Searching Messages

Finding Messages Containing a Word or Phrase

WebBoard lets you search messages for words and phrases or by author’s name or email address. You can choose which conferences to search. You can also limit the search to a specific date range. WebBoard also gives you several options for how to sort messages that match your search request, including by author or by listing messages judged to most strongly match your request first. Messages are identified by conference, topic title, and date. If you choose, the author’s real name and the first 40 characters of the message body appear as well. Each entry in the list is a hyperlink, so you can click on any found message and view it.

To search for words within topics and/or message bodies, follow these steps:

1. Click Search on the WebBoard menubar.
   
   
2. In the Key Word Search area, enter the words you want to search for in the Search for textbox as follows:

   word searches for the whole word. For example, work matches work; it will not find workbook.
   
   

3. Choose a Match option:

   Select All if you want to see messages that contain all the words you entered in the Search for field.

   Select Any if you want to see messages that contain one or more of the words you entered in the Search for field.
   
   

4. To limit the search to specific conferences, select the conferences to search in the Conferences list:

   To search more than one conference, press the CTRL key as you click additional conference names.

   To search all conferences, make no selection.
   
   

5. Specify how to organize results by making a selection on the Sort order drop-down list. Choose one of the following:

   Date lists messages with newest first.

   Confidence lists messages that WebBoard judges to most closely match your request.

   Topic lists messages alphabetically by topic title.

   Author groups messages by the user who posted them. Users are identified by real name or login name.

   Conference groups messages from the same conference together. The conferences are listed in the order in which they appear on the board. Messages are ordered by date within their conference.
   
   

6. Click Search. The Message search results page appears. Results are shown 25 at a time. Click the Next link to see the next page of messages.
   
   
7. To view a listed message, click the topic title link.
   
   
8. Click Search Messages or your browser’s Back button to return to the Message Search form.

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