I’m often asked by our members and visitors, “How do you find things on Kidology.org?” Like Emily just did at CPC this past week, “I know you have vast resources, but sometimes I struggle to find things because there is just so much.”

It’s a GREAT question!

Part of the issue is knowing what you are looking for, and the other part is knowing where to look on the site.

Because we have literally tens of thousands of zone posts, forum posts, and other types of content that have been growing daily for nearly twenty years, simply starting at the search engine at the top of the site is only scratching the surface.

That is why we divide the content up into category Zones and various topical Discussion Forums to attempt to guide you to where you can find the specific help you are looking for.

However, let me give you a few tips on using our search engine.

If you start at the top of the site and enter a phrase such as “love and faith” it will look like this:

The results will look something like this:

However, if you scroll down, you will see that you will get pages of random results nicely generated by Google:

Google does a great job of indexing the site and quickly creating a list of pages that have the words “love” and “faith;” however, it doesn’t categorize them at all.

You can page through those results and see if you see something that fits what you are looking for, but it is best to then turn to the ADVANCED SEARCH which you will see is at the TOP of the Search Results Page:

THIS is where you have MUCH more control over your search then just entering something at the top of the site.

NOTE: Entering something in the top “Search All of Kidology” is the same as entering something in the search box at the top of the site.

It is the fields which follow that give you more control: the “Zones & Store-Specific Search.” This will search ONLY the Content Zones and the Store for your key word AND divide the results into two separate areas, Zone Results and Store Results so you can see what is Content (free to Premium Members) and what is a Product (for sale).

IMPORTANT: Our search is an EXACT MATCH SEARCH. It is NOT an “and/or” search. In other words, if you search for “love and faith” it is going to search for posts that have the EXACT PHRASE “love and faith.” It is NOT going to search for posts that have “love” or “faith” or posts that have “love” and “faith” or posts that contain the words “love” and “faith” somewhere in the post. You will be searching for “love and faith.”

THEREFORE: It is best to search for single word phrases, one at the time. Search for “love” and then search for “faith” rather than at the same time in the Advanced Search.

Also, note the options you have in the drop down menus to narrow your search. In the Zone Search you can narrow it down to a specific Zone, or search All Zones. (Many posts appear in more than one Zone.) In the Forum Specific Search you can search all forums or narrow it down to a specific forum, or the title of the discussion, the body of the messages, or even a specific user. This is the same search located in the forum, by the way.

Searching on Kidology.org sometimes takes some work, but it is like research. When there is a LOT of content, it sometimes takes a little digging. Some folks pick a Zone topic and just page through reading the descriptions and then click on the ones that sound interesting and find treasure. But there is treasure to be found!

If there is something you are looking for, you can always ask in the Forums, and others will help you find it. I created a new thread for that purpose. Don’t be lazy and just ask – search first. But if you get stuck, don’t hesitate to ask for help. If we don’t have something, often that’s just the suggestion we need to create it!

We are here to serve you and help you find what you are looking for, whether it is on Kidology.org or somewhere else on the Internet. I’ve often said, “Kidology is like a train roundhouse. You come in, and we will point you in the right direction to get what you need!”

Because Jesus Loves Children,

Pastor Karl Bastian, the Kidologist
Founder of Kidology.org