How to Filter Content

In Documoto, filters allow users to refine, or narrow down, search results. Filters are entirely customizable by an Administrator and reflect tags, or metadata attributes, that have been applied to content or entities in Documoto.  

Article Topics

• Types of Filters
  • Faceted Filters
  • Textfield Filters
  • Range Filters
• How to Use Filters

Types of Filters

The tag's input type configuration will determine the type of filter, as well as how users will use and apply the filter in the web library. In Documoto, there are three (3) types of filters:

1. Faceted
2. Textfield
3. Range

Faceted Filters

Faceted filters display all available filters, or values, as checkboxes within a list. When a faceted filter is initially applied to search results, the default selection is 'any'. In other words, none of the applicable filter values have been applied to search results - yet. To select a specific value to apply, click on the filter name to open a drop-down list. Note that within the list, the count to the right of each value, indicates the number of items within the available search results that fit that particular criteria. 

Note: the count honors any other filters currently applied. 

When users apply a filter value, the search results will narrow down to only those that contain the applied filter value. Notice that rather than 'any', the filter now indicates the value(s) you have applied.

Note: if you click more than one checkbox within a single 
filter, the search results must meet ALL of the checked 
criteria. The same is true for applying multiple filters. 

If you select a filter to apply and there is no corresponding list of values to choose from, that is because among the search results with currently applied filters, none have values pertaining to the filter you’ve clicked on.

Textfield Filters

Rather than a drop-down list, textfield filters allow users to enter any desired value, or string of text, within the filter’s textfield. Documoto's type-ahead feature will recommend search suggestions based on the text that is input into the filter. 

Note: suggested filters will only appear if the user's search
matches the beginning of a filter value. In the example above,
if the user had typed 'HT', none of the above suggested 
filter values would be listed because the actual filter 
values begin with '934'.

Range Filters

Range filters allow users to filter by a specific value, by searching within a numerical range. Primarily, range filters are used for serial numbers. To apply a range filter, a user would enter a numeric value into the filter's textfield. In turn, the filter would return any entities that have a range tag applied that includes the typed value. 

In addition to the numerical component, if configured, users have the ability to apply a pre-defined prefix or suffix, which is typically an alphabetical value. For example, if a company's serial numbers always start with a two letter code like AB or XY, each could be configured as a prefix.

Filtering based on a prefix or suffix alone will also refine search results.

How to Use Filters

From the landing page, use the global search bar, Browse flow and/or Go to Search button to find or navigate to content. If you do not know how to search or browse in Documoto, refer to: How to Search. 

Filters are accessible from the search results page, as well as in the Browse Flow search results. By default, two System filters will be "pinned", or always displayed, below the Filters+ button:

• Type: allow users to filter by Documoto entity type (books, pages, parts, documents, videos etc.)
• Categories: allow users to filter by media categories (formerly media shelves), which have been configured by an Administrator.
  • Common examples of categories include: Parts Catalogs, Operator’s Manuals, etc.

Users can apply additional, configured filters by clicking the Filters+ button and selecting the desired filter from the drop-down list. 

Depending on the filters' configuration, users may be presented with different options to apply the filter (detailed in Types of Filters section above). 

Although multiple filters can be applied to a single search, Documoto will only return search results that matches all of the applied filters.

To remove an applied filter, click the X to the right of the filter button. To clear all filters, click the Clear Filters button to the right of Filters+ button. Alternatively, returning to the Documoto home page (by clicking the logo in the upper left corner) will also clear all applied filters. However, filters can always be re-applied via the Filters+ button.

Filters can also be "pinned", or always displayed, on the search results page and within the Browse flow, similar to the Type and Categories system filters.