Paul wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 11:58 am
ChrisGreaves wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 11:44 am
Please and thank you: where do I find the error log for this phpbb.com site?
Only administrators can see that, so you won't
. However, looking at it, your query is invalid. You can't have a search term with only a negative parameter (Which the - is), so you will need to add something with the negative parameter, or leave the negative parameter out.
Paul, thank you for this reply.
(1) The error message then is unhelpful in that (a) it doesn't give me a hint in what is wrong with my Advanced Search and (b) it tells me to go look at something I'm not allowed to see. Is that correct? (If I sound grumpy I am weathering a 130Km/hr gale tonight!)
(2) I am glad that you described the syntax to me. I am busy exploring "Advanced Search" and documenting what Ii can find out about it. I can't ever recall reading (anywhere) about not being allowed to specify a -ve term in isolation. I take your word for it that that is true.
To my logical mind I expected to be allowed to negate anything; that is, on a Model Railway site I expected to be able to search for any posts as long as they did not include "steam" (or "diesel" depending on one's age)
On an MSOffice BB I have had problems with the negation symbol, and there we are sometimes advised to forget phpBB search and use Google's site: search.
My example was a simple one, but I am experimenting with Advanced Search on the phpBB sites to which I belong, and in each case starting with a simple search (like the one I tried) and working towards more complex searches.
Again, thank you for that explanation.
(3) The user sites seem to have a stripped-down version of the phpBB User Guide; typically just the CAT/DOG examples.
Do you know of documentation with a deeper explanation of Advanced Search?
This week I downloaded the PHP source code and began reading that for any clues.
Cheers
Chris