I very often get some form of this question, which is a happy indication of the popularity of Peter's longtime message board project. Unfortunately, limitations in the compatible search engine software available combined with the size and structure of the archives make for a rather time-consuming and fussy task of searching them at this time.



Some tips: Go to the Search link on Peter's main page. It will take you to a long page of links -- scroll down to the list of archives and see if the dates will help you narrow things down. Start at the first archive you want to scan, hit search, and the minute the page begins to load (it will be that archive's index page), hit the search button again. Now you can search within every message there.



I hope to set up a FAQ based upon many of the repeated questions and answers in the message board archives, including highlights of the brightest and most useful & inspiring posts, as well as some edifying exchanges regarding special difficulties. When this more user-friendly page may be available is yet up in the air, but I'm working on it. In the meantime, a half-hour should be adequate to search the archives by following the tips above. Take heart, we've all been through it, and it can be done! :-)



When this column was written, in May 2002, the archives could be accessed from our homepage. As of this time (July 2002), and foreseeably for at least the rest of this year, they are unavailable while we attempt find solutions for the bandwidth demands they entail. We appreciate your patience while this problem is being addressed! thanks again, everyone!!