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Active Rain Blogs - Finding What You Need - The Ultimate Search!

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Education & Training with Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp Non-Licensed

 Here's a "community tip" you may not be aware of regarding how to "SEARCH" Blogs.  Active Rain is a huge wealth of members, knowledge and resources!  There are so many Blog topics, ideas, instructions, do's and don'ts, opinions and posts of information, it really can be over-whelming.  This post will show you how to maximize the "Search" options that are available to you on Active Rain.

                                   


When you click on the "SEARCH" feature from the menu bar above, you'll have 3 options and choices to search from.  Profiles, Blogs, and Blog Comments.  When you're searching Blogs, it ONLY searches for posts that contain the word or words somewhere within a post?  It is NOT searching "keywords" or "Tags" as you may have thought. 

I tried searching for a post I had written some time ago, and I use the words "Realtor Blues."  I never found it in the hundreds of pages returned.  That's because it pulled up every post on Active Rain that contained the word "Realtor" and the word "Blues."  Be careful if you are searching for phrases, or multiple words together.

Let's say you are searching for "FSBO", it will actually find every post that contains the word or letters FSBO in it, but if you searched "For Sale By Owner" it will pull up every post that has any portion of all four of those words.  I tried this on many searches, and had the same results every time. 

What do you do if you wanted to find "Multiple Word Searches" or "Phrases" in a Blog post on Active Rain?  For example: Open Houses, Short Sales, Buyers Needed, Activerain Help etc?  You may get back a ton of posts that aren't really what you are looking for. I know I did....

I have a "New" way for you to "Search" Active Rain, and it works by searching "Keywords" placed in the "Tags" box at the bottom of each authors post.  You'll love this!  Try these two exercises, and see.

STEP 1: Click on the "Search" option in the menu bar at the top of this page.  Open the pull-down box and change it from "Profiles" to "Blogs".

                                     

STEP 2: In the blank box just below it, type in the words "Realtor Blues" then click search.  You'll see hundreds of post's that come up. 

                                                           

Unfortunately, you will not find the post I'm referring to unless you're willing to sift through hundreds of other posts.


 ONLY 1 STEP:  This time, go up to the address bar in your browser, and type this:  http://activerain.com/blogs/tags/realtor blues press enter or click go, and watch what happens. 

                                       


This will pull up ONLY the posts that have "Realtor Blues" in the "tags" for that post.  Now you have TWO ways that you can search what you're looking for here on Active Rain, and they are both entirely different from each other.  If you are looking for specific posts with multiple words or phrases, and you want to narrow down your search results, then I suggest using this search process.  It's faster and it's a more targeted "Search!"

Just remember this URL: http://activerain.com/blogs/tags/ and then type in anything you want after tags/  This is a great new way to search Active Rain Blogs.  VERY IMPORTANT TIP: Remember that Active Rain converts all "Keywords" or "Tags" to lower case.  Always use lower case when searching with this method. 

Now, try searching some of your posts this way, and see why having the right "keywords" in your "Tags" is so important.  As the membership here grows, so will the posts!  That could make it even more difficult to find what you're looking for here.  Personally, this is the only way I like to search Active Rain Blogs anymore.

                          


I know this is just a "SEARCH" tool, but it should save you some time and frustration!
  After all, aren't we always searching for something? LOL!  I hope it helps you with your "Searches" as much as it's helped me!

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Comments(186)

Kim Carpenter
Coldwell Banker - Alton, NH
Lake Winnipesaukee REALTOR -Lake Winnipesaukee Real Estate, NH
Yeah, I guess that's pretty good- NOT- It's G-R-E-A-T!  You are awesome Brad- Ive seen you around here quite a bit... other places too I think.  You are my first subscription ever- CLICK!!
Nov 03, 2007 09:36 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Kim - I'm honored to be your first! LOL!  Seriously, that is a great compliment and I appreciate it very much!  I think it's G-R-E-A-T!!!!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks again! :-)
Nov 04, 2007 07:38 AM
Jan Wood
None - Gallatin, TN
An incredible post that is full useful information.  You're great!
Nov 06, 2007 10:23 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Jan - you're the best! Thanks! :-)
Nov 06, 2007 04:38 PM
Norma Toering Broker for Palos Verdes and Beach Cities
Charlemagne International Properties - Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Palos Verdes Luxury Homes in L.A.
I've been "lost in the rain" a few times, but this will help.  Thanks from a newbie!
Nov 07, 2007 02:03 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Norma - looks like you found an umbrella to keep you dry while lost in the rain! LOL! :-) Thank you!
Nov 07, 2007 11:12 AM
Donna Paul
Keller Williams Realty Gold Coast - Dix Hills, NY
Long Island Home Specialist,All About Real Estate
What Brad with all the information that you give us.. we should be paying you..... Great stuff.. Thanks for sharing......
Nov 07, 2007 11:42 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Donna - the best way to pay me is just how you are...really great comments!! And of course you can open your title and escrows with First American in your area! (Huge Smile) Thanks for your kind comment, I appreciate that!
Nov 07, 2007 01:16 PM
Anonymous
Bill T. Portland, OR
<a href="http://www.trulia.com>Trulia is cool.</a>
Nov 08, 2007 12:28 AM
#175
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Bill - trulia is cool, but what does that have to do with searching Active Rain for relative content...just curious?  Is there something I'm missing here? LOL!  Thanks for the HTML href though, most unique comment in this post for sure! hahaha!  :-)
Nov 08, 2007 12:38 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Someone needed to see all the posts today on AR, that showed a members first transaction or success from AR.  I used the search feature on AR and the URL search and was blown away by all the success stories here.  There's even a group formed called "Why I Love Active Rain", WOW, this was really cool.  If you don't believe that business comes from blogging, you better read some of these other members stories. :-)
Nov 11, 2007 03:30 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Now there's yet a new way to search AR for specific items, topics, groups etc.  Watch for my upcoming post!  :-)
Nov 21, 2007 05:34 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876
Diane - you will find that searching AR for some of the things we discussed today, that it is best to use the URL search and not the internal AR search function. Try them both and you'll see what I mean!  :-)
Nov 28, 2007 04:45 PM
Kate Elim
Dockside Realty - Spotsylvania, VA
Realtor 540-226-1964, Selling Homes & Land a

Brad...thanks for showing us a better way to search.  This could be a real time saver.

Kathleen

Dec 04, 2007 12:54 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Kathleen - this alternate way of searching AR has proven to be useful to many other members and to myself.  We have a group that meets monthly, and this very topic came up.  Anytime you have to search multiple words, I suggest the URL search instead of the internal AR search.  It really will save you time sifting through hundreds of posts that might not be relevant to what you're truly searching for. 

Let's face it, with this many members and all their posts, the information is available in abundance, but how do you narrow it down to a specific need?  I think this is the best way for now. Thanks!  :-)

Dec 05, 2007 03:16 AM
Jen Judd
Fairplay Realty - Clackamas, OR

Awesome tip Brad! Thank you!! I've been very frustrated lately trying to use the Search feature and not finding what I'm looking for. This is great! I'll definitely use this instead now...

Jen Judd

Jul 22, 2008 03:29 PM
AJ Heidmann ~ CRS
McEnearney Associates, Inc. - Alexandria, VA
YOUR Alexandria & Arlington, VA Real Estate Expert

Thanks for the tip Brad... again!  We may just get the hang of AR with your persistent postings and patience for the newbies.

Jul 22, 2008 03:45 PM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Jennifer - this will save you some time, reduce your stress, and help you find more of what you're looking for while searching around on the rain.  :-)

Jul 27, 2008 05:20 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

AJ and Jodee - you will get the hang of it with YOUR persistence and patience.

Jul 27, 2008 05:23 AM
Sasha Miletic - Windsor Real Estate
RE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd. - Windsor, ON

Hi Brad,

Always Best job. Excellent posts. Great ideas.

 

Best -Sash

Jan 03, 2010 04:06 AM