Search in custom fields

You can search for data in both the Public Area and in the Admin Area.

To search in the Public Area

• Click on Advanced Search
• Select a type (Article or Files)
• Click Extra Options section which contains all the custom fields

To search in the Admin Area

• Click on Articles (if field is under Articles, or Files, News or Feedback if field is under, respectively, files, news or feedback)
• Click on the [+] button to the left of the search area

This brings up a list of all custom fields for articles (or files/news/feedback)

The list of custom fields display by default is custom fields that are included in all categories.  If you want custom fields that are listed only in a specific category, select the category

Once you have your list of custom fields

• If necessary, choose a category.
  Categories default to 'all' and will also search in sub-categories if you use the default options
• Choose which field you wish to search on, and choose which data you wish to search for
  • If the field is a multi-choice field you will be presented with a list of drop-down values to select from
  • If the field is a checkbox, you will be able to check the value to choose items with that flag set
  • If the field is a text field, you will be able to type text into the field to search on

  and so on.

• Click Search to start the search.

This brings up a list of all articles with that particular custom field value.

Some working examples for search

Let's say you have a knowledgebase set up as follows:

No valid value has been set for the article How to make cards. Also, Extras can be defined anywhere.

• If you click on search without defining any further parameters this brings back a list of all articles which contain values in any custom field, hence it would return:
  • Teach Yourself Photoshop
  • Nerds Rule
  • Our London Office
  • Our Paris Office
• If you select T-shirt in the Extras custom field, and then click on search (still not having defined any further parameters, or using All), this will bring back:
  • Nerds Rule
  • Our Paris Office
• If you select T-shirt in the Extras custom field, and choose the Product category, this will bring back:
  • Nerds Rule
• If you choose T-shirt in the Extras custom field, and Yes in the Retail Shop field, and search all levels, then your search will return:
  • Nerds Rule
  • Our London Office
  • Our Paris Office

This last is because it will search for either field, rather than both fields.