How does the "suggested threads" feature work?

[Markus_ls]

It looks like there is a new feature whereby previous threads related to the current one are suggested at the bottom of the thread. I'm wondering how this works???

It's important for users to know because if it is an autosearch based off the thread title it means we should be careful to include the most relevant keyword in our titles (rather than something more witty or humorous) so that we get directed to the best sources. I'm also curious why some threads seem to have these listed an others don't.....some have 5 but others have less....and none seems to have more than 5, even for really common topics?

It looks like a cool new feature - I just want to know more about it. Thanks!

[MikeK@HQ]

Howdy,

I just tried to dig up some information... and I can't find a single document about how it works! So I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I'm guessing it either uses topic titles or may even use the actual messages.

Mike

[Michael@HQ]

Markus, look at the suggested threads in the "Pudge done for" thread. It looks like it analyzed the title and considered "Pudge" as the only unique term and looked for other threads with "Pudge" in the title. So far, so good.

However, if I compare the five similar threads listed there to what I get when I search for threads with "Pudge" in the title, I don't know why it picked those 5 threads. They aren't the most recent, not the longest or most popular, not in the same forum.

Hmmm. I guess I'll wait for Mike K's reply too.

[Markus_ls]

I appreciate the effort to figure this out. I'll still be "listening" if anyone does - please post! Again, indexing is a GREAT idea...and I hope it continues to be developed.

[Tom_T]

From my research around the Web, I found that vBulletin uses some sort of algorithm to assign a score to each post to determine how "similar" it is to what you're currently viewing. I've also read that the results can be unpredictable. It may work better here at HQ, since almost every post has at least one proper name which presumably serves as a keyword.

We'll see how useful this function is in the months ahead, as the forum grows.

[GoldenEagle]

It sounds like it could be useful or interesting if the parameters were better understood.

Until then, if it's going to be less reliable than your own search using the keywords you want, and if it consumes CPU cycles and bandwidth, shouldn't there be consideration given to disabling the feature until it can be determined what it does and what it doesnt' do?