Overview
The search builder is a visual tool that helps you construct complex searches by selecting fields, operators, and values from dropdown menus. Instead of typing search syntax directly, you build your search one rule at a time. The search builder is especially useful when you want to filter by multiple criteria at once. For example, you might want to find:- Workers at a particular employer who have been assessed as “1s”
- People who attended a recent event but haven’t been contacted lately
- Members on a specific shift who haven’t signed a card
Open the search builder
Click the Search Builder button in the top navigation bar, next to the search icon.
Build a search with rules
When the search builder opens, you see a single empty rule with the heading Find contacts matching the following rules…
- Field — choose what to search by (e.g., Shift, Assessment, Employer, Name, events, custom fields)
- Operator — choose how to match (e.g., “contains the word(s),” “matches the text,” “equals,” “has any value”)
- Value — enter or select the value to match against (some operators like “has any value” don’t require a value)
Available search fields
The field dropdown includes all searchable data in your project, organized by category:- Custom fields — any custom fields configured for your project (e.g., Shift, Pay Rate)
- Events and event steps — events and their individual steps
- Contact info — address, email, phone number
- Contact timeline — timeline notes, dates, and authors
- General — name, assessment, contact type, notes, lists
- Department structure — employer, department, parent organization
- Employment — job title, work location, employee status, seniority date
- Leadership — leader assignments, turf, roles
- Relationships — related contacts, family members, grievants
- Email and texting — sent messages, delivery status, SMS history
- Call center — call outcomes, call pools, callers
- External IDs — IDs from external systems
- Contact types — your project’s configured contact types
- Shapes — geographic shape group membership
Add rules to narrow your search
Click + Add rule to add another condition. When using multiple rules, choose whether contacts must match AND (all rules) or OR (any rule) using the toggle at the top of the builder.
Add rule groups for complex logic
Click Add group to create a nested set of rules with its own AND/OR logic. Rule groups let you build searches like: “Find contacts at Employer X who are assessed as 1 AND (attended Committee Meeting OR signed a Card).”
For a detailed guide on using multiple rules and rule groups, see Search with multiple rules and Add rule groups to your search.
Remove a rule
Click the Remove button next to any rule to delete it from the search.Sort options
Click Sort options to expand the sort section. You can select a saved sort to control the order of your search results.Execute your search
When your rules are ready, click Search to run the search. Click cancel to close the builder without searching. After executing, Broadstripes displays your search results with colored filter badges showing your active search criteria.
- Click a filter badge’s × to remove that criterion
- Click Save this search to save the search for later
- Reopen the search builder to modify your search