Moderated Browsing and Searching a Groups.io Group Archive
Given that any group's archive is an absolute treasure trove of information, and the more mature a group is the more likely it is that any given question has been "asked and answered" myriad times, it's really important to know how to access that trove to find what you want.
Thus, I have put together two tutorials covering just browsing and another covering searching (and browsing the results) using a screen reader so that folks who want to do this will have clear directions on how. These were created using the NVDA screen reader, and using a Chromium-based browser, but the instructions should be screen reader agnostic except for the specific screen reader commands to jump to specific elements (and I've included those where I could for JAWS and/or Narrator).
The instructions are insanely detailed, because I want those new to the process to know exactly what's going on when, and where. That being said, once you have done this once or twice the process is extremely fast, as most of the detail isn't about the commands you're issuing, but what is happening when you issue them. There really aren't many commands involved for either undertaking.
All feedback on how to improve these tutorials will be gratefully accepted, but please do so by sending me private email as opposed to cluttering this list, as this is a bit of rule-bending in posting these to begin with. But I have asked permission in the past to discuss the use of Groups.io as a whole, because it is important regardless of the group(s) you might be using.
The Group Topics/Archive page for this group is: https://jfw.groups.io/g/main/topics
Browsing a Groups.io Topics Page/Archive
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Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044
Friendship. . . Intimacy, untroubled by eros.
~ Kim Chernin
Well, speaking only for myself, I will get to your tutorial later mainly because I have a head ache and thinking makes it worse. As someone who cringes when told to search the archives for an answer , because when I have done it twice, it was like being told to look for a particular street when in some towns there is the same street name but in different counties that are, miles or Kilometre’s in this case away.
Sent: February 13, 2022 10:26 AM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Browsing and Searching a Groups.io Group Archive
Time and time again, it has come up on multiple groups that folks really do not know how to use the Groups.io web interface either just to browse/read (and possibly, post, but I'm not covering that) to a group,
but also that they have no idea of how to go about searching a group archive.
Given that any group's archive is an absolute treasure trove of information, and the more mature a group is the more likely it is that any given question has been "asked and answered" myriad times, it's really important to know how to access that trove to find
what you want.
Thus, I have put together two tutorials covering just browsing and another covering searching (and browsing the results) using a screen reader so that folks who want to do this will have clear directions on how. These were created using the NVDA screen reader,
and using a Chromium-based browser, but the instructions should be screen reader agnostic except for the specific screen reader commands to jump to specific elements (and I've included those where I could for JAWS and/or Narrator).
The instructions are insanely detailed, because I want those new to the process to know exactly what's going on when, and where. That being said, once you have done this once or twice the process is extremely fast, as most of the detail isn't about the commands
you're issuing, but what is happening when you issue them. There really aren't many commands involved for either undertaking.
All feedback on how to improve these tutorials will be gratefully accepted, but please do so by sending me private email as opposed to cluttering this list, as this is a bit of rule-bending in posting these to begin with. But I have asked permission in the
past to discuss the use of Groups.io as a whole, because it is important regardless of the group(s) you might be using.
The Group Topics/Archive page for this group is: https://jfw.groups.io/g/main/topics
Browsing a Groups.io Topics Page/Archive
Searching a Groups.io Topics Page/Archive
--
Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044
Friendship. . . Intimacy, untroubled by eros.
~ Kim Chernin
If ever there were a situation where "practice makes perfect" (or at least much closer to it) it's learning how to craft a precision search (which I don't discuss, these tutorials are about the mechanics of dealing with the way the Groups.io web pages are laid out).
There's a ton of trial and error involved in learning how to craft a precision search, but there's no getting around that, either. Most people err at "the extremes" of creating a search, either using too few search terms or ones that are too broad, or using so many that virtually nothing will match as a result.
As an example of "too broad," doing an archive search on the words [JAWS Excel] . There's just so much material out there about JAWS and Excel that plowing through results from that is a horrible chore that will never be completed. Contrast that with doing an archive search on [JAWS Excel 2016 formula]. The first returns page after page after page of results, and that's when you collapse to topics rather than individual messages. The second, less than 15 results when collapsed as topics and barely more than that as individual messages.
--
Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044
Friendship. . . Intimacy, untroubled by eros.
~ Kim Chernin
True, the broad query is like asking a sighted person where something is and they say, “That way, as apposed to on your right or left.”
Sent: February 13, 2022 3:02 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: Browsing and Searching a Groups.io Group Archive
David, et. al.,
If ever there were a situation where "practice makes perfect" (or at least much closer to it) it's learning how to craft a precision search (which I don't discuss, these tutorials are about the mechanics of dealing with the way the Groups.io web pages are laid
out).
There's a ton of trial and error involved in learning how to craft a precision search, but there's no getting around that, either. Most people err at "the extremes" of creating a search, either using too few search terms or ones that are too broad, or using
so many that virtually nothing will match as a result.
As an example of "too broad," doing an archive search on the words [JAWS Excel] . There's just so much material out there about JAWS and Excel that plowing through results from that is a horrible chore that will never be completed. Contrast that with doing
an archive search on [JAWS Excel 2016 formula]. The first returns page after page after page of results, and that's when you collapse to topics rather than individual messages. The second, less than 15 results when collapsed as topics and barely more than
that as individual messages.
--
Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044
Friendship. . . Intimacy, untroubled by eros.
~ Kim Chernin
Thanks for putting the time into this, Brian. I’m one who has never searched the archives and have felt a bit guilty when asking a question I’m sure has been answered. I’ll take some time soon to walk through your guide.
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2022 4:02 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: Browsing and Searching a Groups.io Group Archive
WARNING: This email originated externally. Exercise caution. Think before clicking links or opening attachments.
David, et. al.,
If ever there were a situation where "practice makes perfect" (or at least much closer to it) it's learning how to craft a precision search (which I don't discuss, these tutorials are about the mechanics of dealing with the way the Groups.io web pages are laid
out).
There's a ton of trial and error involved in learning how to craft a precision search, but there's no getting around that, either. Most people err at "the extremes" of creating a search, either using too few search terms or ones that are too broad, or using
so many that virtually nothing will match as a result.
As an example of "too broad," doing an archive search on the words [JAWS Excel] . There's just so much material out there about JAWS and Excel that plowing through results from that is a horrible chore that will never be completed. Contrast that with doing
an archive search on [JAWS Excel 2016 formula]. The first returns page after page after page of results, and that's when you collapse to topics rather than individual messages. The second, less than 15 results when collapsed as topics and barely more than
that as individual messages.
--
Brian - Windows 10, 64-Bit, Version 21H2, Build 19044
Friendship. . . Intimacy, untroubled by eros.
~ Kim Chernin
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