Frustrating problems with FWW website – accessing past issues of the magazine
I have an “Unlimited” subscription.
I have been unsuccessfully trying to view a specific article in the magazine : “weaving a rush fiber seat” on page 51 of issue #85 that was referenced in another article in the magazine.
The site has one of the least efficient methods of getting to where one wants to be: There is no way to just search for “#85” or “issue #85” or “FWW #85” “Fine Woodworking Issue #85”.
I scrolled 14 pages to get, in reverse chronological order, from issue #297 to issue #85 only to find there is no way view the page I need to see.
Then I tried searching for “weaving rush fiber seat” and “weaving rush fiber” only to get mostly irrelevant results but at least the original article about building Stickley chairs that mentioned the information I was looking for showed up in the first few pages of the results.
Unlimited access? Bah humbug I say
Replies
I agree that the FWW search function is archaic. But you can get to a specific back issue pretty quickly by following this path on a desktop computer:
Click MAIN MENU
Click DIGITAL LIBRARIES
Then, At the very bottom of the screen, click LIBRARY
You are now shown a list of all back issues sorted by year all the way back to 1975
Mike
Mike,
Thanks so very much for your advice.
I was able to get the information I needed following your instructions.
Sri
You're very welcome. I'm glad I could help.
Mike
Thanks, but I want, and expect,
Taunton to provide its online subscribers a fully modern and convenient search function. And speaking of function, a good search function is also a function of competent leadership at Taunton.
Seconded, but nicely.
I am constantly baffled by the lousy search function of the FWW website. I was trying to find Mike Pekovich's original dovetail routing station...not the newer drawer sized version...and after about ten query's I am giving up. I didn't really need his plans or dimensions or anything...just was curious about the difference in overall scale between the two. But its far from the first time I've been challenged to call up content...even when I know the name of the author and the approximate date of publication.
Hey Matt,
I'm pretty sure he didn't write about that. Jig. If it was in an article it was probably just a side bar or something. That is something we're trying to figure out—how to include things like "dovetailing jig" in search for an article that is primarily about a... tea box or something.
Check the index next time... posting more about that below.
I completely agree. Why, for example, can’t past issues be searched for in the app? Why can’t I have access to old PDF articles through the app. I love FWW. I want it to succeed. You guys need a much more nimble app. Otherwise, I love all of it.
Hey all,
Yup. Search is a constantly moving target. There is a lot going on here, and I'll try to address everything that's been brought up. Some of this is fixable, and some of it is because it's impossible to have any search function work flawlessly on content written 40+ years ago. In that case it's a matter of knowing where, and how to look.
If I am looking for something that was in the magazine, I ALWAYS use the online index (https://www.finewoodworking.com/magazine-index). It's not based off of an algorithm, but instead our production manager does an actual index for each issue. It's an incredibly efficient way of searching the magazine. Not every item is linked in it, but you can click on the issue number and get there to see if the article is online, or if you need to go to the archive.
Now, here is another problem—not everything we remember as being an article is an article. Often times it's a photo in an article (Pekovich's first dovetail station) or a side bar.
The rush seat weaving is a sidebar in a larger article on making a rocking chair. The problem with having close to 50 years of content is not everything is going to be perfectly organized. The online archive IS organized. It should be noted as well that that article isn't on the website, so there is no possible way that the search function can find it. You need to get to it via the archive.
The website search does just that, it searches the website. Not every article has a post on the website. The archive search only searches the archive, and it does include 99% of the article that were printed in the magazine. The FWW app (mentioned by jrmorick) is a digital version of your physical magazine subscription. If you subscribed in June of 2019, your issues go back that far. It is a digital analog (ha!) 0f the issues on your bookshelf. The website, archive, and app are three separate items.
I know these subtleties are frustrating, but they are real. In fact, I'm making a video shortly about how I dig for information on the website and how to best work through its shortcomings—whether they're caused by massive amount of content, or programming. In fact, this thread has helped me figure out how to clarify it all in the video.
All that said, we're constantly trying to improve all of the sites at Taunton, and I can assure you the devs are always busy!
Thank you Ben for the detailed info. Can you please clarify:
You mentioned 3 ways to search.
MAGAZINE INDEX .... you provided a link to that.
WEBSITE SEARCH .... I assume that's the search box at the top of the page right next to the FWW logo, am I right?
ARCHIVE SEARCH .... I don't see that on the main menu. How do I get there?
Thanks,
Mike
Website search:
The website search is the box on every page of the site. There are filtering options for results and that really does help get to the results you want. If you're looking for a video or a blog, the website search is the only way to do it.
Archive search:
In the main menu, go to "Digital Libraries". That will bring to to the online archive.
There is a "spy glass" at the top of the online archive page where you can search the archive. Clicking advance should give return any mentions of the specific phrase. That said, if I were going to search for the archive, I would likely start at the magazine index as well. I just find it to be the most effective search we have.
Thank you Ben!
The "spy glass" in the digital libraries section ....... For years I assumed it only searched the pages of the issue pictured below it. I just tried it and now see it searches the entire FWW archive. Wow!
This is going to change the way I use the website.
Mike
That was helpful Ben, and the first time I've seen it laid out that way.
Sadly, that was probably the first time I thought to lay it out that way. The next revelation will in fact take another 6 years for me.
Kia Ora, Ben
Thanks for that encapsulation.
I suspect that a lot of us on the forum are betimes quite bored and would be very happy to help out with generating search keywords or synopses for articles from past issues - no cash required.
The search is quite frustrating, but with better keywords it would be more useful.
Kia Ora Rob,
Good to know!
FYI, there is a discussion about your salutations in the next podcast. I hope I got it all right!
Nga Mihi
Thanks! Yes, I had no idea the Archive search was any different than the website search.
MK
I appreciate your work and the video you are making, Ben. Please include how to navigate to the gallery and post a gallery submission in it or in a future website guide. For instance, the best way to comment on your gallery submissions, etc.
The gallery is found under the "More" at the top of the page on desktop. What kind of problems have you had commenting on gallery submissions?
This brings up one aspect of the website, we, the staff use the sight in a very specific way. We're going to have blind spots. I never post gallery items or comment on them, so I'm unaware of any issues there.
I tend to put too long a comment on the intro but it goes on the second part. I understand now. MJ helped find how to get to it.
Ben,
Thank you for clarifying the, until now, baffling process of getting content.
Now to print your explanation and put it in a safe place. If I could only remember that safe spot when I need to....
Sri
Yes, the search engine for FWW is very frustrating and not very good. I have trouble all the time searching for simple things like tool reviews and past articles. I did a search for pine wood and came up with several articles on router bits....
FWW really needs to update it's search process, the main reason I got the unlimited online subscription. I've been considering dropping my online subscription and just doing a google search in the future. My sister gives me the print subscription every year for Christmas.
I'm always interested in weird search results—trying to figure out why things show up. I just did a search for "pine wood" (no quotation marks) and the first two pages were right on the money.
I recently purchased the downloadable version of the FWW archive. Although the archive did seem to download on to my computer I am not a able to access it after numerous and increasingly frustrating attempts. It appears the website doesn't recognise me even though I'm signed in. I tried accessing it using the link provided above but the site has informed me that I have run out of free trial access.
I have emailed customer service for help on this and also requested the USB version instead but have not received a reply to this point. Honestly if this is the best FWW can do then please refund me my money and I will go back to searching thru my almost 40 year collection of FWW magazines which although tedious, is much less frustrating than dealing with this.
Thanks,
Gerald.
How do I change my profile image?
I've tried reducing it, logging in/out, but it keeps reverting to the old one.
I've said this before, but if FWW changed the forum to a decent platform, I think there would be a lot more participation.
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