Forum search function bug?

[Dieter]

I am not a registered user, but when I search for my posts with the search within the forum and I specify my name as the search criteria for "author" nothing comes up. I thought I should find my posts, even as an unregistered contributer.

Dieter

[ckv]

I think it's limitation in phpbb so there is not much anyone can do about it.

[helmut]

I think it's limitation in phpbb so there is not much anyone can do about it.

Right, it's a limitation of phpBB. Only the phpBB developer can change this.

[XnTriq]

I look at the forum as a knowledge base, and I never ask (or answer) a question without doing a query first. But phpBB's built-in search feature — as with most forum software — leaves somewhat to be desired. So I made my own customized search plug-ins for Firefox:

C:\Program Files\Mozilla\Firefox\searchplugins\xnview.google.src

Code: Select all

<search name="XnView Forum (Google)"
 description="Various discussion boards for XnView and related products"
      action="http://www.google.com/search"
      method="get">
<input name="sourceid" value="mozilla-search">
<input name="q" user>
<input name="as_sitesearch" value="newsgroup.xnview.com">
<input name="q" value="-inurl:%22reply OR quote OR profile OR rss%22">
</search>

C:\Program Files\Mozilla\Firefox\searchplugins\xnview.yahoo.src

Code: Select all

<search name="XnView Forum (Yahoo)"
 description="Various discussion boards for XnView and related products"
      action="http://search.yahoo.com/search"
      method="get">
<input name="sourceid" value="mozilla-search">
<input name="vs" value="newsgroup.xnview.com">
<input name="p" user>
</search>

One could convert the 16x16 version of favicon.ico and use it as search icon for both plug-ins (xnview.google.gif & xnview.yahoo.gif).

[marsh]

When using Linux, the search plugins shown above are placed in the following sample location:

/home/username/.mozilla/firefox/program_genrated.default/searchplugins/xnview.google.src
/home/username/.mozilla/firefox/program_genrated.default/searchplugins/xnview.yahoo.src

Copy and paste the "code" to a new file using your favourite text editor.
Restart Firefox so that search plugins appear search bar's list of engines

----Update----
XnTriq's latest examples can be directly pasted here:
/home/username/.mozilla/firefox/program_genrated.default/searchplugins/xnview.google.xml

[marsh]

All
The topic numbers shown by Google plugin's search results will not always match those produced by forum's own search function. This matters when creating forum links.

Example:
Plugin search "crop gray" produces this relevant topic:
"Crop does NOT work on some (non-gray ?)"
"t=11734" is shown in address bar

The forum's search function produces following number:
"t=11646" - A correct value, which is the same as number shown in web browser's status bar when highlighting a link.

[XnTriq]

Thank you for your “bug report”, marsh.

XnView :: View topic - Crop does NOT work on some (non-gray ?)
irrespective what "Tolerance" (up to 255) I use ... Try batch convert's autocrop function. It is
better in some ways. Currently in the viewer, using either ...
newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11734&view=next
&sid=b693895c911eebadb5e4ae05a814ee57 - 30k - Cached - Similar pages

This is G o o g l e's cache of http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=11734&view=next
&sid=b693895c911eebadb5e4ae05a814ee57 as retrieved on 24 Jan 2008 01:52:20 GMT.
G o o g l e's cache is the snapshot that we took of the page as we crawled the web.
The page may have changed since that time. Click here for the current page without highlighting.
This cached page may reference images which are no longer available. Click here for the cached text only.

• t=11734&view=previous ~ t=11705 » “Problems to display rightly some files in preview & view”
• t=11734 » “1.90 : Blank screen after deleting pic in fullscreen mode”
• t=11734&view=next ~ t=11646 » “Crop does NOT work on some (non-gray ?)”

Here's a mo' better version of xnview.google.src:

Code: Select all

<search name="XnView Forum (Google)"
 description="Various discussion boards for XnView and related products"
      action="http://www.google.com/search"
      method="get">
<input name="sourceid" value="mozilla-search">
<input name="q" user>
<input name="as_sitesearch" value="newsgroup.xnview.com">
<input name="q" value="-inurl:%22profile OR quote OR reply OR rss OR view%22">
</search>

[marsh]

Since the BBS change, G's search engine results look more repetitive (one line of content instead of two in their overview). This is happening with items showing new URLs containing "f=##".
Ex:
Before-http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=####
vs.
After-http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=##&t=####

[XnTriq]

Addding the query string &filter=1 to the mix should do the trick.

In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the ### already displayed.
If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included.

Code: Select all

<search name="XnView Forum (Google)"
 description="Various discussion boards for XnView and related products"
      action="http://www.google.com/search"
      method="get">
<input name="sourceid" value="mozilla-search">
<input name="q" user>
<input name="as_sitesearch" value="newsgroup.xnview.com">
<input name="q" value="-inurl:%22profile OR quote OR reply OR rss OR view%22">
<input name="filter" value="1">
</search>

[marsh]

Thanks XnTriq,
Now I don't see a problem when comparing G's results here against board maker's forum.

Here is a copy&paste address which can be used by all without installing(multi-browser friendly):

Code: Select all

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=mozilla-search&q=keyword1+keyword2+keyword3&as_sitesearch=newsgroup.xnview.com&q=-inurl:%22profile%20OR%20quote%20OR%20reply%20OR%20rss%20OR%20viewforum%20OR%20search%20OR%20view%22

[XnTriq]

Hi everyone

I finally got around to updating this sucker.

Code: Select all

<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/"
                       xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/">
    <ShortName>XnView Forum (Google)</ShortName>
    <Description>Google Site Search - XnView Forum</Description>
    <InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
    <Image width="16" height="16">data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhEAAQAJEDAJlmM/8zAP+ZM////yH5BAkAAAMALAAAAAAQABAAAAJBnI+pItfIDHsTRiCAwXRg7SGAVoHTKWUpMwIB5pmsGxjvk2r1UNdgauMFBziOcKg6GANMYIJzyvxE0KRC2bpqrwUAOw==</Image>
    <Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="http://www.google.com/search">
        <Param name="sitesearch" value="newsgroup.xnview.com"/>
        <Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
    </Url>
    <moz:SearchForm>http://www.google.com/firefox</moz:SearchForm>
</OpenSearchDescription>

• Wikipedia: OpenSearch
• searchplugins.net: FAQ
• Chemlab Blog: Mozilla & Internet Explorer Search Plugin’s / Opensearch Tutorial
• Es Developed Blog: Make Your Own Firefox and IE Search Bar Plugin
• Mozilla Developer Center: Creating OpenSearch plugins for Firefox
• IEBlog: Adding Search providers to IE 7 using OpenSearch 1.1

• Motobit Software: On-line base64 decoder and encoder
• ChewyByte.net: Convert Icon File to Base64 String
• John Conners: John’s Base64 Encoder / Decoder
• John Walker: base64.exe – Encode and Decode Base64 Files

[XnTriq]

As it turns out, Google is indexing pages from newsgroup.xnview.com & forum.xnview.com separately, and the sitesearch parameter doesn't accept multiple domains as input

As a workaround I added...

• <Param name="domains" value="newsgroup.xnview.com;forum.xnview.com"/>

... which puts radio buttons for the newsgroup and the forum sub-domain in Google's search form.

Code: Select all

<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/"
                       xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/">
	<ShortName>XnView Forum (Google)</ShortName>
	<Description>Google Site Search - XnView Forum</Description>
	<InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
	<Image width="16" height="16">data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhEAAQAJEDAJlmM/8zAP+ZM////yH5BAkAAAMALAAAAAAQABAAAAJBnI+pItfIDHsTRiCAwXRg7SGAVoHTKWUpMwIB5pmsGxjvk2r1UNdgauMFBziOcKg6GANMYIJzyvxE0KRC2bpqrwUAOw==</Image>
	<Url type="text/html" method="GET" template="http://www.google.com/search">
		<Param name="sitesearch" value="newsgroup.xnview.com"/>
		<Param name="domains" value="newsgroup.xnview.com;forum.xnview.com"/>
		<Param name="q" value="{searchTerms}"/>
	</Url>
	<moz:SearchForm>http://www.google.com/firefox</moz:SearchForm>
</OpenSearchDescription>

Suggestions for a better solution are welcome!

[marsh]

The new wiki should replace forum item (which has no new content).

Code: Select all

      <Param name="domains" value="newsgroup.xnview.com;wiki.xnview.com"/>

[Peter2]

[quote="XnTriq (Scanning "film negative" and convert to "positive"?)"]...Out of frustration with phpBB I created an OpenSearch plugin for web browsers....[/quote]
There is a lot of code and a lot of links which I don't understand. What is the conclusion of these threads?

Peter

[XnTriq]

There is a lot of code and a lot of links which I don't understand. What is the conclusion of these threads?

First, you have to copy & paste this code…

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<OpenSearchDescription xmlns="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearch/1.1/"
                       xmlns:moz="http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/"
                       xmlns:ie="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Search/2008/">
	<ShortName>XnView Forum (Google)</ShortName>
	<Description>Google Site Search for newsgroup.xnview.com</Description>
	<InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
	<Image width="16" height="16">data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhEAAQAJEDAJlmM/8zAP+ZM////yH5BAkAAAMALAAAAAAQABAAAAJBnI+pItfIDHsTRiCAwXRg7SGAVoHTKWUpMwIB5pmsGxjvk2r1UNdgauMFBziOcKg6GANMYIJzyvxE0KRC2bpqrwUAOw==</Image>
	<Url type="application/x-suggestions+json" method="get" template="http://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?client=firefox&output=firefox&hl=en&q={searchTerms}" />
	<Url type="text/html" method="get" template="http://www.google.com/search?sitesearch=newsgroup.xnview.com&q={searchTerms}" />
	<Url type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" method="get" template="http://newsgroup.xnview.com/opensearch.xml" rel="self" />
</OpenSearchDescription>

… into a text editor and save it as xnview.google.xml.

In case you're a Firefox user, xnview.google.xml has to be placed in this directory:

• %ProgramFiles%\Mozilla\Firefox\searchplugins\

There should now be an item called “XnView Forum (Google)” in your browser's search bar…

• 

… with an XnView icon next to it.

I chose to embed a base64-encoded version of the 2-bit (4 colors) icon from my old draft in GIF format, …

• http://oi39.tinypic.com/25555xi.gif

… but of course you can use any icon you like.

• http://web.archive.org/web/200510201447 ... avicon.ico
  http://web.archive.org/web/201006221431 ... avicon.ico
  http://oi44.tinypic.com/11w7h9z.gif
  http://oi43.tinypic.com/353cwwo.png
  http://newsgroup.xnview.com/favicon.ico
  http://www.xnview.com/assets/ico/favicon.ico
  http://www.xnview.com/favicon.ico
  http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zGuOq ... /photo.png
  http://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-JeMpS ... /photo.png
  http://oi41.tinypic.com/297tzt.png
  http://oi40.tinypic.com/sfcem8.png
  http://web.archive.org/web/200003020209 ... avicon.ico
  http://web.archive.org/web/200806080658 ... avicon.ico
  http://web.archive.org/web/200901140436 ... avicon.ico
  http://web.archive.org/web/201208131042 ... avicon.ico
  http://www.google.com/favicon.ico

Just keep in mind that the dimensions should be 16×16 pixels.

If you prefer not to embed the icon inside the XML file, you have to replace the <Image …></Image> line accordingly:

Code: Select all

<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/vnd.microsoft.icon">xnview.google.ico</Image>
<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/x-icon">xnview.google.ico</Image>
<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/png">xnview.google.png</Image>
<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/gif">xnview.google.gif</Image>
<Image width="16" height="16" type="image/jpeg">xnview.google.jpg</Image>