InterAction Web Client provides several ways for professionals to find contacts. The framework displayed around all of the pages includes a find bar for searching by name, phone number, or e-mail address. The home page also provides a quick search form with some additional fields.
For more detailed and precise searching, the Web Client provides a set of search forms on the Contact Search page. Users can get to this page from the drop-down menu on the main menu and other links.
The Contact Search page displays a list of links across the top of the page. These links correspond to different search pages users can use to find contacts. Selecting a link updates the body of the page with a form for collecting criteria for the search. Your organization can change the out-of-the-box forms and create new ones as needed.
[A] The searches appear as links across the top of the page.
[B] These options display additional searches in the left column of the page.
[C] Selecting a search updates the body of the page with the form for collecting the search criteria.
[D] Users can choose to search for contacts based on activity criteria. This check box and associated section is included on all searches automatically.
Typically the searches that appear across the top of the page are the most important, frequently-used searches in an organization. Additional searches can be added to the “Other Searches” category, where they appear in a list.
There are two basic types of Web Client searches:
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Searches you design using the Windows Client. These can appear either in the “top navigation” on the search page, or on the “Other Searches” page.
These search forms are intended to help users focus their search on specific criteria. They are frequently used in conjunction with contact types and profiles. For example, the Client contact type is used to categorize contacts as clients. It has a related profile that displays client-related information. There is also a Clients search form that lets users quickly find clients that meet particular criteria. These three components work together to give users a comprehensive way to search and view information about your organization’s clients.
- Searches that are automatically generated from the user’s contact list and the set of working lists and marketing lists the user can view. These are available under the “List Searches” item. Each form includes a set of standard fields and all additional fields defined for the folder.
Working Lists, Marketing Lists and User Contact Categories Generate List Searches
See the following topics:
- Where Do Searches Appear in the Web Client?
- Web Client Searches Included with InterAction
- When Should I Create a Search?
Where Do Searches Appear in the Web Client?
The Web Client includes a contact search page. This displays the set of available search forms. Designated searches are displayed as links across the top of the page; additional searches can be placed in the “Other Searches” section, where they appear on the left-side of the page.
The same searches that appear as links across the top of the contact search page also appear in the search drop-down list in the main menu. This allows users to jump directly to a particular search form. Links to a few selected searches are also available on the Web Client home page.
[A] The main menu drop-down list includes the same searches as on the contact search page.
[B] Selected searches are included on the out-of-the-box home page as well.
In addition, when you define a contact type, you can “tie” that type to a specific search. This adds a search link to the pages for displaying contacts assigned that type. Selecting the link will display a popup window with the designated search form. This is normally used to provide a quick way for a user to get a subset of contacts assigned a particular contact type. For details, see Associating Web Client Profiles and Searches with Contact Types.
Displaying a Search Form from a Contact Type
[A] Select a contact type from the list of available types.
[B] Selecting Search this List displays the related search form (the Client search in this example).
A similar popup window is available for marketing lists and working lists. The search form used in this case is automatically generated based on the folder-specific fields for the list.
Web Client Searches Included with InterAction
The following searches are included with InterAction. Details about the specific layout and criteria fields for each of these search forms is available in Out-of-the-Box Web Searches.
- People
- Companies
- Personnel
- Alumni
- Clients
- Prospects
- Top Clients
- Activities
- List Searches
- Other Searches
- Inactive Clients
- Former Clients
- Our Consultants
All of these searches except the last three are included in the top navigation on the contact search page. The Inactive Clients, Former Clients, and Our Consultants searches appear on the Other Searches section.
When Should I Create a Search?
As with profiles, searches allow users to find particular sets of contacts without needing to know how the data is organized behind the scenes. This is especially useful for finding subsets of particular contact lists. For example, the Clients search has hidden criteria that limits the results to contacts that are classified as clients. Users can then enter other information to find a subset of your organization’s clients, without needing to remember to choose the client contact type.
You typically create new searches to correspond to contact types and profiles. For example, the client contact type has a corresponding profile and search. Using the search finds all contacts that have the client profile. If you create a new contact type and corresponding profile, consider also creating a search. The criteria fields frequently correspond to the fields users see in the profile – for example, the client profile displays the “date became client” field and the clients search allows users to search on that value.
For more about when you should create profiles, see When Should I Create a Profile?