Hello!
To use the forum, login or register above.
(If you are already logged in above, please click here)
Help me grok search on BO
I am having the hardest time understanding how search works on BO. I wanted to find standard 2 x 3 bricks but only sets were found with the search of the catalog with "2 x 3 brick" what am I doing wrong?
Powered by Vanilla
Comments
IMO, this may be one of the issues new customers find challenging on BO vs BL, search the catalog on BL for Bricks 2 x 3 and it only shows 2 x 3 bricks, not 1 x 1 bricks, not 1 x 2 bricks, etc.
Now about why you get so many results, is because with search, you get a result for the brick number as well.
So you get the 1x2 brick, because the brick number is 3023 for instance, or with the other bricks showing, having either 2 or 3 in the number.
So it is a "broader" search result. Maybe something that is not always needed.
With you explanation on the other results, I have found "2 x 3" does the trick on those items.
When searching for tile 1x1, tiles 1x2 and 1x4 appear before tile 1x1 modified/rounded. When I select Name in the drop down menu, I get slopes.
The search function at BrickOwl, using generic terms e.g., 2x3 brick, or brick 2x3 or "brick 2x3" is something less than optimal and more often than not does not return what one would expect, and quite often returns things that are so far off the mark as to be comical. Searching for 2 x 3 red brick returns 31 items none of which are a 2 x 3 red brick. Searching for "2 x 3 red brick" returns zero results. There's room for improvement.
What the top search field does do well is to find things by LEGO's element and part numbers. So, if you put your nerd hat on and type "3002" into the search box, then use the sidebar navigation to refine your results, that works pretty well. It can be a bunch of clicks, but I find that I can generally get to what I want relatively quickly that way.
The other route is to go drilldown. Start with the left side nav bar, select Parts, then Bricks, then Standard and pick the 2 x 3 from the results. From that page you can get to the specific colors or printed or stickered or whatever.
The drilldown is cumulative, so if you go Parts > Brick > Decorated / Color > Green that refines results as you go. There's a "clear" link that shows up in the section head if you want to blow out one or more parameters.
Aside: @Lawrence I'm noticing with the drilldown that Parts>Bricks>Decorated / Color>Green yields six results (2 printed, 4 stickered) and Parts>Bricks / Variant>Decorated / Color>Green yields 4 stickered. So In the top portion "Decorated" means all the decorated items and in the Variant section "Decorated" means Printed. I suggest changing "Decorated" to "Printed" in the Variant section. End Aside.
It is a different way of thinking, but I find the drilldown to be pretty effective. And you can kind of back up and go in a different direction without having to start all over, which can be a benefit.
The search function here certainly is not particularly helpful or useful for newbies, and shy of Lawrence deciding to do things differently, I suspect it kind of is just gonna be what it is. And what it is is frustrating and will cause folks to go elsewhere where typing in 2x3 red brick yields a 2x3 red brick. I don't know where that is…BL, Rebrickable, Brickset…none of them return a 2x3 red brick either. I do know that after two or three failed attempts folks are going to bail.
I gave up on using generic search terms in a dialog a long time ago. Try the drilldown.
Yes, Mark, I agree, the drilldown works nicely. I use it most of the time as well.