SearchTempest

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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... ;-) )

  One thing that might help instead of filtering by date is to use the Google-powered 'All Cities Together' results mode. (Just click the tab under the search bar, near the top of the results page.) That way you can sort all results by date and just scroll down only as far as you want.

  Another option is RSS Feeds. You can click the 'Get feeds' link at the top of any SearchTempest results page to set up RSS feeds for that search. Then just use your feed reader to get only the new results for your search. (The get feeds page has detailed instructions, so even if you haven't used RSS before it should be straightforward!)

• 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!

• 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.

  If you're using Internet Explorer though, it may not remember your setting correctly. See the fix here.

Troubleshooting

• 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 you'll notice there are two tabs called 'Craigs Results' and 'All Cities Together'. The All Cities format is powered by Google, which is great for doing a quick check over a large area, but will occasionally miss results. (Google's index is very accurate, but isn't perfect. New ads especially can slip through if they haven't yet been indexed.) 'Craigs Results', on the other hand, gives you the results directly from craigslist, so should never miss anything.

  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 a link to the missing ad, and one to the SearchTempest results page that should show it but doesn't.

• 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.)

• I can't move to the next page inside a city.

  Craigslist can only handle a URL of up to about 220 characters. (That includes the city name, keywords, and any other parameters, such as price.) In useful terms, that means you have a maximum of between 12-20 keywords, depending on how long they are and how many other options you add. If you have more than that, parts of the search will be cut off. Since page number is added at the end, it is the first thing to be ignored by craigslist if the URL is too long. Try reducing the number and/or length of keywords in your search.

• When I click on a craigslist ad then click 'back', it jumps to the top of the list and the ad isn't highlighted. 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 try upgrading to the latest version of IE, or switching to a more advanced browser such as Firefox. Or, consider opening the ads in new tabs, as described in the Tips section below.

• 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.

• The option to show preview images isn't remembered in Internet Explorer

  This one is due to an overzealous default security setting by IE. Basically because the craigslist cities are opened in frames, IE doesn't let them save any info. Fortunately, there's an easy fix:

  1. Open Internet Options (under the Tools menu, or by clicking the 'gear' symbol at the top-right of the browser window).
  2. Click the Privacy Tab
  3. Click the Sites button
  4. Type in "craigslist.org" (no quotes), and click 'Allow'
  5. If you search countries besides the US, add the craigslist domains for those countries too - ie craigslist.ca for Canada, or craigslist.co.uk for the UK.

That should do it. Then just click 'show images' for one city, and when your re-run your SearchTempest search, the setting should be remembered for all.

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.

I've got another issue that wasn't covered here.

Your question might be answered in the general info below. If not, here are a few general things to try when things don't seem to work right. (In fact, these steps can be useful when any website isn't working for you.)

• Make sure your browser is up to date

  First off, make sure you have the latest version of your web browser. You can download the latest versions here: Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer.
  To check the version you currently have, look for 'About' under the Help menu.

• Clear your browser's cache

  Occasionally old or corrupt files can become stuck in your browser. To clear them out, just follow the instructions here for 'clearing your cache'.

• Clear cookies

  This one's easy - to clear all cookies from SearchTempest, just click here. You will, however, lose any saved search information.

• Disable add-ons

  While modern web browsers themselves are usually pretty well built, add-ons can often contain bugs. If you use add-ons (aka extensions), even if they seem completely unrelated to SearchTempest, try temporarily disabling them (and restarting your browser). If that solves the problem, you can then enable them systematically to see which is the culprit.

And if NONE of that works, take a look at the forums. There's lots of useful info there already, and more being added every day. Feel free to post your question there if you don't see the answer already. I check them regularly.

General Help

• Search by distance or state

  By default, Searchtempest allows you to search all craigslist cities based on distance from your zip code. Simply enter a zip (or postal) code, then use the dropdown below the zip field to select a distance to search. (Note that for now it's a straight-line distance, not actual driving distance.)

  If you prefer to choose states and cities manually, or if you live outside of the US and Canada, you can switch to manual or worldwide mode by clicking the link at the bottom-left of the search page.

• Keywords

  Find ads with ALL or ANY of your keywords, or a complete phrase, using the buttons provided.

  To NOT show ads with certain words, precede them with dashes:

  BMW Z4 -automatic

  You can also write more advanced searches, as shown below. (Make sure the "All/Advanced" option is checked.)

  • Search for single words and phrases together:

    "fire engine" red toy

  • Search for any one of several words ('OR' searches). Put OR terms in (parenthesis|with|pipes) AND terms are separated by spaces. IE to search for a beige refrigerator:

    (refridgerator|refrigerator|fridge) (cream|beige)

    Note: The pipe character '|' can be typed by pressing Shift + backslash '\'.
  • Of course, you can still include negative keywords. Negative phrases are also possible (but as noted below, you're limited to one per search):

    (refridgerator|refrigerator|fridge) (white|cream|beige) -broken -"not working"

  • Finally, if you want to have multiple words as a single OR term, like boat OR row boat OR canoe, group them in parentheses too, like this:

    (boat|(row boat)|canoe)

    Or a more fun example.. looking for a convertible supercar?

    ((Aston Martin)|Porsche|Maserati|Ferrari) (convertible|(rag top)|(cloth top))

  Note: There are some limitations due to how things are handled by craigslist. For whatever reason, it appears that including more than one negative key phrase (ie -"not working") causes problems. Also, craigslist can only handle a URL of up to about 220 characters. (That includes the city name, keywords, and any other parameters, such as price.) In useful terms, that means you have a maximum of between 12-20 keywords, depending on how long they are and how many other options you add. If you add more, some parts of your search will be ignored.

  For reasons discussed in the FAQ, I'm limited in how much I can improve on the functionality provided by craigslist. Still, I imagine you'll find these options useful!

  PS: Leave keywords blank to browse an entire category.

• Display Options

  Searchtempest allows you to choose from two main ways of displaying the results, as well as a number of other options to tweak things to your liking.

  • Default 'Stacked' Cities

    In the default mode, results come straight from craigslist to your browser in sub-windows or 'frames' within SearchTempest. This ensures that you exactly the same results you would get performing the same search at craigslist itself.

  • 'All Cities Together' - powered by Google

    This format can be selected using the tabs near the top of the results page, right under the search bar.

    It tends to be useful for larger searches, since you can get all your results in a single convenient list, sorted by date or relevance. The only down-side is, since the results come from Google, they won't be 100% up to date. Google is good, but won't catch every single result - particularly the very newest ones.

    Of course, you can always check this mode first, then flip over to the 'Craigs Results' tab to see more detail.

  Two other modes are available under the Display Options tab at the top of the results page, and are useful for mobile browsers and/or for searches of only a few cities. The Display Options tab also has a few settings to tweak the modes above to your liking.

• Save searches for later

  Your most recent choices will always be remembered for next time. To save multiple searches, you have a couple options.

  As long as you stay on the same computer and don't clear your browser files, you can pull up your recent searches using the My Searches button at the top-right of SearchTempest. That button also allows you to set favorite searches, which will be available even if you haven't looked at them in a while.

  To make sure a search is kept forever though, just bookmark the results pages in your browser. When you open the bookmark, the latest results for that search will be shown.

  If you want to save a particular ad you've clicked on, make sure you get the craigslist link, not the link to the whole SearchTempest results page. The easiest way to do that is to middle-click on the craigslist ad link to open it in a new browser tab.

Tips and Tricks

• Search by date

  While it isn't possible to filter your results by date, there are a couple of tricks that can help. The first is to use the Google-powered 'All Cities Together' results format described above. Another option if you're only searching a few cities is to just always click on the first ad that comes up for each city, whether it interests you or not. Then next time you search that link will be marked as visited, so you'll know not to look any further below it.

• Browse Category

  Leave the Keywords field blank to browse an entire category.

• Use tabs!

  When clicking on ads inside the craigslist listings, you may find it handy to open the ads in new tabs. To do so, either middle-click on the ad (click with the mouse-wheel) to open the tab in the background, or hold CTRL and SHIFT while you click to open the tab and automatically switch to it. You can then either close the tab or leave it open and click back on the searchtempest tab to return to the craigslist results list.

• Manual selection mode

  To choose individual states or cities instead of searching by zip code, click the 'choose states/cities manually' link near the bottom-left of the homepage. Once in manual mode, you can save time by double-clicking to add and remove states or cities.

Forums

Once again, if you're still looking for answers, please check the forums. I monitor them regularly, so if your answer isn't there already, I promise to get you one soon! Feel free to post suggestions there as well.

Cheers,
Tempest Nathan

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