My BS: I too, was interested in finding out if there's a way to search the H.A.M.B. Classifieds by state. I searched for and read all the threads I could find in Questions and Suggestions concerning this, but didn't find an answer. I take that back...I found answers...such as, "Ebay has a search-function for location...go there." and "The classifieds is not the main focus here...enjoy the H.A.M.B. it for what it is." In the Questions and Suggestions section?!?... LOL ! I gathered though, that such a feature probably won't be included soon...that's understandable. And that's all I really needed to know. But I thought there might be another way. There is. I searched the internet, and found a couple good answers. Disclaimer: I just learned to do this, and I really don't know what the hell I'm talkin' about...lol. The Soutions: #1 Searching just one page: Worth mentioning for this and other sites...could be useful. In IE, click on "edit" in the menu-bar, then click "find on this page". A small window appears, and you can type the word or words you're looking for. Matching words will instantly be highlighted. (Apparently, some other search-engines have a button for this.) Of course, if it's the state name you're looking for, you wanna search for the full name, and then any abbreviations that might be used. It's probably faster to just visually scan as you scroll down the page. And this only works on the full list of ads...a "Search Results" list doesn't even show the locations. Besides, this is just searching one page at a time...not what we really wanted. #2 Searching an entire website: Somebody touched on this...using your search-engine...but let's get specific. Do a search on Google, Firefox, etc. Type: searchword or words site:url of site Or, in other words: your searchword or words, then space, then the word "site", then colon, then url of the site. Or, in other words: Let's say you were looking for a 1937 Chevy coupe in Michigan. You'd type: 1937 chevy coupe michigan site:jalopyjournal.com The "site:jalopyjournal.com" part always stays the same for doing searches on the H.A.M.B. Just put your search-terms before that, and be sure to leave a space between your search-terms and the word "site". I've been screwin' around with different search-terms and stuff. I found that it helps to include a $, (dollar-sign) as one of the search-terms, so that most of your results will be ads instead of build-threads and such. I've also been trying different things with the url. I tried putting the complete url in, with the prefixes htt, and www, etc. It seems to work best just as "jalopyjournal.com". If I come to any further "great realizations", I'll update. If any of you make it clear that I'm full of shit, I'll defer to you. Give it a try. If you find a way that you can "hop up" the method, by all means, share it with us.
I've used this for other types of searches, but never thought about using it this way. Nicely done! Maybe I can find some parts for my International now
Still messin' around with this, trying different search-terms, etc. There's no way we're gonna be able to have perfect results. There will always be other stuff mixed in with the ads you're looking for. But as long as you use a state or abbreviation for a state as one of the keywords, then at least the majority of the ads you do find, will be from the state you want.
I've cut and pasted the classifieds URL for the "site". That worked pretty well to focus in on just classified ads. I then added Wisconsin for one of the keywords in the search and got fairly decent results.
Yup...pretty decent results. But don't discount the "find on this page" option. I kinda doubted its efficiency (speed) at first. But the more I use it, the faster I get, and the more I like it. Very easy to use. What would be ideal, is if the location of a poster was included in search-results. You notice when you go to "Cars For Sale", the location is under their name. (as long as they've included it as requested...and most do) But when you do a search for a particular car, no locations are shown at all. If they were shown in search-results, you could first do your normal year/make/model/etc. search, then do a "find on this page" search for the state. But what is, is...so we gotta do it kinda in reverse: - Make sure your menu-bar is visible. - Go to "Cars For Sale", and the first page of listings. - In the menu-bar, click "Edit", a menu-box appears, click on "find on this page". - A search-box appears...type in the state. - All search-word matches on the page are instantly color-highlighted. - Now you can quickly scroll and scan, and easily pick out listings from your state. Only thing is, you've got to scan the highlighted text and it's listing to see if the term actually matches, and if the listing is for a car you might be interested in. It sounds harder and slower than it is. Fact is, you can rip through a page in 5 seconds...then BAM to the next page. And the neat thing is, that the "find on this page" search bar stays put with your search-word still in it. So once the next page of listings comes up, all you do is click to put your cursor back next to your search-word, and BAM all the matches are highlighted on that page. Scroll and scan, next page, click in the search-bar, BAM scroll and scan, next page, etc. Of course, the more pages in you go, the older the ads are, so you can limit yourself on how far back you wanna go. Depending on the state and how it's abbreviated might determine this, but for Michigan, since it can be abbreviated two ways...mi or mich...I use "mi" because it's a broader search, and will highlight all the variations. "mi" highlights "mi", "mich", and "michigan". It also wil highlight "Minnesota" and any other word that starts with "mi"...but you can scan through it all pretty quickly. Try this. Take it for a test spin. After just a few pages, you'll be flyin'.
Good idea, nico32...url for the classifieds itself when using google...of course. I appreciate the input...as a lot of others will. Thanks!
Like many others I have tried repeatedly to hack the search location issue in the classifieds. I have found the red Search this Thread function at the beginning of each classified section produces moderate results as some people abbreviate the state name, or the state is mentioned in the ad, but not the actual present location, others post only city names, etc. Today I tried using these two words, along with the semicolon and in quotes: Location: Wisconsin however, it seems that the word Location: is part of the page template and is therefore ignored by the HAMBs thread searcher. However, two results did turn up, where the seller had typed in Location: Wisconsin as part of his own text. One humble solution without resorting to re-writing the way the software works is to humbly suggest we as sellers re-write the way we post the location. Wouldnt work for past posts but might for future if it became a standard. Consider standardizing the location to use either only state abbreviations or only whole state names. Or within the text, post a standard searchable term for your location that could be found thru Search This Thread. Any such agreed-upon standards could be posted as a sticky.
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