>When doing a search for messages from a certain Member, and I spell their name the EXACT right way in the Member Name textbox of the search form, it does not work. The only way it works is if I their *Member Number*, then it does a lookup, and replaces the number with the exact name I just typed.
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>Why doesn't it work by spelling the name directly into the textbox?

This ability to type the member ID directly in the field, instead of the using the pick list, came from a request by some members. At first, it used to be a read only field so to represent the value of the pick list. Entering a member ID would give a unique match. If that would support a text search, it could become confusing as this has been designed primaly for a member ID data entry. Also, this wouldn't provide a unique result as typing "Mike" for example could end up with multiple results. The universal approach, at least this seems to be a tendancy that many top sites are using is like Facebook. Basically, as you type the combox is being refreshed with round trips to the server to extrapolate the new results. I do not have something like that here nor is it planned to supported.