Two things:
1. The Manuals are back online - see rightmost link in the header of every message board page. Please note that Manuals are only available when you are logged on.
2. Old posts are now searchable. Transfer of old data to the new Message Board did not include the "search indexes". Fortunately phpBB3 (the new Message Board) includes a utility to reindex everything. From here on, the board should look after itself by indexing words in new posts as it goes.