1.6.3 Power Search with Prefixes
Because the ability to search stori.es is such a valuable part of connecting people and effecting change, stori.es has technology built in to enable you to perform powerful targeted searches according to your goals.
Power search allows you to narrowly target data in a particular field. For example, you may want to search through story titles, search by storyteller location, or search for stories created within a certain date range. stori.es enables you to search across the following fields:
-
Story Fields
For example, search all collection titles or search for specific responses to a story request or custom question. -
Stories by Date
Search stories created and modified within specified dates. -
Tags
Look for stories, collections and questionnaires you've grouped together with tags. -
Notes
Search the content of notes added to stories, collections and questionnaires. -
Storyteller contact information
For example, search by storyteller last name, email address, or state. - Story & collection administrators
Use Map View for Geographical Search! You can quickly search for stories by location and identify regional trends within a collection, using the map view.
Power search prefixes enable you use to search specific data fields in the stori.es database. All power searches use the same syntax (that is, the order in which you type the characters into the search window). Type in the prefix, then a colon, and finally the search term.
prefix:term
It is important to note that to use the power search prefixes, there should be no space between the prefix, colon, and search term.
For example to search through all tags to find those that contain the word credit, type:
- In the example above, the power search prefix is
tag. - To let the search engine know you are not searching for the word tag but want to search within the tags associated with stories or collections and questionnaires for a certain keyword or phrase you then type a colon (
:). - Type the word or phrase you are searching for, in this case
credit.
Tip: Remember not to type a space before or after the colon!
Using the prefixes below, you can search for terms within specific fields in a story, including storyteller responses to multiple-choice and other custom questions.
title:
From View Stories, results include those stories that contain the word or phrase in the title.
From View Collections, results include those collections that contain the word or phrase in the title
story:
From View Stories, results include those stories that contain the word or phrase in body of the story. Results do not include custom questions, tags or notes associated with a story.
collection:
From View Stories or View Collections, results include the stories associated with a collection that contains the word or phrase in its title.
response:
Use this prefix to search across all question responses. Results include any question responses that contain the search terms, including custom questions. For example,
response:2008
response:(Checking Account)
Tip: Notice the Parentheses Operator to search for multi-word phrases.
Using Search Effectively with Multiple Choice Questions. stori.es search includes the ability to search for responses to multiple choice questions! To use this search feature most efficiently, consider expanding multiple choice answers beyond a simple yes or no when you create your questionnaire. Your search results will be specifically targeted rather than including every yes or no answer to any question.
For example, the questionnaire creator expanded the answer text for the following question:
Q. Did you read the stori.es weekly newsletter?
Answer 1. Yes, I read the stori.es weekly newsletter
Answer 2. No, I did not read the stori.es weekly newsletter
As a result, responses that indicate storytellers did not read the stori.es newsletter can be easily located using the following search:
response:”No, I did not read the stori.es weekly newsletter”
Learn more about writing multiple choice questions and answers.
If you need to find stories that are bounded by a specific date, search using the following prefixes:
created:before:yyyy-mm-dd
created:after:yyyy-mm-dd
modified:before:yyyy-mm-dd
modified:after:yyyy-mm-dd
Note that dates need to follow a yyyy-mm-dd format (including dashes).
By combining the date power keyword prefixes, you can constrain search results to a particular date range:
created:after:2012-01-01 AND created:before:2013-01-01
Alternatively, you can use the date range shorthand notation:
created:(2012-01-01 TO 2013-01-01)
Use the tag: prefix to search for all the stories associated with a single tag or multiple tags.
From View Stories, you can search the tags attached to a stories. From View Collections, you can search the tags attached to collections and questionnaires.
For example, if you type:
tag:credit
in the View Stories search window, the search results return all stories with a tag that contains the word credit.
in the View Collections search window, the search results return all collections and all questionnaires with a tag that contains the word credit.
You can also click to search on tags! Simply click on a tag to see all the stories, collections, or questionnaires that share that tag.
To search for more than one tag in a single search, type in each tag you are searching for separated by commas. Do not include spaces before or after the commas. For example:
tag:credit,debt
Tip: Whether you are searching for one or more tag, you can use the tag: prefix or type tags:. The operators are interchangeable.
Note that to use the tag prefix, the term you type in the search window must be an exact match with results you are looking for.
You can search across the notes attached to a story by using the note: prefix.
You must enclose the search terms you type after the colon in parentheses when using the note: prefix. For example,
note:"women's suffrage"
From the View Stories tab, you can search for stories written by particular storytellers. Use the following prefixes to target specific contact information:
first:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers with the first name you type.
last:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers with the last name you type.
email:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers with the email address you type.
city:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers who indicated the city you type as their address.
state:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers who indicated the state you type as their address. Tip: Typing the full state name (for example, Ohio) or typing the state’s abbreviation (for example, OH) returns the same results.
zip:
Search results include those stories submitted by storytellers who indicated the zip code you type. The zip code must contain exactly 5 numeric characters.
Note that to use the storyteller contact information prefixes, the term you type in the search window must be an exact match with results you are looking for. Tip: If you don't have enough information to type in an exact match, you can use basic search to find content that matches whatever information you have.
To search for stories submitted through a questionnaire or collection that is owned or administered by a colleague, use the following prefixes to target specific information:
owner:
admin:
Note that to use the storyteller contact information prefixes, the term you type in the search window must be an exact match with results you are looking for.