friends..
and I agree, the archives of FR modern day rank up there with the best , if one knows how to use the tools.
Re: Is there a way to logout of FreeRepublic? Yes
Never! I refuse to go over to the dark side.
Can you make “Titles” the first default in the search box at upper right corner instead of “keyword”?
“Is there a way to logout of FreeRepublic?”
ALT-F4
Somebody could do a PhD thesis or two on the database here. Two million threads with who knows how many posts of mostly opinion on each would be quite a series of cultural snapshots.
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