I understand the reply, and I agree with it.
I'm a moderator of a much larger forum dedicated to a different hobby (over 125,000 members) and we don't allow "do a search" for a reply.
The forum isn't called soapmakingsearch.com, and the point of a forum is to discuss benefits and ideas (much like the last reply). Plus, the search here isn't very effective, or easy, or intuitive. I've looked for certain topics before, without much success, and there is WAY too much chit chat in the threads to sort effective and meaningful help away from the chatter. As a result, I rarely post here and sometimes just browse. It's just not a really "friendly" place sometimes.
I love the forum in many ways, but saying, "use the search" is a horrible way to treat newcomers, who probably DID use the search but didn't know what exactly to search for. Terms such as "water discount" probably aren't known to noobs. If you search for "basic soap recipe", you'll get a million responses, none of which are very meaningful at all and in fact are usually questions asking for a basic soap recipe. In which the reply is "if you would have used the search............."!:!:
Anyway, I'm not meaning to come down on the forum and I agree that using a search is a great start for learning. But it's not a very friendly way to respond to people, and this is one of the few forums that I participate in that allow it as a response. Just food for thought!