It seems many do not understand to search before posting a new thread, but the one's that do may not know how to search in the first place. Any other input on this topic is welcome.
-In the advanced search screen there are two options, one for searching for terms found in a post or by threads started, and a search for a certain users posts or threads started.
-To find a topic by thread, type in the subject and select "Search titles only". Doing this will list the topics by previous users who have started threads. Example, typing in ECY yields many results but is where you could find "The Basics of the ECY Stack" started by sawatea. Not selecting the "search titles only" option will result in searching for only the term and may not return the results you are looking for.
-To be more specific, you can filter results by replies, date and other options. You may choose to show your results as posts or titles.
-When searching for a certain users posts, the same rules would still apply. You may select individual posts or threads started by the user. A quick way to do this is also available by clicking under the users name and selecting "find all posts by user".
-You may also specify the forum you wish to search in. By not selecting a forum, the search will display results for every forum on the site.
-Most (90%) of topics have been covered in length in many threads so the reason many users get the SEARCH-Tech message from me or others is because there is information about the certain topic already covered. Quite likely there were very good posts about a topic that may not be repeated in a new thread.
-When threads are long it also helps to use the "Search This Thread" option, which will locate a term within the thread.