Here are some tips and tricks to enhance the effectiveness of global search.
First, use search prefixes to narrow the search to records of one type by adding a prefix to the search keyword.
This will also speed the search and eliminate the return of irrelevant records. A search prefix is made up of all or some of the letters of a record type plus a colon or a caret.
For example if you are looking for a specific customer record, you can type in C-U-S then colon and then enter the keywords. This will list down all the records that start with the keyword that you have entered.
You can also type in C-U-S and caret and then type in the keywords, it will show up the same result.
Use keywords that are at least three characters long to return expected results when searching over a large amount of data.
Note: Keep in mind to limit the keyword lengths to 32 characters or less, otherwise it may cause a failure to find matching results.
Use % sign as a wild card in numeric and text keywords. By default, the global search returns exact matches only unless you add the percent sign wild card. This is also helpful in avoiding returning extremely larger results sets for purely numeric keywords. If you enter ‘Inv:33’, only an invoice with invoice number thirty three is returned. If you enter ‘Inv:33’ and then add the % sign, all invoices with numbers starting with three three are returned.
Now if you add the % sign before the keyword, any invoices containing ‘33’ anywhere in the record are returned.
You can also use OR as a separator in keywords to search for multiple text strings. For example, you are looking for records that have USB or VGA in its name. You can type in % sign USB then type in or and then % sign VGA. It will show all the records that have USB or VGA in its name. You can click to show more results and see the complete list.
Another tip is for searching inactive records. By default inactive records are not searchable in the global search. You can include inactive records in the search results by appending a plus symbol to your keywords.
For example if you are looking for an inactive customer, you can type in C-U-S: then enter the keyword. You will notice that there’s no result for this specific keyword. Now, when I add a plus sign after the keyword, it shows a result that pertains to an inactive record.