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Author Topic: Search function. I'm having problems.  (Read 845 times)
BuddysMummy
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 128


Grandfather George H Griffiths in 1989, aged 98yrs
Search function. I'm having problems.
« on: Tuesday 24 June 08 09:24 UTC (UK) »
Hi

I feel like I should be able to resolve this myself, but I keep coming up against the same problem.

My maiden name was Rands and I am trying to do a RC search for it, but whenever I type it in, the results always include "grandson" etc which obviously bulks ou the results a bit and I am finding it very difficult to sift through.

It doesn't appear to be case sensitive.

Any hints or tips please?

Logged
Rands - Hackney. Bedfordshire.
Griffiths - Birkenhead. Queensland, Australia
Ollive/Olive - Cheshire. Birkenhead
Holt - ?Cheshire/Liverpool
Lacey - Mile End, London. Queensland, Australia
Sewell - Middx. Queensland, Australia
Sapsord/ Sapsford - Middx
meles
RootsChat Marquessate
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Posts: 3106



WWW
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #1 on: Tuesday 24 June 08 09:26 UTC (UK) »
Have you tried typing "Rands" with quote marks?

meles
Logged
Brock: Alburgh, Norfolk, and after 1850, London; Tooley: Norfolk
Grimmer: Norfolk; Grimson: Norfolk
Harrison: London; Pollock
Dixon: Hampshire; Collins: Middx
Jeary: Norfolk; Davison: Norfolk
Rogers: London; Bartlett: London
Drew: Kent; Alden: Hants
Gamble: Yorkshire; Huntingford: East London

Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
BuddysMummy
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 128


Grandfather George H Griffiths in 1989, aged 98yrs
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 24 June 08 09:44 UTC (UK) »
That sounded a really good solution, and I felt a bit dumb for not thinking of it........but the results are the same! Grin Roll Eyes

I can't be the only one surely? Maybe some of the search options will deal with it...off to play again.....
Logged
Rands - Hackney. Bedfordshire.
Griffiths - Birkenhead. Queensland, Australia
Ollive/Olive - Cheshire. Birkenhead
Holt - ?Cheshire/Liverpool
Lacey - Mile End, London. Queensland, Australia
Sewell - Middx. Queensland, Australia
Sapsord/ Sapsford - Middx
MarkyP
RootsChat Senior
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Posts: 290


Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 24 August 08 16:59 UTC (UK) »
Has anyone found a solution to this? Since I've started the 'family bible on ebay' thread I often do a search to see if if the surname might interest somebody, but like BuddysMummy, my results can be bulked out by lots of irrelevant names!  Angry which would take ages to sift through. While I'm happy to look through a few pages, I can't manage up to a 100!

So, perhaps it would be possible for whoever looks after the site to enhance the search function, please?  Smiley

Mark.
Logged
Jerome - Hampshire (including IOW)
Parsons - Surrey, Somerset and Devon
aghadowey
Global Moderator
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Posts: 13589


Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #4 on: Sunday 24 August 08 17:40 UTC (UK) »
Not a perfect solution- and there may certainly be a better way- but instead of searching for 'RANDS' (I got 91 pages of results) tried 'RANDS' and 'LONDON' (not sure where your Rands lived but just trying to narrow down the results) and only 6 pages came up.
Logged
nickgc
RootsChat Veteran
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Posts: 848


GGF J. James McLellan 1864-1908
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #5 on: Monday 25 August 08 02:42 UTC (UK) »
Let's hope the owners can provide a solution to this, but even a fairly simple search capability like Google or Yahoo will probably be too costly and/or time-consuming to implement.  I am used to very powerful search engines (commercial) like the DIALOG (tm) databases now on ProQuest.

Small solution:  for RANDS try the Surname Interest List first.

To limit an RC search set the dropdown list to "Most recent posts first" and select a shorter time than "0 to 9999 days".

Examples: 0 to 14 day retrieves no hits; 0 to 140 days retrieves 3 "grand somethings" and one "rand".

Nick
Logged
McLellan - Inverness
Greer - Renfrewshire
Manson - Aberdeen & Orkney
Simpson - Hereford, Devon, etc.
Flett - Orkney
Chisholm - Scotland
Wishart - Orkney
Shand - Aberdeen
Pirie - Aberdeen
nickgc
RootsChat Veteran
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Posts: 848


GGF J. James McLellan 1864-1908
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #6 on: Monday 25 August 08 03:36 UTC (UK) »
Aha!  I went away to watch the Olympics for a bit and was thinking about how I had implemented search functions in programs I had written for others' use.  A space is also a character that a computer reads.

So I tried " rands " (i.e. "[space]rand[space]endquote) and retrieved 1 page of 25 hits.  Thirteen (13) of them were Rands specifically.  I don't know why 12 were not.  This was for "0 to 9999 day".

Tried again with " pegg " and the vast majority were for people of the last name Pegg, with very few "Peggys",  etc.

Too tired to think of other tests at the time.

Hope this helps.

Nick
Logged
McLellan - Inverness
Greer - Renfrewshire
Manson - Aberdeen & Orkney
Simpson - Hereford, Devon, etc.
Flett - Orkney
Chisholm - Scotland
Wishart - Orkney
Shand - Aberdeen
Pirie - Aberdeen
BuddysMummy
RootsChat Member
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Posts: 128


Grandfather George H Griffiths in 1989, aged 98yrs
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #7 on: Thursday 30 October 08 21:50 UTC (UK) »
Wow, I have just seen this. Not sure why I wasn't notified as I usually am.

Thank you very much for that. I think that will solve my problem. Off to have a go now! Wink
Logged
Rands - Hackney. Bedfordshire.
Griffiths - Birkenhead. Queensland, Australia
Ollive/Olive - Cheshire. Birkenhead
Holt - ?Cheshire/Liverpool
Lacey - Mile End, London. Queensland, Australia
Sewell - Middx. Queensland, Australia
Sapsord/ Sapsford - Middx
BuddysMummy
RootsChat Member
***
Posts: 128


Grandfather George H Griffiths in 1989, aged 98yrs
Re: Search function. I'm having problems.
« Reply #8 on: Thursday 30 October 08 22:22 UTC (UK) »
Aaargh!

That didn't work for me. Still pages of Grandsons etc.
Logged
Rands - Hackney. Bedfordshire.
Griffiths - Birkenhead. Queensland, Australia
Ollive/Olive - Cheshire. Birkenhead
Holt - ?Cheshire/Liverpool
Lacey - Mile End, London. Queensland, Australia
Sewell - Middx. Queensland, Australia
Sapsord/ Sapsford - Middx
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