WheelFinder - How Do I use Search in the WheelFinder

Discussion in 'Site How Do I... - vb' started by Nathan, May 19, 2009.

  1. Nathan

    Nathan Founder

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    So you've gone into the WheelFinder Search from the drop down in the top Navigation Bar and you saw this huge list and a stack of wheel pictures next to it and pictured below. OMG, Now What!!

    [IMGL]http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/members/nathan-albums-site-stuff-picture104-ma-wf-cap011.jpg[/IMGL] The search is no where near as daunting as it may first appear. With some basic understanding of how this is all constructed in no time you'll be in search heaven.

    Lets break it down first. Right now you see 4 columns, but that may soon change to 3 once we all live with for a bit.

    Column 1 - The far left side of the display. This is a listing of all the attributes or things, if you will, that are search-able. This is broken down into components, or sections, that logically group together. The first section, from the top of the left most column, is MINI Information. Here you can specify the generation, color, type, such as Coupe, Clubman etc, and more. Until there is a lot more data I'd not worry about narrowing my search in that section.

    Column 2 - Thumbnail sized images of a members Wheel Rack and the title they gave that Wheel Rack. These are in order entered, the newest one at the top and it only displays the last 60.

    Column 3 - Ignore that, it's probably going to go away.

    Column 4 - The User Name of the Member that "owns" the Wheel Rack.

    Now that we know what all the columns are for lets do a search and narrow down the results. Search is dynamic, that means as you select an attribute, or thing, to search on Column 2 will shrink to only show the last 60 entries that meet that criteria.

    Starting off in the second section, Wheel Data the first thing I would do is pick the wheel diameter. Click on the drop down and select the size. lets go with 17" to start. Notice how Column 2 changed after making that selection. Now everything displayed in Column 2 is 17". You could scroll down Column 2 and see if anything catches your eye, click on the thumbnail and in a new tab or window, depending on the browser, that Wheel Rack will be displayed. Or, and this will be important as the Wheel Racks submitted grow in number, narrow the search more.

    One of my favorite brands of wheels is BBS, so lets narrow it down more by adding the text BBS in the Wheel Brand attribute. Now you will need to either hit the Enter key or scroll down and click on the Search button. Column 2 just got smaller, eh.

    But wait...will these fit with my BBK? Funny you should ask, there is an attribute that is an open text box where you can put in the name brand. Hopefully the Wheel Rack owner used the same name for their. I know I used TCE for Tood Cook's Wilwoods, TSW for their BDM BBK and other acronyms such as that. I think I've even seen a JCW float by as well. Try using a few different ways to narrow things down.

    If you have any questions my inbox is always open...
     

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