There seem to be a lot of threads these days that start out "Why doesn't the search work anymore. I tried to search but nothing happened so now I need to repeat a question that's been answered literally thousands of times like: What oil should I use? Where can i get tapered bearings and how do you install them?" et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...
Well, the old search function, the one in the upper right of the page header, is dead (at least temporarily), but a new search is alive and well. It's called the "Google Custom Search" at the bottom left of the header, and it works (IMO) just as well as the old search did. There it is; see? Hiding just under the left side of the header on every page.
When you use Google custom search, the results appear in a different window with a Google format, so that may throw some people who think Google only searches the web. Not so. It's called a "custom search" because it searches only the site it's attached to (such as SOHC.net). So you're still only searching this site, just like the old search did.
Another thing that may confuse some is that the first four or five results are ads, so that may cause them to think they're being directed away from the site. If you look closely, there's a thin line that separates these ads from the actual search results. The ads are necessary because damn! somebody's got to pay for the site somehow and I know for a fact that none of you cheap bastards out there are shelling out any dough in order to keep the site alive... I know I haven't...
So, use the Custom Search just like the old one, and it works just fine. I spend a lot of time searching when preparing my thread posts and, after having used both, I can say from experience that there's very little difference between the two.
The search function is dead; long live the search function.
Happy searching.
