Add-On Releases - BoardTracker Search Mod v2 - a full search engine for your board!

BoardTracker Search Mod - Version 2

This search hack replaces the built in vb search with boardtracker search and results are fully integrated with your board. Search results can be threads from your board or all boards or a select group of boards - your choice!

Once installed, search from the search box on any page will pull results from boardtracker and display them within your board. 'Advanced Search' can still link to the existing vb search script or you can disable or restrict access to specific users (ie. admins, mods, paying members etc).

Results can be formated in any way you want with some simple template variables.

Options control panel allows you to easily switch the boardtracker search mod on or off so you can switch between boardtracker and vb search whenever you want.

The following configuration options/defaults exist:

Switch search on/off

Switch 'safe filter' on/off

Switch global search option on/off

Board ID - you can limit search to just your board, or several boards you choose or ALL boards indexed by boardtracker.

Category ID - you can define a category on boardtracker and searches will only pull results from that category.

Default Sort Order - you can sort results by relevancy or by post date.

Default Search Scope - results can be limited to last day, week, month, year or all time.

Default Search Query - a search term that will be executed whenever the boardtracker search script is called directly with no params.

Find Posts By User - replace the search links on user profiles and postbits.

Internal vB Search Allowed Usergroups - specify which usergroups are allowed to still use the built in vb search (search.php) and redirect all others to the bt search (searchbt.php). Leave empty to allow all users to still access search.php


User selections on the search form override the defaults.

The mod is very easy to install and consists of 1 php script to upload, 1 product xml file to install, 1 simple template edit plus some optional template edits. The xml product file creates one new template, an options panel and a few phrases.

You can see a demo here which has the search set to another board for demo purposes (since there are no actual posts on the demo board to search )

If your board is not yet indexed by BoardTracker, make sure to submit it!


## New features in version 2..

Search posts by username
Search in specific forums
Search in related forums
Search by boardtracker category
RSS feed and alerts for searches
Global search option
Works with bad words search filter
Block or restrict the built in search to specific usergroups
More integration with vb search links (such as from member profile)
More widgets in the control panel to play with



updates:
v2.0.1 - fixed small typo in one phrase setting
v2.0.2 - fixed bug in searchbt.php affecting some people. To upgrade, just upload the new searchbt.php, no other action required.
v2.0.3 - minor html change in templates - not a required upgrade
v2.0.4 - update to searchbt.php
v2.0.5 - small change to 'stopwords' in search_boardtracker template
v2.0.6 - added adv=1 to advanced search link (in plugin) to open search options automatically. Simplified navbar template edits (needed if installing tags mod also). Added 'search this forum' edits.
v2.0.7 - updated for new BoardTracker 2010. To upgrade, upload searchbt.php, install xml, minor template edits (param names)

[SemperFideles]

I've submitted my board to BoardTracker today, so do I need to wait (on verification) before installing this MOD? Very nice work by the way!

Yes, you need to wait because it won't work until your site has been crawled. I've been waiting for almost 2 months.

I honestly wish there was another site that provided this as they provide little to no information about when they're going to be available. The Cryptic "...we'll be taking new sites soon..." has been the refrain for over 2 months now. I don't know what most people think soon is but 2 months ain't soon in my book.

I'll be honest, I'm beginning to get nervous about whether the site really has the professionalism behind it to remain viable indefinitely. A site that cannot take on new sites for several months and cannot even provide a projected release date is not a professional service.

It is all "nice work" in theory to me. It's nice in theory but I'm extremely skeptical at this point.

[BoardTracker]

adwade: The new version will not only support both just the same as the previous version, but will also support few additional major features.

We have begun these days the enrollment of the new version and hope to be able to add new boards soon after. Once the version is launched, we will of course let everyone know.

SemperFideles: We believe that promising fictitious dates is not a professional alternative. Some things (especially major processes) can not be accurately planned. Some things delay for reasons we can not foresee or control and can do little about.

We however, did not say that new boards will be added right away. On the contrary... we clearly said that addition of new boards, due to the migration, will be delayed.

All during this time we provided service and support to boards already in the system.
What in this makes you feel that the service is unprofessional?

As it has been in the two and a half years, we will continue to show professionalism and remain viable indefinitely. That much we can say accurately.

As for addition of yours and other boards, once the migration process is complete, we will recommence adding boards.
As for what constitutes "soon", this is very subjective. It certainly feels long when delivery time for a new server is three to four weeks.
If that takes one or two more weeks or even five… it will happen.

[SemperFideles]

BoardTracker,

I do not wish to enter into an argument. Bottom line for me is clear: when I see it work, I might change my mind.

I'm gratified that you're adding new boards.

Best Regards,

Rich

[rjmjr69]

Darn it I guess I will just have to wait until your accepting more boards. Do I need to install anything in order to be crawled and listed?

[RedGTiVR6]

Is there any update on this?

[BoardTracker]

We are now deploying the new version of BoardTracker. While this process may take a bit, it is already underway and we hope to finish it within the next couple of weeks.
We'll keep you informed on the progress and when new boards are being added again.

[RedGTiVR6]

Is this the same new version from Feb. or is this another new version since that one?

[BoardTracker]

Totally new version, new features.. even new design (to an extent)

[richTV]

i might be interested in this for my forum as my members sometimes want to search 3 letter words and are not able to

also, wild card searches don't seem to work either with the built-in search software for vB.

will yours do the above tasks?

will your mod work for vB 3.6.5? if yes, can u update ur vB version in ur thread starter post above?

tnx.

[BoardTracker]

Yes, the search mod works for this version afaik.
We are about to launch an updated version of the mod with added features.
Once we do that ,we will updated the details here.