Using the search feature

[Double T Dude Ranch]

Start with the Stickies

This forum is made up of nine main sections. New Forum Users Start Here, Game Guide, Known Issues, Glitches and Bugs, Help & Support, News & Announcements, General Feedback, Suggestions, Farm Town Social and Other Languages. The threads located at the top of each of these sections are referred to as "stickies" and are updated by the moderators with information from the developers as issues and solutions occur.

The "Search this Forum" Tool

Once you have located the section that most pertains to what you are searching for, click "Search This Forum", located at the top right hand side. Searching through individual sections will increase the efficiency of your search rather than searching through the entire forum.

The "Search this Thread" Tool

Now that you have the thread you want, you can go one step further and search within that thread for specific posts. Located at the top right hand corner of every thread you will see "Search this Thread".

Quick Search

To do a quick search, click on "search", located at the top right hand corner, type in a few key words into the search box and choose “show threads” or “show posts” and click "Go".

Advanced Search

To filter even more use the advanced search option. This can be found by clicking on search and then clicking on the blue "Advanced Search" link from the drop down menu. Here you have several more options. You can search by keywords in the title only or in the entire thread, search by user name, search posts by date, filter by which sections you want to search. You can choose how you want your results sorted and if you want the results shown as threads or individual posts.

Finding Your Own Posts or Threads

Many times you are looking for your own post to see if there is an answer to your query. To do this click your username at the top right of the page, choose "statistics" then "Find all posts by ....." or "Find all threads started by..."

The "Subscribe To Threads" Tool

When a new forum user has registered with the forum it is set that you will automatically be subscribed to every thread you post in. Meaning, you are notified by email every time someone responds to a thread you have posted in.

To change this default setting go to "User CP", top left, scroll down the list on the left to "Settings and Options", click on "Edit Options" and scroll down to the "Default Thread Subscription Mode" box. From the drop down menu within that box choose "do not subscribe" to stop the subscribing, "no email notification", to still subscribe but not be emailed or choose how often you would like to be emailed. Then at the very bottom of the page click "Save Changes". To view all threads that you have subscribed to go to "User CP" and then "List Subscriptions".

Once the default setting has been changed you can manually subscribe to individual threads that you have posted in or are just interested in following. At the top left of every thread you will see "Thread Tools". Click on that, from the drop down menu click on "Subscribe to this Thread". From there you will have the option on how you would like to be notified. Click the "Add Subscription" button.

To cancel these subscriptions go to "User CP", top left, scroll down the list on the left to "List Subscriptions" on the far right above all your subscribed threads, check mark the box beside "Notification" to remove all threads or just the box beside a specific thread to remove the one and then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Delete Subscription" from the drop down menu. Click the "Go" button.

A Search Example

I want to redesign my farm but am needing some inspiration from my fellow farmers. I go to Farm Town Social > Search This Forum > In the search box type "pictures" "farms" "ideas" > Go. Search resulted in the "Post your best looking farm IMAGES here" thread. My search was a success!!

Helpful Search Hints, Tips and Advice

Any words less than 4 letters will be ignored by the search engine. Include "wildcards" or "stemming" in your search (searching "facili*" will include facility facilities etc) Using specific words related to your topic will yield the best results. Describe what you need with as few terms as possible. Try using different words with identical or very similar meanings. Make the search function into your new best friend because it is an invaluable tool that will enhance your forum experience!


This post was created by amberdh. Thanks Amber!