How can I search only within a specific topic thread?

[K1JOS]

Many topics/threads have 50+ pages and using a simple search word or phrase will kick you out to all of the topics.  Is there some method to search only within the current topic pages?

Jerry

[Ian.M]

That's easy for any topic that's been up long enough for Google to have indexed it.   Each SMF forum topic has a human readable root URL (unlike most other forum engines), which is modified by appending page identifiers, message IDs etc.

Therefore, a google site search, restricted to that topic root will  do what you need.

e.g. Google: pliers site:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/ will return all results for pliers that Google knows about in https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase!/

[PA0PBZ]

If you know the topic and are just looking for a specific word in there press the 'print' button top right and it will show all the pages, so you can use the 'find' function of your browser.

[K1JOS]

Perfect - many thanks!!!

[Neganur]

hmm. When browsing the forum threads there is a direct link to pages (for longer threads).
There is also an "ALL" link which has the whole thread in one window - you can then CTRL-F and search for your keyword.



It seems some threads don't have that link (I don't know why) but you can add "/?all" behind the url, e.g. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-rigol-ds1054z-oscilloscope/?all

EDIT:  odd...that /?all did not seem to work on the rigol thread. Too long? The "Print" method works though, very nice hint!

[RoGeorge]

As Nagunur said, click "All", then CTRL+F.

[Ian.M]

While doing a search of the whole thread on the 'All' page using Ctrl-F in your browser works for shorter threads, I'm not surprised there isn't a visible 'All' link for long threads, and I'd bet Gnif isn't too happy with users manually adding /?all to long thread URLs due to the server load.   

I really wouldn't advise it on the 360 pages of Batteriser thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-751-how-to-debunk-a-product-(the-batteriser)/

Also how many embedded Youtube videos in one page does it take to crash your browser? The [Print] button is somewhat safer as it strips images and videos so you only get the text for a local search.

However in the interests of being kind to the server, I would strongly recommend trying Google first as I suggested earlier.  Its also better for you as although its a little more work, you can do more powerful searches than a Ctrl-F local search which will only look for exact matches (+/- case sensitivity).

[TK]

If you are within a thread, doing a search seems to consider only the content of the specific thread.

[buck converter]

The search bar at the top searches the what ever is on on your screen/thread/ topic. if you are in a thread, it searches the thread, when at home it searches the entire forum etc. kinda smart.

[Brumby]

The next topic in my unread topics list was this one. Topic: $20 LCR ESR Transistor checker project which is a biggie. It did not have the "All" option at the list of pages. I suspect if there was any sense in the SMF forum software that after a certain limit it does not give the "all" option.

You are correct.  The "All" option was added not too long ago - and there is a point where it is not displayed.  I think it's 500 posts.