Biggest need currently: Comprehensive Search

ChinaLamb · 22 Oct 2012, 12:52 PM

The biggest issue facing things now for me, is not contact sync, it is not calendar, it is not anything else. The biggest thing facing me is a comprehensive search ability.

Searches with Fastmail are SLOW, INEFFECTIVE and practically useless.

Its the one thing that would likely be the make or break final decision for me -- searches within my job finding obscure information is getting more and more important. I cannot wait several minutes for a search -- with it most often failing... Only way to do a search is to limit the time duration and other aspects so that it doesn't finally crash and burn.

As far as I am concerned, this has to be fixed yesterday.

groanerton · 23 Oct 2012, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

The biggest issue facing things now for me, is not contact sync, it is not calendar, it is not anything else. The biggest thing facing me is a comprehensive search ability.

Searches with Fastmail are SLOW, INEFFECTIVE and practically useless.

Its the one thing that would likely be the make or break final decision for me -- searches within my job finding obscure information is getting more and more important. I cannot wait several minutes for a search -- with it most often failing... Only way to do a search is to limit the time duration and other aspects so that it doesn't finally crash and burn.

As far as I am concerned, this has to be fixed yesterday.

i'm saying this in agreement only: duh! this is the biggest fail in the FM universe. In my small office, one of our jokes is that when we need to find an old group email, I physically turn around to ask my partner to search his google inbox and find the subject/date of the email, because it is practically-speaking impossible to actually search my inbox.

rest assured i am the butt of many jokes - Ladies and gentlemen, step right in... it's the man who can't search his email... drumroll, and pays for it!

this is FM's general "web 1.0" or browsing approach, not a UX/searching approach that became popular oh, about 15 years ago.

for some unfu8712-believable reason, i'm still on FM (mostly because my hatred of the big corporate google) even as i lament this daily.

ChinaLamb · 23 Oct 2012, 10:47 AM

Seriously, this problem is going to be the death of me.

Another FAILED SEARCH:

There was a timeout performing your search. The mailbox will be automatically indexed to improve future search speed. Please try again in a few minutes (HINT: you can click "Show saved" to get your last search)

It took over a minute to get the error...

NOTE: the INDEX is then IMMEDIATELY OUT OF DATE as new mail arrives.

What is this, 1999?

And Again:

There was a timeout performing your search. The mailbox will be automatically indexed to improve future search speed. Please try again in a few minutes (HINT: you can click "Show saved" to get your last search)

Grrrr....

I just upped another two years, but I may make a move sooner than that unless I can get something resolved here. I am DONE dealing with this and the other problems. Fastmail is beautiful in many respects, but it is hideous in others.

They just made that BLOG post about being a "PREMIUM" email provider... Well, they need to start acting like it.

icework_bind · 24 Oct 2012, 02:00 PM

have you guys not tried the beta yet?

search was broken there for a little while recently, but it's back right now, and blazingly fast.

There are changes occurring on the beta which could make it difficult for daily use, but if you just need search you could open it only for that.

ChinaLamb · 24 Oct 2012, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icework_bind

have you guys not tried the beta yet?

search was broken there for a little while recently, but it's back right now, and blazingly fast.

There are changes occurring on the beta which could make it difficult for daily use, but if you just need search you could open it only for that.

ONLY if you are searching Subject, sender and recipients.

Blazing SLOW for searching within the message body.

I see no options to get to "Advanced" search on the Beta site.

If I do a search for body: invited

The search takes about... well... 8 minutes and counting...

Verdict? Search is still crappy. Nothing's changed from the production site and the beta site.

Premium mail needs search that works.

sflorack · 24 Oct 2012, 10:06 PM

Are you searching your entire account, or just a single folder?

I have 50,000+ messages in my account and have been very successful at finding what I'm looking for. Granted, it's usually by TO email address (I have my own domain, so I generally know how to narrow it down).

ChinaLamb · 25 Oct 2012, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sflorack

Are you searching your entire account, or just a single folder?

I have 50,000+ messages in my account and have been very successful at finding what I'm looking for. Granted, it's usually by TO email address (I have my own domain, so I generally know how to narrow it down).

I'm searching a single folder of 40,000+ messages

TO:, From:, and Subject are all quick speedy searches.

Searching anything else is another story...

Try to search anything with Body:______ and you will see just how slow search is.

sflorack · 25 Oct 2012, 08:13 PM

You can't narrow down your search by message body and FROM/TO?

ChinaLamb · 25 Oct 2012, 08:32 PM

Well, it is usually to or from me, but I am often trying to find the sender or recipient.... if I had all the answers I wouldn't need to search...

sflorack · 25 Oct 2012, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

if I had all the answers I wouldn't need to search...

You don't need all the answers. I was asking if you had a way to narrow down (and therefore speed up) your search, rather than trying to go through 40,000+ messages.

groanerton · 25 Oct 2012, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChinaLamb

Well, it is usually to or from me, but I am often trying to find the sender or recipient.... if I had all the answers I wouldn't need to search...

LOL! people just dont get this. I want to search my email, nothing more or less.

thymara · 26 Oct 2012, 12:43 AM

I'm with you, doesn't sound like too much to ask.

sflorack · 26 Oct 2012, 12:54 AM

If you're referring to me, I never said you shouldn't be allowed to search. (What even gave you that idea?) I'm just saying you can either narrow down your results by using more fields than just doing a body search, or you deal with the wait until they come up with something more efficient.

I did a search in a folder with 237 messages, and the results appeared nearly instantaneously.

I did the same search in a folder containing over 23,000 emails, and the results appeared in 1 minute 32 seconds.

Can it be improved? Sure! Is it "SLOW, INEFFECTIVE and practically useless" -- no. Can you search your email, "nothing more or less" -- yes.

groanerton · 26 Oct 2012, 01:00 AM

Sure, you didn't say we can't search. But I'm tired of FM apologists who think we should have a coder's mind and use regular expressions to find something - that's the point, as ChinaLamb said above, we're trying to find something based on a human/natural algorithm.. Eg I know a message referred to a hat and came from somebody whose name started with a "G"... why can't I just search "g hat" and thats it? Inexcusable.

sflorack · 26 Oct 2012, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groanerton

But I'm tired of FM apologists who think we should have a coder's mind and use regular expressions to find something - that's the point, as ChinaLamb said above, we're trying to find something based on a human/natural algorithm.. Eg I know a message referred to a hat and came from somebody whose name started with a "G"... why can't I just search "g hat" and thats it? Inexcusable.

I'm not an "FM apologist" and I never said anything about having a coder's mind -- you're again referring to me when I never suggested search required some form of mysticism.

This isn't my fight; I'm a user just like you. If you don't want to see users helping users, you came to the wrong place. I see you're frustrated, but you should appreciate the audience.

BTW, you CAN search using the criteria you referenced. <wizardry> Do an Advanced search. FROM "G" with BODY TEXT of "hat". </wizardry>

22 Oct 2012, 12:52 PM	#1
ChinaLamb The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: a virtually impossible but finitely improbable position Posts: 2,324	Biggest need currently: Comprehensive Search The biggest issue facing things now for me, is not contact sync, it is not calendar, it is not anything else. The biggest thing facing me is a comprehensive search ability. Searches with Fastmail are SLOW, INEFFECTIVE and practically useless. Its the one thing that would likely be the make or break final decision for me -- searches within my job finding obscure information is getting more and more important. I cannot wait several minutes for a search -- with it most often failing... Only way to do a search is to limit the time duration and other aspects so that it doesn't finally crash and burn. As far as I am concerned, this has to be fixed yesterday.

24 Oct 2012, 02:00 PM	#4
icework_bind Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 9	not using beta? have you guys not tried the beta yet? search was broken there for a little while recently, but it's back right now, and blazingly fast. There are changes occurring on the beta which could make it difficult for daily use, but if you just need search you could open it only for that.

23 Oct 2012, 10:47 AM	#3
ChinaLamb The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: a virtually impossible but finitely improbable position Posts: 2,324	Seriously, this problem is going to be the death of me. Another FAILED SEARCH: There was a timeout performing your search. The mailbox will be automatically indexed to improve future search speed. Please try again in a few minutes (HINT: you can click "Show saved" to get your last search) It took over a minute to get the error... NOTE: the INDEX is then IMMEDIATELY OUT OF DATE as new mail arrives. What is this, 1999? And Again: There was a timeout performing your search. The mailbox will be automatically indexed to improve future search speed. Please try again in a few minutes (HINT: you can click "Show saved" to get your last search) Grrrr.... I just upped another two years, but I may make a move sooner than that unless I can get something resolved here. I am DONE dealing with this and the other problems. Fastmail is beautiful in many respects, but it is hideous in others. They just made that BLOG post about being a "PREMIUM" email provider... Well, they need to start acting like it.

24 Oct 2012, 10:06 PM	#6
sflorack The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,939	Are you searching your entire account, or just a single folder? I have 50,000+ messages in my account and have been very successful at finding what I'm looking for. Granted, it's usually by TO email address (I have my own domain, so I generally know how to narrow it down).

25 Oct 2012, 08:13 PM	#8
sflorack The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,939	You can't narrow down your search by message body and FROM/TO?

25 Oct 2012, 08:32 PM	#9
ChinaLamb The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: a virtually impossible but finitely improbable position Posts: 2,324	Well, it is usually to or from me, but I am often trying to find the sender or recipient.... if I had all the answers I wouldn't need to search...

26 Oct 2012, 12:43 AM	#12
thymara Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Posts: 97	I'm with you, doesn't sound like too much to ask.

26 Oct 2012, 12:54 AM	#13
sflorack The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 2,939	If you're referring to me, I never said you shouldn't be allowed to search. (What even gave you that idea?) I'm just saying you can either narrow down your results by using more fields than just doing a body search, or you deal with the wait until they come up with something more efficient. I did a search in a folder with 237 messages, and the results appeared nearly instantaneously. I did the same search in a folder containing over 23,000 emails, and the results appeared in 1 minute 32 seconds. Can it be improved? Sure! Is it "SLOW, INEFFECTIVE and practically useless" -- no. Can you search your email, "nothing more or less" -- yes.

26 Oct 2012, 01:00 AM	#14
groanerton Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 94	Sure, you didn't say we can't search. But I'm tired of FM apologists who think we should have a coder's mind and use regular expressions to find something - that's the point, as ChinaLamb said above, we're trying to find something based on a human/natural algorithm.. Eg I know a message referred to a hat and came from somebody whose name started with a "G"... why can't I just search "g hat" and thats it? Inexcusable.