Am I missing something or why is there not a place to search the forums ? As far as I know, you have to go to google and then type in keywords and then that takes you to specific forums
As far as I know, the only way to look at them as you click through each page and then read the page?

There used to be one, years and years ago.  It was awful, and they discontinued it.

Mike has said in the past that to do a search engine well is extremely difficult, and something that he isn't intending to do, as it would take time and money away from developing the game.

Google (or whichever search engine you prefer, works fine.  But it's usually easier to ask your question on the forums, even if it's been answered before.  There's always someone around who will help.