Finding Applications: Filters and Search

One search box above the application list does two jobs. Type plain words to search what applicants answered and the documents they uploaded, or start typing a field name to filter by it.

Searching answers and documents

Type a word or phrase, then press Enter or the Search button. Optible searches across what applicants wrote in their answers and the documents they uploaded, and each application it finds shows how many matches it has. Search runs when you press Enter or Search, not as you type.

Searching inside answers and documents works on grants that have content search switched on.

Filtering by a field

Start typing a field name, such as status or state. The box offers matching fields. Pick one, choose a value, and the filter appears as a chip. Add more filters the same way. The operators on offer include contains, excludes and is none of.

Two filters can be joined with OR by grouping them, or kept as separate AND conditions by splitting them. Clear removes everything.

Describing what you want

The search box takes an ordinary sentence. Something like "submitted applications from regional councils asking for more than 50k" works.

Behind the scenes it tries the obvious thing first. A plain search runs, and if your text matches an application name or reference you get those results immediately. Only if nothing matches, and you have no filters applied, does it try to interpret the sentence.

What comes back are ordinary filter chips, not a black box. You can see how your sentence was read and correct any chip that is wrong, rather than rewording the whole thing and hoping.

If your grant has content search switched on, the sentence gets split in two: the structured parts, like status and amount and assignee, become chips, and the rest becomes a search across what applicants actually wrote in their answers.

When the interpretation service cannot be reached it says so and falls back to plain search, rather than failing.

Saving what you built

When a combination turns out to be useful, save it as a named view. Save for myself keeps it private. Save for organisation shares it with everyone working the grant, which is how team-standard views like "Awaiting decision" get made.

Saved views appear as quick filters above the application list.

Doing something with the results

Ticking rows brings up the bulk action bar. Tick everything on the page while more applications still match, and a banner offers select all matching, which extends your selection past the page you are looking at. That is what lets an export cover the whole filtered set rather than just the rows you could physically reach.