Search by Column
You can narrow your search to specific (or multiple!) columns.
To do so, click the down arrow next to the Search field and then enter your search term in the field below the appropriate column header. To search by multiple columns, enter search terms in the fields below the additional column headers.
- Column search is available in Grid Layout, but not List Layout.
- By default, column-based searches are "starts with" searches, meaning that they only look for matches with the beginning of the specific columns.
- You can also search for anything that displays in the column by including "*" for a wildcard search. For example, search for Anders*n to return results of both "Anderson" and "Andersen".
- To search for a date, make sure you include the leading zero for the months January (01) through September (09). Remember: Search for what you see!
- Columns for Yes or No fields include the option to filter on "Yes", "No", or "Unset". Unset means that there is no filter results display fields containing both Yes and No. Unset does not mean the value is null.
- Enter Null or Not Null into the column to return all records where the field is either blank (null) or not blank (not null). Note: It doesn't matter if you capitalize your search, but if you search for someone named "Null" or with "Null" in their address, be sure to search for nul or nul*, otherwise you'll return null fields rather than people named Null.
When you finish your column-based search, you have two options to get clear the column search fields: either click the down arrow or navigate to a different page.
Alternate Column-Based Search: Commas
Want to kick-it old school? MinistryPlatform recognizes commas within search criteria as a way to specify columns. If you have column search open, click the X on the column header to close it. This activates the search bar at the top of the table. Count the number of columns before the column you'd like to search, then enter that number of commas followed by your search term.
In this example, you want to search for everyone in the state of Arizona. The State/Region column is the sixth column from the left, so you would enter five commas (representing the five columns preceding the column you want) then "AZ" as the state to search for.
You can also use commas to search multiple columns. For example, you could enter ,Ward,,,,TX to find everyone with the first name "Ward" in the state of Texas.