Finding content

The quickest way to an item is often to search for it. The administration has three tools: the search field in the header for words, the search page with its filters, and the Content finder when you know a number, a path or an address. You find only what your role may read.

The search field

1. Click Search... in the header, or press / anywhere on the page (Ctrl + /, or Cmd + / on a Mac, also works from inside another field).
2. Type one or more words. From the third character on, a list of suggestions opens under the field.
3. Choose a suggestion with the mouse or the arrow keys and Enter, or press Enter without choosing one to open the search page. Esc closes the list.

The suggestions come in groups: Content (with the type and the place in the tree), and, depending on your role, Users, Content classes and Administration (pages of the administration's menus). View all results at the end opens the search page.

The funnel button in the field opens Search scope: limit the search to one section, or to the place in the tree you are looking at (Current location), or go to the search page.

The search page and its filters

The search page has the search field on top, the Filters on the left and the results in a table:

• Words: all words, or an exact phrase.
• Content type: one or more types, grouped by class group; the less used ones are under Show more.
• Depending on the search engine of the site: the section, when the item was modified or published, the owner, the language and the place in the tree.

Choose filters and press Apply. Sort by above the results orders them, for example by relevance, name or date. Each result shows its name and place in the tree, when it was modified, its type and its translations. Tick results and press Edit selected to edit several in one form.

The address of a search keeps the words and every filter, so you can bookmark it with Bookmark this page, or send it to a colleague.

The Content finder

When you know the item, type its node number, its path (such as media/images) or its full address on the site into the Content finder below the tree, and press Find. See Navigating the node tree.

Searching the public site

Visitors search the site with its own search field, usually in the header. It also suggests pages while they type, and its search page shows the results with a short text and a picture, and filters by content type. Only published, visible items the visitor may read are found; user accounts and the pages of the administration never are.

What can go wrong

• A new item is not found. The search index is updated shortly after publishing, on some sites by a scheduled job. Use the tree or the Content finder in the meantime.
• Too many results. Search for an exact phrase, or choose a content type.
• Nothing is found, but you know the item exists. It may be in the trash, in a language you did not search, or closed to your role.
• Some filters are missing. The site's built-in search engine offers fewer filters than eZ Find, the Solr-based search engine.

Read more

• Searching, in the help center.
• How do I find content in the administration?
• The content finder