Is Trav or someone able to exclude the questionnaire threads from the search function, for particular searches they are really starting to 'clog' up results.

I have no idea about coding and how hard or easy this would be.

The search function is limited, I suspect deliberately to minimise the amount of code and processor time it requires [not that I really understand that stuff either!]

The lack of a specific date range is also something of a hindrance on occasion. For more complex searches it's usually recommended to use an external search engine - but of course, optimising the parameters is then still up to you. At least an external search engine is more amenable to Boolean terms.

Yeah I often find myself using external search engines to search the forum.

i agree with this. in theory it should be pretty simple to omit results in that subsection of the forum, but there might be other reasons why it is not possible, at which point the best option is a search engine re-haul, which can turn into a very big job, sometimes even turn into a website re-haul.

the search function here is not the greatest but, as already discussed, i use duckduckgo when the native search is not enough. that might be a better option for the forum than a big job like a search engine re-haul that will take time at least, potentially money too.

it would be great to see but i am not going to hold my breath.