Related topics

[HB]

I've installed a "Related topics" modification that will show a list of similar topics below the topic you're viewing. The search is done based on the words in the first post of the thread. Because it is a costly operation, the "Related topics" list will only be shown to logged in users.

You'll see that some of the matches are very loosely related. Over the next couple weeks I will tune the search tables to hopefully return better results. Let me know if you find it useful, or at least amusing.

[jesawdy]

I had just noticed it... and clicked through to a few.

Yes, loosely related for sure.... it might prove to be an interesting way to "stumble upon" some good old threads.

[mattwells]

I really like it. Kind of like Wiki links - which are always are great way to waste an hour or so.

[another_jim]

This is a great idea.

I have one suggestion which I think would help, or at least save you some work, Dan, since you so frequently do this. Add entries to the resources section. A quick and dirty way to do this would be to put all this material into posts in a forum that nobody except the search program can see.

[HB]

Excellent suggestion, Jim! But rather than a hidden forum with pointers, I've created a FAQs and Favorites forum that is reply only. I'll populate it with the most frequently provided answers from the forums and Resources page. The algorithm for "Related topics" is simplistic at this point, but later I'll look into prioritizing a couple matches from the FAQs forum.

[another_jim]

I've created a FAQs and Favorites forum that is reply only.

Very cool. When someone asks a question, they'll have the basic answers the next time they look, whether anyone responds or not.

[HB]

I'm liking this a lot and with a few tweaks, it's more helpful too.

The Related topics list now searches first among the topics linked from the FAQs and Favorites forum and includes up to three entries. It then searches from the entire forum for another three. There should be a good mix of recognized threads and serendipitous finds.

Note: The list matches the text in the first post of the thread against the topic titles in the forum. The cost of a full text search is far too high. As a consequence of this optimization, it pays to choose a good subject. For example, even if a thread entitled "Newbie question" is a true gem, it is unlikely to appear in the proper context. Please use good subjects...

[HB]

Tonight I installed another tweak to the search algorithm that eliminates most repeat matches. If you are looking at related topics in sequence, the scope of the search will narrow at first and then widen. Although it does work the database a little harder, limiting it to logged in members has maintained the site's overall good response time (average between 1-2 seconds).

[HB]

More "Related Topics" features installed today: Guests can now access related topics by selecting the View related topics link at the top of each thread on the right. This displays a separate page that lists twenty related topics and the first post of the thread. Logged in members will continue to see the short version of related topics at the bottom of each thread.

[HB]

I've modified the 'related topics' box to search against the source topic title. Before it would grab all the words in the first and last post, eliminate useless "stop" words, then search against the resulting keywords (a potentially large set). The search with post words approach works better for poor the topic titles (e.g., "I have a question", "help"), but worse if the topic title is good ("How to find Rocky zero point", "Best brew temperature for Intelligentsia Black Cat", etc).

Meta-comment: It pays to choose the wording of your topic subject carefully. It helps the site's 'related topic' auto search and it increases the likelihood of faster, better responses (i.e., I've noticed over years of moderating that vague subject titles get less views, probably because regulars skim the forum topics before deciding which to read).