(POlitely asks) is there any chance people could use archived search a bit more?

[lowcalCOD]

as we are having a lot of new threads that are already covered at length ( baby pasta spring sot mind)

But it is way more hassle Cod, and some of the archieved is out of date too.

See - I searched for "baby pasta" and I got 332 messages found!

Agree locket - it will just reactivate a thread anyway, so still have same number of Active conversatations.

yes howing it is well and truly covered! maybe we should not have archived threads then?

Ah but - I think that has other purposes too. I use it to find past posts I have done, etc. somtiemes Think both systems work well together to be honest.

Cod - the 332 messages did not all realted to baby pasta at all. Majority related to either "baby" or "pasta", rather than both together.

but iof you restrict it to subject lines you only get 109 , most very pertinent!

And I think it's important that newer people get to chat in real time about these things, too - however minor or major. that's how people get to 'know' each of other on the Boards - and get to suss people who have kids at the same stage of weaning, sleeping etc etc.

MY plea would be for seasoned 'oldies' not to greet threads with 'uh oh, be careful, this could be contentious, lets stop this now...' for e.g there have been loads of really constructive calm threads about GF recently - just because some folk got aereated in the past doesn't mean that current talkers can't have a great discussion.

I'm not keen on blanket discussion stoppers like 'here come the *** police/brigade/mafia', either. An opinion is an individual opinion.

And as for people who hijack threads...well! Oops, have I hijacked your thread, Cod?

yes get yer balaclava off!

People do like to talk about things in "real time" as Blu says. I had 5 books on baby development, all the info I needed was there, but I still wanted to chat to my friends or sister about stuff I already had the gen on (didn't have Mumsnet then). I think it's helpful if people post a reminder to search the archive too.

I think it is helpful to start your own thread - you can be specific about what you are asking and tailor it to suit your needs.

The archives are so huge that it can take hours

There's that old line...don't read them if it bothers you..

miserable ol' fish

crikey, that's a name and a half !

Have I missed something?

Wel,, it got overlooked last night so I thought I would try it out for the morning crowd!

I do agree up to a point coddy- I do think there are times when it is useful and productive to have the same discussion, but there are times when I could post on a thread (like Disneyland Hotels, for example- I'm not getting at you Hula, just the most recent example that came to mind) but I just think I've given my opinion so many times before I'll bore everyone witless if I say it again. However, because I hate it when people say "oh we've done all this before" I get myself stuck!

Must find out what I have missed!

I find the whole search thing really hard to use on this site.