Frequently some reply points the OP to the forum search. Maybe a small design change would help. @Aragorn pointed it out:
Webmasters, is it possible to let the search icon pulsate to a large size 3…5 times every time “New Topic” is clicked? Not too obtrusive to annoy frequent posters, but visible enough to alert the poster that the answer might be already out there.
I think the low visibility of this button is overrated. By default, the logged in users land on a welcome page with the categories and humongous search field. What is more important: the search is automatically activated if you start creating a new topic, which is one of the best discourse features.
So if somebody has not searched, it it because he did not want to and not because of the button.
A real problem though, and not fixable by manjaro, is the search algorithm of discourse. It is just not very good. I have tried to find topics that i remember i read a month ago by providing 3-4 different keywords, and pretty often it provides similar topics, but not what i want. I suspect it has different priorities if the keywords are in the title, 1 post, or scattered through many posts.
It actually failed to provide an instant correct result once when i used keywords only from the title, but in the wrong order or forgetting “how to” or “root tip”.
So it is generally working, but not on a google level. One might even be better off with google/duck and searching through site:forum.manjaro.org string
We also have bangs.
In ddg;
!manjf term
!manjw term
For forum and wiki respectively.
The search is easily visible, that’s not a problem.
No one wants to use a search that sucks, and even if they do use it they’ll likely not get the results they need. You can get better results using a search engine to search the forum.
If I need to find a thread I scroll through the list of threads because the search is useless.
One could route the search input directly to the external engine (with a warning for users who don’t want that without them knowing).
As replacement of the internal engine, or offered as an alternative with its own logo. A small logo of the engine instead of (or besides or overlaid) the looking glass would do.
I would say an addition to, not a replacement. By the way there are daily/hourly limits for the usage of search engines for such purposes, or it is paid. Not that this forum is that much visited that it will hit like 100 searches in a second…but i am just saying.
And just an example of the massively different algorithms (ok, that topic is probably not indexed from google yet or not visible, but the other two results are still not the same.)
Zero effort.
To add to this: If someone wants to find something, he’ll find it (99% of the time). It’s just that sometimes it won’t take 30 seconds or even 5 minutes.
Still, try to troubleshoot or find any info on Windows related things, eg. you need to do something with powershell in Azure AD (oops, I mean EntraID or what"#%&ever) or some GPO isn’t working as you think it should and see how useful results you get.
Searching linux related things is a breeze.
It’s a psychological phenomenon, besides the search quality. I don’t know of a concise summary (please post here or PM me if you know one), but here is an explanation:
From there (my emphases):
I don’t know of any unifying psychological theory that explains our problem with trivial inconveniences. It seems to have something to do with loss aversion, and with the brain’s general use of emotion-based hacks instead of serious cost-benefit analysis. It might be linked to akrasia; for example, you might not have enough willpower to go ahead with the unpleasant action of filling in a rebate form, and your brain may assign it low priority because it’s hard to imagine the connection between the action and the reward.
My suggestion of a reminder to search (I don’t insist on a pulsating icon, it’s the effect that counts) targeted mostly this with a little push to overcome this inertia.
What is DAU and MAU?
In German, DAU stands for “Dümmster anzunehmender User” (dumbest user to assume), derived from GAU (“Größter anzunehmender Unfall” – worst accident to assume; the term became common knowledge in the political fighting about nuclear energy).
But we don’t have DAUs here, do we?
I agree. Projection is the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object
Old adage : “It’s a poor craftsman who blames his tools.”
we don’t have DAUs here, do we?
I don’t assume how dumb internet users can be because the universe is constantly creating better idiots
According to Einstein, human stupidity is infinite. From my life experience, backed up by working in support and support forum and social channels and now in a psychiatry (and i do not mean the patients, i mean personnel that is surprised to find 50 Gr. Grass in a night drawer cause they did not check the bags of the patient a day earlier), i tend to agree.
I agree: Those experienced with Manjaro, and the forum, will likely just ask a question without the need to search; while those with limited experience will not necessarily know what to search for beyond “my thing doesn’t work, please help.” – Either way, site Search can be under utilized.
I hardly think the adage of “size matters”, with respect Search visibility, is applicable.
I don’t know about “DAU”, but “MAU” is something my cat used to say. 
… used to say? Wait, is your cat alive, or dead … or, both?
I’ve had two cats, at different times. My ex took the first cat — a female Siamese — with her to her mother’s place when she left me the first time, and it grew to be 23 years old.
My ex took my second cat — a black & white male cat — with her when she left me the second time, and the guy whom she left me for told me — after she had dumped him too — that she took that cat back to the asylum because “it was aggressive”, which it most certainly wasn’t, because it was the sweetest cat you can imagine. I’m not sure what happened to it after that — sometimes aggressive cats get put down — but it was either way all such a long time ago — mid-to-late 1980s — that this cat would by now definitely be dead also. 
… Something to lighten the mood:
Schrödinger’s cat walks into a bar…
… and doesn’t. 
Heisenberg would probably ask you whether you’d be certain of that. 
Ahem… Topic…
In principle, at least.
In the age of quantum computing I may have a more reasonable argument for staring at the little percentages and progress bars … “Observation affects the outcome!”
PS. “No, really. Here … make 2 slits …”
PPS. Explaining the above.
