>OK. I want to send a message directly to, say, Mike Cole. On creating the thread, in the "To" section I click on the member search spyglass.
>In "Firstname" box (with the combho set o "=") I type "Mike"
>In "last name" box (with the combho set o "=") I type "Cole" and hit ENTER
>
>Now, as I've specified I want to send this message to "Mike Cole", that's whom I expect to find as my target.
>But I get a whole list of ALL the Cole and Colemans, with Mike Coles entry somewhere down the list (granted, in alpha order) and I need then to select this.
>
>So it's exactly as if I've just done a member search on "Cole" only, with the combo set to "IN"

In the list, the search is only applicable to one column at a time. Once the list appears, you simply click on the name to have it selected.