[MSO]

Searching for hard to find information is a time-consuming, but not difficult, task to accomplish.

You may say to me, "but I looked and I couldn't find anything!"

It's not so much that there isn't available information on your subject, it's more like you don't know how to search for it. There are search engines designed to give you the information you desire, the most common and the one being used in this article is Google. However, most forums (such as this one) have a search function that will allow you to peruse the site's threads and posts.

Of course, searching requires a moderate amount of reading and searching, and some people are obviously better at it than others. However, that doesn't mean you should leave it to them entirely, because just like everything else in life, you get better at searching for info the more you try it. And most of the time, the answers you'd get would be achieved from searching anyways.

I'm going to give you the basics and some tips in this article that will help you on your quest to learn to search for your own information.

Some basics about questions;

• There are billions of people on the planet, the chances that your particular question has never been asked is very slim.

• The more common the question, the more likely there is to be a guide or a write-up for it.

• Most hard to answer questions are learned through experience or research.

Since this is a car forum, I'm going to give common car-related questions. However, these tips can be applied to searching for ANYTHING.

With that in mind, I'm going to cover the most common types of questions asked.

The first thing I want to cover is comparisons, since most questions are regarding comparisons. The usual post looks something like: "Which is better? A manual or automatic transmission?"

Now obviously this has been asked many, many times. However, for the sake of learning how to search, this is a very good way to begin learning. First you would get your "vs" sign, because this is the usual way to compare two things that are usually conflicting, such as auto and manual transmissions.

Get your search engine, Google for instance, and type into the search bar: "auto vs manual transmission." This is the very first thing that pops up on the search page for Google, Automatic VS Manual Transmission It gives you all the points and basics of an automatic vs a manual transmission.

Now, lets say that didn't quite answer your question. Maybe you want to know what the difference is in terms of performance. So, going right back into your search bar and type "performance auto vs manual transmission." This is the very first thing that pops up on the search page for Google, How to Choose Between a Car With Automatic or Manual Transmission - wikiHow

As you can see, it gives you a lot of information you'd otherwise be curious about.

Now, the second type of question is usually about technicalities or specifications.

These are generally harder to answer because of their nature, most people don't really care about the specifications enough to memorize or have them off-hand. However, for these types of questions, you would usually look up manuals or other explanatory documents, such as guides or how-tos.

For example, what are the gears in a T5 transmission? You would open your search engine and type in the search bar: "T5 Transmission Gears." This is the first thing that comes up in the search Ford Mustang: Mustang Tech: Transmission and Drivetrain: Borg Warner T5 Transmission data . It gives you a chart and an explanation, everything you need!

Easy so far, huh?

Last type of common question is the advisory question. These are more for people who want to know about the experience of doing something, or advice, rather than technical facts.

These types are often the ones that end up being posted on the site. These usually entail "What should I expect on my first trip to the drag strip?" So you may think, OK MSO, these are legit questions, right?

For the most part, yes. If you're asking for advice, you can technically find someone else in a similar situation and see what people have told him. Then just take the advice given to him and apply it to your situation.

You can also directly ask the question if you want, chances are you'll get someone asking what you're asking and you'll be able to read the responses they got. "What's the difference between auto and manual transmissions?" That is most likely going to link you to a help site or a forum and you'll be able to learn everything you need.

Well, that's pretty much it. Any other type of question you have, you can use the methods above, or a hybrid of the methods above to get what you want. Searching isn't fun, and reading sucks. But searching on your own will actually leave you more knowledgeable about the subject and will most definitely allow you to help other people when they ask the same questions you had.





Mods make wit teh stickeh

Feel free to rep meh

[MSO]

bump for sticky?

[1slo5.0]

Stuck!

[mustangsoldier]

can i make it sticky

[Garrett]

Umm this was kinda wired?

[MSO]

Kinda wired ftw!

[Mustangbrake]

I agree with you as you said that there is a small amount that your question never been ask since there is a billion people look up for this the same question and already been ask. The key for this is to research your question here before posting a question.

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BIG Thanks

[brewstang]

thanks for that tidbit of info bout this forum, good stuff to know, i hate google.

[REBRIDGES]

thanks for the heads up.

[ferk]

Hey it is a nice post and good information posted.

[brae0000]

every time i review this forum i admire more

[CaliberSRT4]

I'm surprised this hasn't been added already. Please edit/add to the OP if possible.

You can use the power of google on this forum by filtering the google search engine to only look through a particular site. The good thing about this is there are no search term limitations like there are within forums (to prevent spammers, etc).

Example:

I wanted to find 4 lug wheels for my friends 86 GT that he just recently purchased. On craigslist, if you search for "4 lug" the 4 is removed. To search "4 lug" on craigslist using Google, do the following:

1) Go to Google
2) Search: 4 lug site:craigslist.org

The site:domain.com allows you to filter and only return search results from a particular website. This also works with subdomains: site:indianapolis.craigslist.org. This limited my results to only listings within Indianapolis.

As you guessed it, this works with forums as well. Another situation I use this for commonly is For Sale ads within forums.

Search: FS 4 lug site:moddedforums.com

This again helps with small acronyms and words thare are typically removed in forum searches. I hope this helps and at least one person learns something new!