BlondeBomber hit it right on the head.

We've removed the global search function until we can either get a better server in place, or a better indexing solution implemented.

Because of the extreme growth of FlyerTalk over the last year alone, whenever a global search is performed, it can tax the server by as much as 30% while it searches through hundreds of thousands of postings. All it takes is for three or four people to do a global search at once, and suddenly FlyerTalk starts performing like cold molasses.

To alleviate this problem for the majority of users who are just perusing their favorite threads, we removed the global search option temporarily.

Stephen, we are working on either upgrading the servers or finding a more efficient bulletin board. Since we have limited resources, this isn't a "make it so and make it fast" deal. If you are searching for a program-specific topic, start with that program's forum, then try The Buzz and maybe In The News. This is why FlyerTalkers are always reminding each other to stay on topic, so that it's easier to find information within our current 388,000 posts.

We're sincerely sorry that we have to snip away a part of FlyerTalk in order to prevent it bringing down the board for everyone else, but we're between a rock and a hard place here.