[Note: This is an old text designed for the original Ning hosted network. For reference only. All links have been removed. 29th Oct. 2017]

Welcome to Search Central

There are many ways to find people and information within the Research Cooperative network.

TIP: Use each search method at least once in order to learn about our network.

1. Search all forums (offers and requests) orsearch individual forums

2. Search entire site (global search across all content)

3. Simple search across the profiles of all members

4. Advanced search across the profiles of all members

5. Search list of 'all groups' or see links in All groups home (an index page)

6.View all members within a group (e.g. Translators).

7. Search all content created by a member (e.g. the network administrator)

8. Search all notes, see also the index page, 'Notes home'

9. Google advanced search, or Google custom search.

1. Search all forums (offers and requests) orsearch individual forums We can search all messages in all forums by using the 'Categories' option in the 'View selection' box at right. By changing the View selection to 'Messages' we can see a list of all messages, which can be arranged according to 'Latest activity', 'Newest messages' or 'Most popular'. NB: To view just one forum in the list, click on the forum title, then use the 'Sort by' box at right to see messages listed according to 'Latest activity', 'Newest messages', and 'Most popular'. Search individual forums using our forum list (also displayed in middle of our top page).

2.Search entire site (global search across all content) The global search box can be found at top right of every page. It uses the in-house Ning search system, which is based on an index of our content that Ning (our host) updates often. Multiple keywords, separated by commas, can be used to refine the search. Use full quotation marks to search for an exact phrase.

3. Simple search across the profiles of all members (insert keywords in the Ning search box, and click on the magnifying glass icon). We can change the arrangement from 'recently added' (the default) to alphabetical, or random. Multiple keywords, separated by commas, can be used to refine the search. Use quotation marks around multiple words to search for an exact phrase.

4. Advanced search across the profiles of all members (insert keywords in one or more profile search fields). Press your keyboard return bar or click on the Search button under the profile fields to start a search. Multiple fields can be used at the same time: e.g. we can search for all members in 'India' (= Location) who have mentioned 'ethnobotany' (= Working topic). To browse search results from page to page, click on page numbers at bottom of the screen.

5. Search list of 'all groups' We can choose either 'All groups', or just 'My groups' (the ones you have joined). The list of 'All groups' can be sorted using the 'Sort by' box at right. The choices are 'Most active', 'Latest activity', 'Most members', and 'Latest' (the most recently added). See also the links in All groups home (an index page).

6. View all members within a group (e.g. Translators). A "View all" link is placed under the members photo panel, at top right of each group page. The link opens to a full page with a simple search box at top left. This box only works for member names. Search terms for member interests or locations give 'no result'. Our hosting company has been informed about this system design problem.

7. Search all content created by a member (e.g. the network administrator)On each member's profile page, find all content created by the member with the links to 'Blog posts', 'Messages', 'Groups', 'Photos', 'Photo albums', and 'Videos'. These can all be searched or sorted in various ways.

8. Search all notes Our notes cover numerous subjects related to this network. Sort notes as you wish: 'alphabetical', 'most recently added', or 'most recently updated'.To browse the list from page to page, click on the page numbers at the bottom of the screen. See also the index page, 'Notes home'.

...and some people may want to try

10. Google advanced search, for search across all content, or Google custom search. We recommend using exact phrases written in apostrophes, and multiple keywords to narrow the search results (see also Basic search help). You can search within results using a link located at the bottom of the page under your initial search results. The indexing used by Google to support search is not always as comprehensive as the indexing used for our own search panels (which are provided by our hosting comany, Ning). Google generally reveals more information about each search result. This can be useful when looking at many results.

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