SearchTempest

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Questions about the new version

• What happened to the "NOT THESE" keywords?

  They're still there - I just removed the dedicated box. To remove results containing certain words from your search, just put dashes before them -like -this. For more info, check the keywords help section.

• Why does the new site seem slow?

  The first time you view the new site, you have to download the scripts, style files, and images used. (Just like the first time viewing the old site.) This adds a few extra seconds. You'll find on future visits it should speed up significantly. In fact, in testing, it comes in slightly faster than the old site! If it's slow for you, click here for tips on how to speed it up.

  Update: Also, it looks like craigslist just added image previews to all their searches! For some test categories (and presumably soon for everyone) they're turned on by default. Handy, but they do make the page load a bit slower.

  (And yes, you can turn them all on/off at once.)

• How do I turn the preview images on and off?

  These image previews are actually a new feature from Craigslist, not SearchTempest, so you need to toggle them inside the craigslist windows. Do so by clicking the [Show Images] (or [Hide Images]) link at the top-right of the craigslist city.

  Craigslist does remember your choice though, so if you turn them on (or off) in one city, the next time you run a search at SearchTempest they will be on (or off) for all cities. If you want this to happen right away, you can click the orange 'Search' button at the top to re-run the same search, or just refresh the page.

• Some other option's missing!

  It's most likely just in a different place. I've changed a bunch of things to make the site more intuitive and streamlined for new users. Of course, if you're used to things the old way, some of it will take a bit of getting used to. If there's a specific option you can't find, please post in the forum thread (ideally), or email me, and I'll be glad to help.

Other questions

• Can you email me when there are new results for my search?

  Not exactly. However, you can set up RSS feeds, which will give you the same benefit and actually work much better than email for that kind of thing.

  I've written detailed instructions, so even if you've never used RSS before, it should be straightforward to set up. Just click the orange 'Feeds for this search' button at the top-right of the results page, then follow the instructions! If you have any problems, you can post in the help forum, or even send me an email.

• Could you add options to filter the results by date or to search multiple categories?

  Unfortunately, this isn't as easy as it would seem. Because the results go directly from craigslist to your browser, my code can't actually do anything with them. That basically includes any feature not offered by craigslist. Essentially all Searchtempest does is present their features in a more convenient manner, then type the search queries in for you. (Not that it isn't extremely useful regardless... ;-) )

  I do work to find every new feature offered by craigslist and add it to Searchtempest right away though. Sometimes I even help you use hidden ones, like the advanced keywords, before craigslist does.

• Can't you use AJAX or Javascript to do these things?

  Unfortunately javascript has security blocks that prevent any cross-site scripting. So... short answer, no - Javascript can't be used to do anything fancy with the craigslist results.

• If the results come straight from craigslist to me, how do you know which cities have no results?

  Short answer, I use Yahoo Pipes. Craigslist has decided to allow Pipes access to their RSS feeds. As long as that is the case, I can use them to determine whether cities have results. This may not be possible forever, but I figured as long as it was, you should benefit from it!

• There's an ad missing from the results.

  First, please make sure you're viewing the results in the default format. On the results page, click the 'Display Options' tab, then make sure 'Sort results by city (default)' is checked. The Google-powered single list format is great to do a quick check over a large area, but it will occasionally miss results.

  Assuming you aren't using the Google mode, the most likely explanation is that you've set an option such as max price or titles only, which is filtering out the result you're interested in. If the ad shows up when you search craigslist but not on Searchtempest, make sure that your search settings are exactly the same on both sites.

  If you still can't see the ad, feel free to send me an email with the URLs of your searchtempest and craigslist results pages, and let me know which ad you expect to see on ST but don't.

• I know I'm closer to city: _____ than _____, but it's not showing up there in the list.

  Keep in mind that the distance is calculated as a straight line, rather than a driving distance. Also, some craigslist 'cities' are in fact general areas or even whole states. In those cases, the distance is generally calcuated from the center of the region.

  If you still think you've found a problem, please send me your address with zip code and the exact name of the craigslist city or cities that appear out of place. I'll try and get it fixed ASAP.

  If you could paste the URL of the results page you get (ie: http://www.searchtempest.com/results.php?...") into the email, that might help too.

Troubleshooting

• The results are very slow to load. What can I do?

  Searchtempest asks more of your web browser than most sites, because it's essentially trying to open a bunch of copies of craigslist at the same time. There are some things you can do to speed it up though:

  • Craigslist recently added image previews to all their sale/wanted listings. These can be very handy, but they also slow things down, especially when you're loading multiple cities at the same time.

    To turn off image previews, click the "Hide Images" link at the top-right of any of the craigslist city windows. Craigslist will remember your choice, so when you run your SearchTempest search again, they will be turned off by default, speeding things up.

    (Of course, in some cases, I hope the previews will be handy and worth the added load time.)

  • If your computer is running low on memory, it can slow things down significantly. To see if this is the problem, try closing all other programs and browser tabs, then running a search. If it is faster, you're probably having a memory problem.

    Aside from keeping other things closed when you use Searchtempest, you can help things a bit by reducing the number of cities shown per page - find this option in the Display Options tab on the results page.

    Doing several smaller searches (say one for each state you're interested in) instead of one big search should also help. Or you could buy more RAM I suppose. ;-)

• The search results don't load properly.

  Here are some general tips if the results aren't coming up, or aren't displaying properly:

  • Make sure you have the most recent version of your browser.

    You can get the most recent version of Chrome here, Firefox here, and Safari here.

  • Try disabling any browser extensions or 'add-ons'.

    Even if they don't seem related, bugs in add-ons can cause problems. If disabling them all fixes the problem, turn them back on systematically until you find the culprit.

  • If you are running a third-party Firewall or other security software, check that it isn't mistakenly blocking Searchtempest.

    Many of these programs have pop-up blockers that mistake the craigslist windows for pop-ups, or script blockers that prevent some websites from working. Try disabling these functions and running a search. If it works, you can add an exception for Searchtempest.

  • If you're using Firefox and the contents of each city is completely blank:

    Under Tools/Options (or Firefox/Preferences on a Mac), Advanced, make sure the checkbox "Warn me when web sites try to redirect or reload the page" is not checked. (For some reason when ST redirects to Craigslist, instead of warning, it just... breaks.)

• When I click on a craigslist ad then click 'back', it jumps to the top of the list and the ad isn't hilighted. Why?

  This is due to a bug in internet explorer. Unfortunately there is no way for me to work around it at present. You could use the Firefox browser instead, or maybe open the ads in new tabs, as described in the Tips.

• How come searchtempest.com doesn't remember my search settings so I don't have to enter them next time?

  SearchTempest should remember all your settings. If this isn't happening, you probably need to enable cookies.

• I keep getting "Pop-up blocked" messages in Internet Explorer, even if I say Always Allow

  or

  I can't open results in new tabs in IE - they always open in new windows

  First, under Tools/Internet Options, Privacy tab, Pop-up Blocker, click 'Settings'. Then add 'craigslist.org', 'craigslist.ca', and 'google.com' to the list (no quotes). (The problem with just clicking 'always allow' is that it only allows pop-ups from that one city.)

  Once that's done, click on the General tab, and under Tabs, click 'Settings'. Under 'When a pop-up is encountered', choose either to let IE decide, or to always open in new tabs (my preference).

  Finally, forget all that and switch to Firefox because it's a million times better.

• I've got another question that wasn't covered here.

  You could check out the Help and Tips page, in case your question is answered there.

  Also, go take a look at the forums! There's lots of useful info there already, and more being added every day. You can also post questions or suggestions, or just random drivel, if you so desire. :) I read the forums regularly, and will answer your questions in short order. If you have a suggestion, I may well use it too.

Cheers,
Tempest Nathan

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