Using the Quick Search

The Workgroups Portal contains a persistent search tool located on the left-side sidebar. This search tool, called the "Quick Search", is visible in any page that displays the sidebar and allows you to quickly search for information stored in the database. When used, the Quick Search conducts a Keyword search using the specified terms.

The Quick Search contains two fields that relate to any searches conducted with it:

Record Selector: Used to define the scope of the search/the type of information you are searching for. For instance, selections may include any of the following (depending on database family and access permissions): Jobs, Invoices, Estimates, and Customers. If you navigate to any of these tabs, the Record Selector will automatically be changed to reflect the corresponding scope.

Search text: Used to type the text by which a Keyword search will be conducted. See "Keyword and Quick Search Scope" on page 46 below.

Additional search criteria may be saved to the Quick Search and will be used in conjunction with the keyword criteria whenever the Quick Search is used. See "Saving search criteria to the Quick Search" on page 47 below for additional information.

Relationship of the Quick Search to Standard Searches

Quick Searches use the Keyword criterion for searching records stored in the database. Thus, for a given record type, Quick Searches and Standard Searches using the Keyword criterion are identical. Additionally, Quick Searches that have been customized to use additional search criteria are identical to the equivalent Standard Search using the same criteria.

A Quick Search for "Wellness" is the equivalent of a Standard Search that uses "Wellness" in the Keyword search field (criterion).

Understanding Search Logic

Searches using criteria fields based on strings (any non-chooser or non-range criteria field) use a "Starts with" condition. For example, if there is a Job in the database with the name "Wellness and Fitness Brochure", the search term "Well" will return a result for the Job. However, the search term "ness" will not return a result for the Job even though the characters "ness" are used twice in the Job name.

When used in searches, the asterisk ("*") is treated as a special character:

Use * at the start of a search term to match results CONTAINING the search term. For example, if there is a Job in the database with the name "Wellness and Fitness Brochure", the search term "*ness" will return a result for the Job since the characters "ness" are contained in the Job named "Well*ness* and Fit*ness* Brochure."

Use * alone to match all results. Using "*" alone as a search term will match all records stored in the database for the corresponding record type. For example, a Quick Search using "*" alone or a Standard Search for Jobs using "*" alone in any search criteria fields will return all Jobs in the results.

Do not use * as a wildcard encapsulated in a search term. For example, If there is a Job in the database with the name "Wellness and Fitness Brochure", the search term "w*llness" will not return any results.

Keyword and Quick Search Scope

When using the Quick Search or when using a Keyword criterion in a Standard Search, the search is conducted across multiple database fields. The fields searched are specific to the record type being searched (see table below). A record will be included in the search results if the search string is found in any of the database fields included in the search.

When additional criteria are used in the search, only records that match all criteria used will be returned as results. See "Using Multiple Search Criteria" on page 47 below for additional details and examples.

Using Multiple Search Criteria

When conducting searches by typing text in multiple search criteria fields, the search will return results only for records that match ALL criteria fields used in the search. For example, a Standard Search or a Quick Search of Job records that uses "Wellness" as a Keyword criterion and "Smith" as a Customer criterion will only return Jobs that contain the term "Smith" in the customer name field and "Wellness" in one (or more) of the fields included in the scope of a Keyword search (See "Keyword and Quick Search Scope" on page 46 above).

Note: By default, Quick Searches use only the Keyword criterion. Additional criteria may be saved and automatically used in Quick Searches. See "Saving search criteria to the Quick Search" on page 47 for additional details.

Case Sensitivity

Search strings are not case specific. For example, a search for "wellness" will return results for all Jobs with a name starting with "Wellness", "wellness", "WELLNESS", or any variation on capitalization thereof.

Procedures:

Saving search criteria to the Quick Search

1. Conduct a Quick Search as you normally would (select a record type and type a search string). The Quick Search results page will open.
2. In the results page, click the Change Condition button. The Conditions page for the Quick Search will open.
3. Type the criteria you want all future Quick Searches to use. Any criteria field in the Conditions page except for the Keywords criteria can be saved for future use in the Quick Search.
4. Optional: Change the column sort-order of the search results by clicking the column headers. When the Quick Search is saved, so too is the column sort order. When the Quick Search is used again, results will be displayed using the column sort order saved with the Quick Search. See "Saving the column sort-order of Quick Search results" on page 48 for additional details.
5. Click Save. The Quick Search for the selected record type will be saved with the modified conditions and with the current column sort order. All future uses of the Quick Search will use the saved conditions and column sort order.

Saving the column sort-order of Quick Search results

1. Conduct a Quick Search as you normally would (select a record type and type a search string). The Quick Search results page will open.
2. In the results page, click the column headers you want to sort the results by. Multiple column headers may be selected by holding down the Shift key when clicking. See "Sorting Search Results" on page 53 for additional details.
3. Click Save when finished. The Quick Search for the selected record type will be saved with the current column sort order. All future uses of the Quick Search will use any saved conditions and will use the saved column sort order when displaying results.

Saving a Quick Search as a Standard Search

1. Conduct a Quick Search as you normally would (select a record type and type a search string). The Quick Search results page will open.
2. Optional: Modify the column sort order of the results and/or the criteria used in the search as needed. See the preceeding procedures for additional details.
3. Click Save As when the search results are displayed.
4. Type a name to save the search as.
5. Click OK. A copy of the Quick Search will be saved and made available for future use as a Standard Search (See "Using Standard Searches" on page 49 below for additional details).

Note: While a Quick Search can be saved as a Standard Search, the reverse is not possible: a Standard Seach cannot be saved as a Quick Search.