Up in the right corner of the lime-green site logo is a darker green box. The three active buttons showing across the top state My Account, Notifications (this only shows if you have a new private message) and Sign Out. Below these are two internal boxes: The first is blank other than what looks to be a magnifying glass on the right-hand side; the second provides a checklist dropdown button. This is the grou.ps search engine for our Grow Organic Apples site. Type in any topic phrase to see in which posts that topic has been discussed. Let’s try effective microbes to run through this. Next I’ll choose “where” I want to look for this term: The choices being the Forum, Members, Blog, Wiki, and Private Messages. This is a search engine specific to the different modules available through this networking site. I’ll choose Forum for this search, in part because I know that’s where the bulk of the action lies. Now I put my cursor atop that “magnifying glass” – a hand appears indicating this is an active button – and click it. The page that comes up shows the results of my search for effective microbes… which on this day lists seven message threads to further explore. What’s cool at this point is you can then pick up the ongoing discussion where we as a community of fruit growers last left off. Or start an entirely new thread on this theme if your search didn't reveal the particular slant you were looking for. I won’t guarantee that the search feature will always be up and running, but when it does, it’s a great way to zero in on what this circle has discussed relevant to a subject that concerns you.

[Editor's Note - this reply can be ignored now as the change explained here has since been undone by the grou.ps team.] This week's big joke on me -- everything I recently explained about the serach engine feature at Grou.ps no longer works that way. The box in the upper right corner is gone but the access remains on the page. This is kind of like finding Waldo... now look in the bottom right corner. The Grou.ps logo is there along with a globe like symbol. You may also see a number in a small red box. Both are hot buttons that work a little differently than what I've encountered before. Put you cursor over the Grou.ps logo and you will see "Account Links" appear. Put your cursor over the globe/ red number and you will see "Notifications" appear. Click either just once and nothing seems to happen. Do this: Make the click, release, and then slide your cursor off the hot button... and the box is enlarged to reveal the search engine and access to your account . The same goes for the notifcation button... only now that box enlarges to reveal the number of messages you have. Click that and you will be in your mailbox where replies can be made directly. (This has been improved as new message threads keep a seperate identity rather then merged as one continuous conversation with other members.) The search engine requires you type in your topic, just as before. A drop-down box then appears where you choose what module of the GOA site you wish to search. You need to click the “magnifying glass” to then be taken to a search results page. It will likely fail because the initial search only applies to titles… WHICH IS DUMB. Over on the right is an advanced search box indicating what aspects you wish to search: titles, text, authors. You definitely want to be sure that "text" is selected to get to posts containing what you are searching for and I’d suggest you might as well check all three. I hope once each of us chooses settings for a search it will stay set up that way, and if not, I will be making suggestions to headquarters. Obviously this has all been designed so that only trained secret agents understand how to work this site!

One further addendum. You will see a direct search hot button on the Growers page... this allows you to type in a name and then be taken to that members page. This will help when you want to send a private message to a particular someone.