Google Link Problem

[EClem]

Every time I look something up on google and it gives me a link to Trad Gang, I get the message on the Trad Gang website: "No such topic number exists."  Is anyone else getting this?

[Rob DiStefano]

google is a wonderful thing.  it archives the world.  sometimes the world changes, but google doesn't.  

when threads have been deleted through system pruning, or for other reasons, they no longer exist, but google thinks they do.  that's about it.  

[EClem]

I would say that's the case, however it's not just a few search results, it's all of them.

[Rob DiStefano]

give me a specific search yer doing ....

[halfseminole]

I can search even the 2014 bow swap and be told the thread doesn't exist.  Something is definitely wrong.

[Rob DiStefano]

what is the exact phrase you are using to search google?

[halfseminole]

It's not specific phrases.  I can search for "bow quivers" to 'arrowhead balance" to "flatbow" and anything at all that says TradGang cannot be accessed.  No link from Google to here works, and I must have tried fifty of them by now.  I've been having to use other sites to do a lot of my research recently because the search here isn't always as good as Google and sometimes I'm not even sure how to word a search because I'm casting about for information.

[Rob DiStefano]

you need to be more specific.  i can't help you unless i can reproduce what yer seeing or not seeing.  i can only do that by using your exact input(s).  

what are the exact google search words yer using?

here is a google search i just did for "bow quivers trad gang" and got immediate trad gang hits ...

 

[Inuumarue]

Rob,

I'm having the same issue ( I think)  I can type anything into Google, get hits, but when i click on the link it takes me to the same error screen as above.  My most recent search was for "4 footed wooden arrows"  The second hit is a 2014 post "wood arrows 32" draw"  If I click it, it gives EClem's error.

I'm using Chrome, everything is up to date, but it also happens in Firefox. I started noticing this yesterday,and has happened on two computers in different locations.

[Rob DiStefano]

the problem that i see is on the google side, not trad gang.  don't search with google, use the trad gang search engine instead.

NOTE: all of the images below are large, in order to capture all the details of a screen shot - to see the full image, right click on each image, then click on "View Image.

i did a google search for "Footed wood shafts" ...

 

clicking on the first link in google (Footed wood shafts) yields a dead end ...

 

here's all the parts of a trad gang search for "Footed wood shafts", and indeed that topic thread does exist ...

 

 

 

some topic url addresses reported by a google google search are indeed not there - you can verify that with a trad gang search - gone!  why?  (1) we routinely "prune" out topics - not lots, but a few, (2) some topics are moved offline due to their content, that doesn't meet the trad gang rules, (3) when we "re-sync" trad gang (typically at least once a month) to realign topic and post pointers if the system has been "pruned" and/or if threads are deleted, or to repair specific topic pointer issues, or fix pm pointer issues, then topic address link locations can change.  google is either reporting the old address for topics that really do exist, or reporting topic addresses that are truly dead and do not exist.

hope this helps ....

[Rob DiStefano]

furthermore, you can view google's cached link views.  in doing so, you may just get to see the target topic.  here's how ...

doing a google search for "4 point footing..start to finish..pic heavy" yields a dead end, you'll get the typical "Topic does not exist" message.

so go back to that google search and click on the little green down arrow at the end of the topic title ...
     

it opens a little window, select "Cached" ...
     

if it finds the thread, it'll open a new page, just click on the url link ...
     

and there's the trad gang topic thread ...
     

google ain't all that smart.   :D