I hesitate - but do not refrain - from responding to your post chuckiebtoo, but I have had NOTHING but frustration in trying to use the Garden Web search function.

I have REPEATEDLY attempted to use that function and found it woefully - to put it nicely - lacking. When I perform a simple search for MY OWN posts - ones I know exist, it comes up with less than half of them.

I don't know if you have "special powers" of searching or I am a "handicapped" searcher, but the search engine on the Garden Web has made me swear at it a WHOLE LOT more than it has made me satisfied with its use. For my two cents worth, it is most CERTAINLY not "exactly like GOOGLING".

Paul

Well, just for giggles, I did a search on the word "swear" and the phrase "Black Soldier Fly larvae." This thread did not show up in either search.

I don't know why. Perhaps there is some function that parses posts every night for the search function, and this one is too new? I don't know.

In any case, it seems that the search is not as comprehensive as one might expect.

My laptop came up with**:

Search results for: black soldier fly larvae

There were 56 matches.

1
All about Black Soldier Fly
• Posted by: SQH1 on Tue, Sep 13, 05 at 9:20
• 56 follow-ups, last one posted on Fri, Jan 10, 14 at 10:37
Going through my bookmarked sites, I wanted to share this site. It is a fabulous power point presentation all about Black Soldier Fly. This was something I found a few years ago when I was horrified to find these creatures in my bins. After loo
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
2
Black Soldier Fly Larve
• Posted by: leearnold on Wed, Sep 3, 08 at 9:15
• 14 follow-ups, last one posted on Tue, Oct 9, 12 at 6:05
Anyone know of a different (cheaper) place to get these other than Phoenix Worm? Follow-Up Postings: RE: Black Soldier Fly Larve Posted by: seamommy 7bTX ( My Page ) o Return to the Vermicomposting Forum : Post
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
3
black soldier fly larvae
• Posted by: raquibird on Tue, Nov 2, 10 at 13:57
• 4 follow-ups, last one posted on Tue, Jan 25, 11 at 21:17
I finally was able to identify the motionless black grub-looking-things that showed up in my worm piles, and I understand that they are a good thing - black soldier fly (BSF) larvae. Now, whenever I'm ready to harvest my worm castings, I take
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
4
Black Soldier fly larvae
• Posted by: pjames on Wed, Jul 15, 09 at 17:00
• 4 follow-ups, last one posted on Sat, Jul 18, 09 at 9:40
I was wondering if anybody knows if mature BSF larvae continue to eat while they look for a place to pupate. I have maybe 50 black very active larvae trying to climb out of the bedding. Light will drive them back and conditions in the bedding are
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
5
Who thinks there need to be a Black Soldier Fly/PHOENIXworm form?
• Posted by: forestelves on Mon, Dec 14, 09 at 21:43
• 13 follow-ups, last one posted on Sat, Jan 14, 12 at 0:06
I think there needs to be a form for the BLACK SOLDIER FLY/PHOENIX WORM because I have found 108+ forms (searching bsfl, bsf, and Black Soldier Fly on Soil/Vemicomposter forms) concurring the creatures that will eat human/animal poop and compost.
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
6
Benefit of Black Soldier Fly in Worm Bin?
• Posted by: KendraSchmidt none on Mon, Oct 15, 12 at 9:26
• 3 follow-ups, last one posted on Tue, Oct 16, 12 at 0:24
Hello, I've just noticed a few posts here in which folks are searching for Black Soldier Fly Larvae for their wormbin. I'd like to know what the benefit of having these in the wormbin are. Can someone please let me know? I saw these in my ou
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
7
Black Soldier Larvae
• Posted by: helencolby on Sat, Aug 7, 10 at 22:48
• 6 follow-ups, last one posted on Mon, Aug 9, 10 at 14:44
ICK ICK ICK !!! I finally got a shovel and shoveled the entire top half of my worm bin and put them all over in the garden. Those things creep me totally out !!! My little red wigglers were all over at the sides and ends of the bin, and the cen
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
8
Identify worm?
• Posted by: Boxhead on Thu, Apr 21, 05 at 1:11
• 27 follow-ups, last one posted on Sun, Apr 6, 14 at 12:55
Hi, I recently (2 months) set up a worm farm and all the worms I added seemed to disappear probably because it was too hot. I hoped that I would get babies as the eggs hatched and very soon noticed a funny looking Worm . I didn't worry I thought
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
9
bsfl
• Posted by: mwudan on Mon, Jun 14, 10 at 14:43
• 11 follow-ups, last one posted on Tue, Jun 22, 10 at 18:10
how far north does the range of the BSFL reach? NY? i saw some larvae/grubs in my bin, but they looked whiter than BSFL pics i've seen on the internet. Follow-Up Postings: RE: bsfl Posted by: randomz ( My Page ) on Tue,
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
10
Help! Maggots!!!
• Posted by: Molly1971 on Sat, Mar 19, 05 at 15:34
• 32 follow-ups, last one posted on Tue, Sep 18, 12 at 1:50
I see a bunch of white 1/2 inch worms that I think must be maggots in my worm bin!!! I don't know what to do. I haven't put any dairy or meat products in there. What am I doing wrong? Follow-Up Postings: RE: Help! Maggots!!! Poste
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
11
BSFL Taking Over Bin
• Posted by: wjason777 Z9 on Mon, Jun 10, 13 at 0:32
• 46 follow-ups, last one posted on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 23:30
Hello, I just recently build a VB48 that I keep in my garage, moved the contents from my WF360 into the VB48. In all I have about 3 maybe 4lbs of worms. When I added the bedding from the WF I did notice above a handful of BSFL I picked what I coul
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
12
EFs & BSFLs in 1 Box (Does This Work?)
• Posted by: steamyb on Sun, Jun 14, 09 at 19:39
• 20 follow-ups, last one posted on Sun, Jul 12, 09 at 22:01
Has anyone actually continuously maintained a box with EFs & BSFLs for any length of time (say a year) successful? I am in the process of researching this and would appreciate your input. Thanks for the help. Follow-Up Postings: RE:
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
13
some sort of carnivorous insect larva
• Posted by: gmw1 Texas on Thu, Jul 7, 11 at 22:36
• 4 follow-ups, last one posted on Thu, Jul 14, 11 at 9:21
I was sifting thru the vermicompost by hand from the bucket where I keep the worms, unfortunately a long frost and then an early heat wave has basically put paid to my pound or so of eisenia fetida. I think I have about a fourth cup or so of worms
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
14
No Pest Strips?
• Posted by: sbryce on Fri, Nov 6, 09 at 10:28
• 35 follow-ups, last one posted on Sat, Feb 20, 10 at 23:56
I have a lot of little flies of some unknown type in my bins. Neither BTi nor nematodes seem to be solving the problem. Has anyone tried using No Pest Strips? Follow-Up Postings: RE: No Pest Strips? Posted by: rickd 10 ( Re
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
15
A bug infestation in my worm bin
• Posted by: jwilson_gardener on Thu, Dec 10, 09 at 11:03
• 12 follow-ups, last one posted on Wed, Dec 23, 09 at 14:45
I have a bug infestation in my worm bin, and they don't look like any of the usual suspects I've read about. I posted a photo which I hope might clear things up. They're about the size of a fruit fly or smaller. I always cover everything i
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
16
BSFL Castings for Red Wigglers
• Posted by: Elbourne 8b on Mon, Jul 1, 13 at 12:16
• 9 follow-ups, last one posted on Mon, Jul 8, 13 at 15:33
I have a bin of black soldier fly larvae. I love the way they process large amounts of food scraps so quickly. However, I have read that the resulting castings are not stable compost. Several sources recommend feeding the BSFL castings through red
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
17
Huge maggots - What are they?
• Posted by: loftin60 on Wed, Nov 4, 09 at 16:28
• 21 follow-ups, last one posted on Mon, Dec 14, 09 at 20:02
I open the lid of my worm bin and the top was covered with these huge white maggot looking critters. I had threw a hand full of all purpose pelleted feed in a couple of days ago. They have a sour odor. The moister level is ok. What do I nee
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
18
How long have you vermicomposted and what have you learned
• Posted by: kathmcd7 on Sat, Jul 3, 10 at 20:09
• 53 follow-ups, last one posted on Sun, Aug 3, 14 at 13:42
I've been vermicomposting about two years now, and have learned (mostly through trial and error), that this is really quite simple after you get a routine going. Some things I've learned: I don't tear my cardboard for bed
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
19
Off to a Real Good Start with My New Worm Bin!
• Posted by: BlinkBlogger 8B FL on Sun, Feb 10, 13 at 18:37
• 20 follow-ups, last one posted on Sun, Feb 17, 13 at 0:12
Hi Everyone! I'm really excited about my new hobby and how well things have gone so far--thanks in large part to all of the information posted here and available elsewhere on the internet. So I want to introduce myself and share my experience, as
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
20
The end, I fear, is near for our vermicomposting forum
• Posted by: chuckiebtoo on Fri, Aug 19, 05 at 22:13
• 99 follow-ups, last one posted on Sat, Aug 23, 14 at 4:14
My worst fears...well, not WORST fears, but a fear of some consequence, have come to the fore. This forums' posters have, apparently all chosen these past few days to either give up vermicomposting (sorry Kelly), become incapacitated by the mothe
Forum Message - Found at: Vermicomposting Forum
Next Page : Page: 1 2 3

Search for: Help & Key

Search Just the Vermicomposting Forum Search All Records
Run this search at: HortiPlex Plant Database GardenWeb Europe GardenWeb Australia ThatHomeSite!

**only a partial copy/paste of the 56

cb2

Sometimes I use google and the word gardenweb.

Basic Search Tips and Advanced Boolean Explained

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Boolean.pdf

I WANT this search engine to work!

I don't think my appreciation of boolean algebra or "searching" is really the issue. As an EE, boolean algebra is "bread and butter". The foundation stone of my 15-year-old business, Biopar, is "matching". One cannot match two items in a database without "searching" AND FINDING BOTH/ALL of them. I have patents on search methods I have developed.

WRT "black fly larvae", I have two observations:

1) I have no "ground truth" that 56 is the TOTAL number of threads OR POSTS on black fly larvae, and
2) Just because one can find several records on a SPECIFIC subject, it doesn't mean the engine is "good" (or even "just like GOOGLING") for EVERY or even MOST subjects.

Ground-truthing is a fundamental component of evaluating a search engine. If it fails the to find ALL instances of a KNOWN-to-be-in-the database, then it fails, regardless of how many OTHER instances it might find.

Let me repeat - I WANT this search engine to work.

I have been on the phone and on email with multiple other members here at the vermicomposting site attempting to find threads THEY KNEW existed, and we were ALWAYS COMPLETELY frustrated. Finding SOME of the posts on a specific topic - like black fly larvae - is a LONG way from finding a SPECIFIC post.

Call me "contrary" or "anti-ist", but REPEATED failure to find SPECIFIC, KNOWN posts illustrates the practical value of a given search engine more than SOME of the posts on a general topic.

Paul

As someone who used quite a few search engines professionally in the past, I have also noted the woeful quality of the gardenweb engine. It certainly does not find all or even the most relevant postings for many items, at least in all the times I've tried it. I have also had hard copies of posts from years past which included the words I was searching for, and the engine did not come up with them. I use an advanced google search to search the website instead; this search is also much better at identifying what are usually the most relevant posts.
Renais

It needn't find all posts on a subject for a person looking for a beginning point for some information about a subject foreign to them.

Granted, this isn't the best search engine I've ever used, but in this instance, reading the 56 BSF posts listed will give lots more directions to go.

Reading those posts can often give a person information on the subject not even being searched for.

Just for kicks, someone use SEARCH to find something posted about "detonating a worm bin".

I know about that.

Chuckiebtoo

I've found that the Search button at the bottom of the page is more useful than the button at the top.

I also use Google for searching here.

I just did Mites + Vermicomposting + Gardenweb

I do not like/use the gardenweb search. I prefer just a ggle search.
I am a computer dummy...
I need links "clickable" because cut and paste is what I did in kindergarten.

A year or two back, GW posted and asked for someone to help create a "frequently asked questions" section for this forum. Nobody stepped up. This would help. If some tech savvy person wants to take this on, I think it would be a great thing, and I would be happy to contribute. Stickies would be great also.

Pete

CB2

Did you bookmark the pictures from Cornell ( I think it was) of inhabitants in a worm bin?

I can't find the post here nor can I find it via Google.

It may have been deleted if it violated a Term of Service or was not properly linked.

I found it.

Should I post it again or is it still here somewhere ?

I would say repost it Barbararose, but the reality is that absent a "sticky" function, that thread will soon be just another lost thread.

One not particularly satisfying "workaround" is to refind threads/posts worthy of note and create a new thread containing a link to the post, and put a "special" word in the new post's title so that word can be used as a search key in the future. (I know of no way to edit the title of a thread without simply reposting it.) Such word could be something like "stickie", or "repost", or "Look here", but it should be a word/term that is generally agreed upon. Unfortunately, without the ability to note "special" threads, even such a word or term will at some point be "lost in the archives". Of course, should the thread that first notes the "special word or phrase" be resurrected periodically for the next nine years, like the now-infamous "death of a forum" thread, it should become 'corporate culture' at the vermicomposting site. Maybe by then, Garden Web will have upgraded the forum software to include a "stickie" function.

By the way, there's more to implementing a "stickie" function than just "poof, you now have a stickie function". Most importantly, it costs money because "stickies" 1) increase storage requirements (in truth trivially, but let's do keep in mind that this site is about money, not "goodness"), and 2) "someone" - usually someone called a "moderator" - has to be the arbiter of what gets "stuck". Either Garden Web modifies the whole forum to allow such administrative control to specific people for each sub-forum, or they have to take that responsibility on themselves. The first means more potential for getting hacked, and the second means modifying the forum administration software. Both cost money.

As "difficult" as the above might sound, the truth is that simply using a "modern" forum software package would completely mitigate all the 'trouble' associated with the change, and improve the editor and improve the search engine. BUT, it most certainly would cost money.

Paul

Our little area of the internet is not the only area of the world wide web with a wonky search function. Apparently Facebook has recently hired Winston Smith IV to work on and improve their search engine. A recent Facebook post on a forum, nothing to do with vermicomposting, made mention of the fact that Facebook's search engine no workie no more. Posters claim much like our posters did, "This leaves archives essentially useless with all the valuable information in them unattainable." It seems a search now only brings up recent posts. Much like our concerns Facebook posters are also concerned, "The high quality information shared in these groups should not be lost because Facebook is skimping on their search engine's ability." If this affliction is indeed internet wide then us old enough to have read and remember old, 2010 posts may now claim: "All your base are belong to us." That old information is now lost to archive searches. It is sort of like changing all History books so there is table of contents of only history since 2006 and the index contains only words from 2009 forward. So it's not just here folks.

We have lots of ways of making the forum searchable, including CB's 101 & 102. it's like the government is US.

It certainly isn't only Garden Web. I think we all know of not user-friendly forum sites.

However, GW IS a "commercial site". If you're gonna run a BUSINESS, meaning charge customers for use, ("customers" are advertisers, NOT forum members), then one has a fiduciary responsibility to make the service to the customers, (the "sevice" GW is providing to their customers is access to the forum members), as smooth as reasonably possible. The recourse customers, (advertisers), have when the service provider doesn't provide "good" service, is to take their business, (money), elsewhere.

DIRECT complaints to the customers (advertisers) of GW is the only way to effectively get GW to "feel our pain", and make appropriate changes.

As for there being other sites that have poor quality search engines:
1) Two wrongs don't make a right,
2) There are good search engines for forums available,
3) GW is NOT FaceBook and does NOT have the "load" that FB has,
4) While "checking the industry standard" is not a bad idea, it is often a bad idea to set one's own standards by "someone" else's behavior, and most importantly,
5) The majority of the issue of the effectiveness of the "search engine" is rendered moot by implementing other "modern" capabilities, like stickies, etc.

Paul

One big advantage GW has that some *other* name brand page omitted, does not is the ability to delete a post the second, or seconds or hours, or days or months or even years later if your answer was the "one answer from one poster who can be wrong, or evil, or mean-spirited, or drunk, or secretly hateful to something you may have posted that caused evilness or drunkness or mean-spiritedness." Sort of a sense of redemption the other one does not allow as all evils are carved in granite only to be erased when enough worms cruise by and do their duty to slowly erase by the geological process of deposition all wickedness from the world. Or at least cover it's tracks.

I know of only one other internet forum (that doesn't mean I think it's the ONLY one), that doesn't allow posts to be deleted. However, I would add that one MORE thing I don't like about GW's "new" edit capability, is that IT most certainly IS timed. Wait too long - however long that is - and you cannot edit a post.

Paul