Search bar is broken

The internal Reddit search tool "Search this thread" keeps throwing an error whenever I try to look up a specific term:



I'm getting the same result with the "Advanced Search" option as soon as I attempt to open it.

It feels like I might be lacking certain permissions. Are there specific access rights required to use the search functions, or am I just running into a temporary bug in the site software?

-- Taylor Wright13

http://www.reddit.com/announcement.php?f=106&a=527
Just a quick heads-up—we’ve had to take the search engine offline for just a little while.

Is this temporary thing still going on? 😢

It’s still going on today, if you ask me... absolute garbage.

Total disaster.

I was just wondering, is there actually any way to use a search function on this Reddit?

Fair question. Where did the search engine even go?

Honestly, it feels like the search function hasn't worked for at least a year now. It makes using this Reddit pretty much impossible, and I bet it’s driving the moderators insane, too. For instance, I spent forever scrolling through one sub-section only to give up because the results just kept loading infinitely. So, I went ahead and started a new thread, only to find out—of course—that the exact same topic had already been posted. If the search actually worked, I wouldn't have to bother anyone; I could just find what I need myself.

Can any of the mods please weigh in on why the search tool is broken? Is this some massive technical glitch, or is it just some new, questionable vision for how Reddit should operate?

The search function hasn't been operational for what feels like an entire year now, and frankly, I don't see it coming back anytime soon. Given the sheer volume of threads and posts, this Reddit has been crashing every few days, so they just pulled the plug on it entirely. It seems like every single week, someone starts a brand new thread about the same issue without making even the slightest attempt to look through existing discussions first. It simply isn't going to work.

Most of what you're looking for can be easily found via Google; just include "Reddit" in your search query to narrow it down.

Angela Smith14 said:The search bar hasn't worked for what feels like a year, and honestly, it probably won't ever work again. With how many threads and posts we have here, the site used to crash every couple of days. So, they just killed it. Every single week, someone starts a new thread complaining about it, instead of actually bothering to look through existing ones. It's just not happening.

Most of this stuff you can find on Google, just add "Reddit" to your search query

That’s exactly my point. 😉
When the search actually works, people don't keep starting duplicate threads because they can actually find what they need.

But hey, I get it—technically, they can't support it anymore. Makes sense, I guess.

I tried that Google trick with Reddit right before posting this, but it doesn't really work the way it's supposed to.

Angela Smith14 said:The search function has basically been dead for a year now, and honestly, I don't see it ever coming back because the site crashes every couple of days from having way too many threads and posts. So, they just pulled the plug on it. Every single week, someone starts a new thread complaining about it without even bothering to look through the existing ones. It’s just not going to happen.

Most of what you're looking for can be found via Google if you just add "Reddit" to your search query.

I mean, the old vBulletin search was actually working for me until like a month ago. That other one—the more advanced, detailed version, I'm not even sure what to call it—hasn't worked in ages. Now, there isn't any way to search at all, which seems pretty wild to me. Whatever the reason might be, there's gotta be some kind of workaround or fix.

Is this temporary, subpar search engine still hanging on somehow? I guess it hasn't been fixed yet.

a

I can't seem to find the search bar anywhere. How am I supposed to check if my topic has already been posted?

Just shoot a DM to one of the active mods over on the subreddit where this thread popped up—or better yet, hit up the mods on whichever sub you’re planning to start something similar in.

Thanks, Alex Cook.

How many years has this been considered "temporary"?

It isn't just a temporary glitch anymore. They actually pulled it. It started out as a temporary measure, but since they couldn't find a permanent fix—why bother if you can't solve it?—they just decided to wipe it entirely. Constant querying and digging through the database probably puts too much strain on the server, so it was simply easier to cut it loose. Still, we're talking about a massive Reddit community here with an endless stream of posts and threads every single day...

If my reasoning is flawed, feel free to set me straight. 🙂

I mean, this is just wild to me. What’s even the point of having a Reddit community and all these old threads and posts if we can't actually find them anymore? I guess it might be better for them to just wipe the inactive topics entirely, since we're basically only stumbling upon them by pure accident anyway.

steelbadger49 said:It’s not just "temporary" anymore. They actually scrubbed it. It was supposed to be a temporary fix, but since they couldn't find a real solution, they just nuked it instead. Constant searching and digging through the database is probably just redlining the server—it's easier to just delete the damn thing. Still, this is a massive forum with a mountain of posts and threads being generated every single day...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 🙂

I find it hard to believe that the most active forum in all of America can't scrape together enough cash to maintain its basic functions.