It seems that if you search the forums, you only get results from topic headers. I searched on “plectrum,” looking or a post where I knew the term was mentioned in the body of a reply—though not in the topic header. The only returns I I got were the topic titles—none from posts that had “plectrum” only in the body of a post. Not really as useful a tool as it could be.
Strange. I think I've found posts based on content. Maybe not.
But someone posted years ago, and my experience has confirmed, that Google does a better job of finding information in Hangout forum posts than the Hangout search tool does. What you do is on Google enter the most descriptive search you can craft then end it with: site:banjohangout.org
That tells Google to search here.
Try it.
If you search on Google with site:banjohangout.org plectrum you also get only answers with plectrum in the topic header (at least the first three pages). I think you should add some more search words to filter out your specific request. If I search site:banjohangout.org plectrum bill rogers I get threads on plectrum where Bill Rogers have participated.
OK. My test just now for a longer search term representing something a person might be looking for -- "plectrum banjo setup" (together with the "site:" designation) -- also turns up mostly forum topics with "plectrum" in the subject line. I never noticed that type of result before.
But it also produced the topic: "what is 'Standard' string spacing on a 4 string banjo bridge"
No plectrum in the title. Not perfect, I'll admit. But neither is searching for one or two words.
ChatGPT suggested this thread: https://www.banjohangout.org/archive/348643?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
I asked ChatGPT (free version): I am looking for a post in banjohangout.org that is about "plectrum" but has not "plectrum in the topic heading. The answer was
One example is the Banjo Hangout thread:
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