What's up with Capybaras?

[ericloewe]

So, I was exploring Discourse’s nifty reporting and logging stuff the extent of my absolute powers and came across a report of the most popular searches on the forum.

First of all, thanks to everyone who behaved and searched for normal things, like “RTL8125” (it’s a piece of crap), “hardware recommendations guide” (I really should get to that, shouldn’t I?), etc.

With that out of the way, who the hell, and why on Earth is “capybara” the single most-searched query on the forum!?

Don’t believe me?

Do I want to know what this is all about? Look, capybaras are cute things - fun fact - the average adult capybara is too large for a pelican to grab and eat, even though, to a pelican, they look like a tasty meal - but why the hell are you people searching for “capybara” on a tech forum? Or worse, do we have a single weirdo who tries the same search multiple times per day, day after day? It’s twice as popular a search as “plex”, and everyone and their mother uses Plex, knows someone who uses Plex or wants to use Plex!

[Stux]

I dunno. Maybe you should ask @discobot @TrueNAS-Bot

[winnielinnie]

It gets even weirder when you read the description of the Capybara software.

Capybara helps you test web applications by simulating how a real user would interact with your app.

So maybe the “capybara” searches are in fact the result of the Capybara software simulating a “real user” of this forum by… searching for “capybara”.

[winnielinnie]

What the heck?! Why is it highlighting every instance of the word “capybara” in blue? Is anyone else seeing this? I’m not going crazy, am I?

@ericloewe: What have you done?!

EDIT: It’s not my web browser, nor did I CTRL + F. I’ve never seen words highlighted in blue, either.

[ericloewe]

Uhmm, I don’t see anything blue, apart from the URL:

[winnielinnie]

This is a test: “capybara”

I like Capybara.

Do you know where I can find more “capybara”?

Capybara or capybara ?

UPDATE: The blue highlight went away. I swear… I’m not crazy. I was just about to take a screenshot!

Thanks to this thread, I’m starting to question my sanity.

[ericloewe]

Did you CTRL+F for capybara immediately before this, by any chance?

[Stux]

This blue hilite?

[dan]

@ericloewe

Do I want to know what this is all about?

Very simple: the new user tutorial with discobot has you search for “Capybara.” So everyone who goes though that–which is probably most new users–searches for that term.

[Stux]

@TrueNAS-Bot

I’ve hidden a surprise in this topic. If you’re up for the challenge, select the search icon at the top right to search for it.

Try searching for the term “capy​bara” in this topic

(Post can’t be empty)

[winnielinnie]

Nope. Nor did I ever copy it. (I manually typed “capybara” to find the GitHub page.)

But when I invoke the search, the blue highlight comes back.

So I supposed there was a glitch?

And as I’m typing this, I think I figured out the mystery. It must have been a carry-over from when I searched the entire forum, to see what the results would be.

Okay, just delete my account. I have embarrassed myself enough. I cannot live with this shame.

[winnielinnie]

@dan

Very simple: the new user tutorial with discobot has you search for “Capybara.”

But why…?

It doesn’t yield anything, except this very thread.

[ericloewe]

That’s far more sane, yet silly than I was expecting.

@winnielinnie

But when I invoke the search, the blue highlight comes back.

Clearly it’s Discourse doing “funny business” with the search function. Sorta neat, yet nearly useless.

@winnielinnie

Okay, just delete my account. I have embarrassed myself enough. I cannot live with this shame.

Sure, just give us a week to nominate a new purveyor of dank memes.

[etorix]

@winnielinnie

But why…?

Because! Mwa-ha-ha!!!

Orangina Rouge - Mais pourquoi est-il aussi méchant ?

(This is a meme, but unfortunately only for French speakers old enough to remember these 20-year old crazy stupid ads!
The gist: New blood orange flavour is more acidic. “Why so mean? Because! Mwa-ha-ha!!!”)

[Davvo]

@winnielinnie

I swear… I’m not crazy. I was just about to take a screenshot!

Yeah… we believe you… You are not doubiting us, are you?

[Redcoat]

@dan

Very simple: the new user tutorial with discobot has you search for “Capybara.” So everyone who goes though that–which is probably most new users–searches for that term.

Shoot - I knew I’d seen “Capybara” recently! Thanks for the answer!

[DjP-iX]

The Capybara Song Official Music Video 🎶🎶

[will]

Funny that this was brought up! When we were looking at some stats we were wondering who was searching for capybara so much. It wasn’t until I had to (with my head held in shame) search “why the heck does everyone search capybara on my forums”. I guess that is what I get for not finishing the tutorial

[ericloewe]

I didn’t even start the tutorial! I have a masters’ degree in aerospace engineering, I don’t need a %@!$&?£ tutorial on how to use a forum! ^[1]

---

1. I need a tutorial way more than I’m willing to admit. ↩︎

[etorix]

I don’t need a bot tutorial on using a forum.
But I could use a capybara for my next stew. Or roast…