Searching tips

By default the search engine tries to locate pages which have exact matches for all of the words entered in your search query. If that fails, it then tries to locate pages which contain any words in your search query. If that happens a short message is displayed at the top of the search results indicating this has been done.

Note that each page is only returned ONCE regardless of how many occurrences there are on that page. You need to go to the page to see if a number of separate matches are on that page.

Avoid using plurals in search phrases, make use of wildcards (see below), for instance:
truck? not trucks
mini? not minis
controller? not controllers

Avoid using abbreviations, make use of wildcards (see below), for instance:
merc* not merc to return mercedes
scalex* not scalex to return scalextric

Remember that most model types (for instance Porsche 917) have multiple variants (e.g. 917K, 917/10) and because the search works on whole words by default, all the matches may not be returned. Wildcards also solve this:
917* not 917 to return 917K
*512* not 512 to return F512S

In addition, there are several ways to modify the default search behaviour.

1. phrase search
   The search engine supports three types of phrase search.
   • To match an exact phrase, use quotes around the phrase
     Example: "free search engine"
     
   • To match a near (within a couple of words) phrase, use square brackets [around the words]
     Example: [free search engine]
     
   • To match a far (within several words) phrase, use braces { around the words }
     Example: {free search engine}
     
2. + and - qualifiers
   If you prepend a word with + that word is required to be on the page.
   If you prepend a word with - that word is required to not be on the page.
   Example: +always -never
3. * wildcard
   If a query word ends with a * all words on a page which start the same way as that query word will match.
   Example: gift*
4. ? wildcard
   If a query word contains a ? any character will match that position.
   Example: b?g
5. boolean search
   You can use the following boolean operators in your search: AND, OR, NOT. These operators MUST be in capital letters.
   Example: (contact AND us) OR (about AND us)

Common Search problems

These are search keys that get used frequently but don't return the expected results: