3.1. Searching for Companies and Contacts
Directory Members are organised into Companies and Contacts. Each Company can have any number of Contacts.
The search is divided into two sections, one will return a list of Companies and one will return a list of Contacts. Use the tabs to toggle between the two searches.
- 3.1.1. Searching for a Specific Company
- 3.1.2. Searching for a Group of Companies
- 3.1.3. Searching for Contacts
- 3.1.4. Viewing Search Results (Companies)
- 3.1.5. Viewing Search Results (Contacts)
3.1.1. Searching for a Specific Company
If you know the name of the company you want to find, simply enter it in the Company Name field and click search.
Tip: Only companies whose name contains exactly what you enter will be returned. So if you search for 'The Red Book Contractors' and the company is stored in the database as 'Red Book Contractors', it will not be found. Similarly if you enter 'Blue Dolphin Design Limited' and the company is stored as 'Blue Dolphin Design Ltd' it will not be found.
You only need to enter part of a company name for it to be found, so it is best to stick to the main part of the name. In the examples just given, 'Red Book' and 'Blue Dolphin' should be sufficient to find the companies.
All the companies matching what you have entered will be listed on the Search Results page.
3.1.2. Searching for a Group of Companies
The assist:directory administrative search provides a number of search options to help you find a group of companies matching specific criteria. The search is divided into four sections, each section is described below.
Tip: You can hide sections of the search you are not using by clicking the minus button next to the header. Expand the section again by clicking the plus.
General Options
This section provides the basic search options so you can find companies by their name, key word or location.
The Key Word option will search all text fields associated with a company, including name and address and any custom text fields set up on your directory. When using the Key Word search you have the option to search for 'all words', 'any words' or an 'exact phrase'.
- If you select 'all words': companies will be returned if all the words entered are found on their company record, but they don't necessarily have to be next to each other or in the order entered.
- If you select 'any words': companies will be returned if at least one of the words entered is found on their company record.
- If you select 'exact phrase': companies will be returned if the exact phrase entered is found on their company record.
Extra Search Options
These options allow you to further narrow your search results with more specific options.
- Highlighted Listings only?: You can set a company to have a highlighted listing to make it appear more prominently in the public search results. This option returns companies with a highlighted listing only.
- Displayed on website: Members can opt not to appear in the public search. This option allows you to limit the search to those that do or do not appear in the public search.
- Email/Mail Allowed: Members can choose not to receive communication by mail or email. These options allow you to limit the search to those that do or do not allow contact by mail or email.
- Last Logged in: This option returns members that last logged in to the member area of the directory within the date range entered.
- Last Updated: This option returns members whose records were last updated within the date range entered. You can choose whether to look for the last time the record was updated by the member themselves, by an administrator, or either.
- Member has email address: This option allows you to limit the search to members who have or do not have an email address recorded against either the company or the main contact for that company.
Custom Text Field Search Options
This section will contain any Custom Text Fields that have been set up on your directory that you have opted to include in the administrative search. You can set whether or not a custom field appears in this section by setting the 'Internal Search' flag of the custom text field edit page.
Depending on the type of text field, you will either have a text box to search in, or a range (for dates or values).
Custom Option Field Search Options
This section will contain any Custom Option Fields that have been set up on your directory that you have opted to include in the administrative search. You can set whether or not a custom field appears in this section by setting the 'Internal Search' flag of the custom option field edit page.
If the type of field is select one (only one option can be recorded against the company record, e.g. number of employees band) then the option will appear in the search as a drop down list from which one item can be selected.
If you have any linked fields in your directory, these will appear as a group of drop down lists. If you select an item in the first drop down list it will filter the items in the next drop down list and so on.
If the type of field is select multiple (more than one option can be recorded against the company record, e.g. sector experience) then the option will appear in the search as a drop down list (or a number of drop down lists if the field is a linked field), and a selected items box. Items can be selected from the drop down list and added to the selected items box by using the add (+) button. Only items in the selected items box will be included in the search, so don't forget to click the add (+) button once you have selected an item.
If you want to remove an item you have added to the search, click on it to highlight it and click the remove (-) button
If you have added more than one item to the search, you can choose whether to search for 'any of these' or 'all of these'.
- All of these: companies will be returned if all the items selected are found on their company record
- Any of these: companies will be returned if at least one of the items selected are found on their company record
3.1.3. Searching for Contacts
The Contacts Search works in a similar way to the Companies Search, except that it will return a list of contacts rather than companies. The search options are largely the same as those for companies, with a few additions.
- Contact Name: This option searches the contact forename and surname fields. You can enter either just the forename and surname or the full name (forename followed by surname, e.g. Hannah Jones).
- Main Contacts Only: Companies can have more than one contact, but just one of them will be identified as the main contact. This option returns main contacts only.
- Custom Fields (Contact): Custom fields can be created for both companies and contacts. In the Companies Search only those for companies will be shown. In the Contacts Search there are two sections each for custom text fields and custom option fields, one for those that apply to companies and one for contacts.
Where an option searches a company field (e.g. Company Name) it will return all the contacts for matching companies, unless you use the Main Contacts Only field described above.
3.1.4. Viewing Search Results (Companies)
The Company Search Results page lists the companies returned in your search. If you have quite a few results they will be listed over several pages. Use the previous and next links to view each page, or the page numbers at the bottom to jump to a specific page.
To open a specific company click on its name. This will take you into the Company Record where you can edit member details. Users that don't have permission to edit Directory Members will be able to see but not edit the company details.
You can view all the contacts for a particular company by clicking on the list contacts... link. This will list the contacts on the Contacts Tab of the member record.
Actions
You can apply a number of actions to the companies returned in the search. The action buttons appear in the bar above the search results.
- Send Mails: This action allows you to prepare and send an email and/or letter to a group of companies.
- Download CSV: This action allows you to download part or all of your directory to Excel.
- Create PDF: This action allows you to create a print formatted directory.
The actions will only be applied to selected companies. By default all the companies returned in your search will be selected. If you want to exclude a company from the action (so that they don't receive the mail or appear in the download) uncheck the checkbox for that company. Click the deselect all button above the checkboxes to uncheck all the checkboxes. Click it again to check them all and select all of your search results.
3.1.5. Viewing Search Results (Contacts)
The Contact Search Results look similar to the Company Search Results, except that lists contacts rather than companies.
The Contact Name and Company Name will be shown in the results. To open a specific contact click on their name. This will take you into the Contact Record where you can edit contact details. Click on the company name to open the Company Record where you can edit member details. Users that don't have permission to edit Directory Members will be able to see but not edit the company and contact details.
You can select and deselect contacts to apply actions to in the same way as companies. The option to download a PDF print formatted directory is not available for contacts.