It looks like the default order for search results is "by relevance". I find this less useful than the search order being by date. Unlike a typical web search, I'm usually looking for a particular post when I do search, not just searching for any posts relevant to a search string. So "by relevance" doesn't really help all that much, especially since there's really no way for me to know how how "relevant" the search engine's algorithm deems what I'm looking for. Is it possible to change this default search order?
I know. I would like to make that the default search order, so I don't have to click into the advanced search options each time. Wanting a search that is by date (most recent to oldest) seems like the most common use case.
Oh, well, I hate your idea then. Maybe give an option/column on the search results page to click to sort by date, ascending/descending.
I agree with durvasa. When I use search, it's to find an old post I remember. And, I always sort by date. But, I also always used the Advanced Search so I can pick the forums, pick a date range, maybe who wrote the post. So, I can switch the sort order at the same time. What the default is doesn't much matter to me. But, if you prevail upon Clutch to switch it, that's cool.
I usually just use google to look for certain threads - "(subject) clutchfans" yields good results usually.