[pleasenoobama]

Oops, apparently I don’t know how to use search properly. Tutorial?

[bamahead]

I always use the 'Search' link at the top of thread pages. I rarely use the box on the Forum homepage. It just doesn't work well for me.

Also, use 'Match exact phrase' search option from dropdown menu, and search on only a portion of the title.

Never fails.

[Right Wing Assault]

Pick “order by post time” to find recent posts.
I pick “match all words” and use as few words as possible.
Pick the least common word or words in the title.
I tried “tactic” and got all three posts.
If you get too many hits, add a word, such as “tactic healthcare.” Words don’t need to be together.
Works great.

Typing in the WHOLE title and then selecting “match exact phrase” is a mistake since one little typo can kill the whole search.

Just some knucklehead doesn’t decide to make up his own totally different title using none of the words in the original.

If you blow it, don’t worry. A lot of folks can’t read every single article on FR and are happy to see a repeat (new to them) of a good article. Don’t let the Post Nazis bother you.

[metmom]

Good keywords help. They need to be logical and relate to the article. Unfortunately, not enough people think them through when posting articles.

It’s not your fault. I’ve done title searches and keyword searches and have nothing show up, only to have the SAPP point out that it had already been posted (at 2 AM no less) and see that there were no keywords at all.

You just can’t win with some people.

I don’t mind duplicate posts. I’m not on 24/7 and miss a lot of the first ones. Thanks for posting this. It really needs to be seen.