This guide provides a comprehensive overview of Discourse’s search capabilities, including filters, options, and advanced techniques.
Required user level: All users
Discourse offers a powerful search functionality with numerous filters and criteria. When you use the advanced search form, it automatically appends the relevant syntax to your query. For example, selecting [x] In my messages will add in:personal to your search query.
This guide covers all available search options and features in Discourse, and provides useful tips and tricks for using the search function.
Filters
Discourse provides a wide range of filters to help you refine your search results. Here’s a comprehensive list of available filters:
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
in:personal-direct |
Returns posts in personal messages between two users only |
in:all-pms |
 For Admins only Returns posts from all personal messages, including those you’re not a part of |
in:all |
Returns posts from public topics and personal messages |
in:tagged |
Returns posts from topics that have at least one tag |
in:untagged |
Returns posts from topics with no tags |
in:seen |
Returns posts you’ve seen (for logged-in users) |
in:unseen |
Returns posts you haven’t seen (for logged-in users) |
in:wiki |
Returns wiki posts |
in:watching |
Returns posts from topics you’re watching |
in:tracking |
Returns posts from topics you’re tracking |
posts_count:X |
Returns posts from topics that have exactly X posts |
min_posts:X |
Returns posts from topics with at least X posts |
max_posts:X |
Returns posts from topics with at most X posts |
min_views:X |
Returns posts from topics with at least X views |
max_views:X |
Returns posts from topics with at most X views |
badge:name_or_id |
Returns posts linked to a specific badge grant |
created:@username |
Returns posts from topics created by username
|
group:group_name |
Returns posts from users within the group_name group |
group_messages:group_name |
Returns posts from personal messages sent to the group_name group |
personal_messages:username |
For Admins only Returns posts from personal messages of the specified user |
-tags:tag1,tag2,tag3 |
Returns posts not tagged with tag1, tag2, or tag3
|
filetypes:ext1,ext2,ext3 |
Returns posts with uploads of ext1, ext2, or ext3 file extensions |
categories:category1,category2 |
Returns posts from the categories category1 and category2
|
status:open |
Returns posts from topics that are not closed or archived |
status:closed |
Returns posts from closed topics |
status:archived |
Returns posts from archived topics |
status:noreplies |
Returns posts from topics with no replies |
status:single_user |
Returns posts from topics with posts from only one user |
status:public |
Returns posts from topics in public categories |
before:YYYY-MM-DD |
Returns posts created before the specified date |
after:YYYY-MM-DD |
Returns posts created after the specified date |
with:images |
Returns posts containing images |
Order
You can sort your search results using the following order options:
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
order:latest |
Sorts results from newest to oldest |
order:oldest |
Sorts results from oldest to newest |
order:latest_topic |
Sorts results by topic date, from newest to oldest |
order:oldest_topic |
Sorts results by topic date, from oldest to newest |
order:views |
Sorts results by number of views |
order:likes |
Sorts results by number of likes |
Aliases
Discourse provides several aliases to make searching easier:
| Syntax | Equivalent |
|---|---|
l |
order:latest |
in:personal |
in:messages |
min_post_count: |
min_post: |
in:mine |
in:created |
category: |
categories: |
# |
Can be used for both categories and tags, depending on context |
user: |
@ |
@me |
@your_own_username |
f |
in:first |
t |
in:title |
Searching for Exact Words
Discourse uses a technique called Stemming to find related words. While this is often helpful, there may be times when you want to search for an exact word. You can do this by enclosing your word with spaces and double quotes, like so: " term ".
This ensures that it will search only for the word “term” and exclude other related words.
Example: Searching for @mentions
Currently, searching for @mentions is not directly supported. However, you can achieve this using the exact word search method:
https://meta.discourse.org/search?q=“%20%40username%20”
%20is how spaces are encoded in URLs and%40is how the@symbol is encoded.
This query will look specifically for @username (enclosed in spaces).
Combining Search Options
You can combine multiple search options to create more specific queries. For example:
-
status:open category:support tag:urgent after:2023-01-01 order:latest
This will search for open support topics tagged as urgent, created after January 1, 2023, and sort the results by the latest post. -
@jane_doe in:watching min_posts:5 with:images
This will search for posts by Jane Doe in topics you’re watching, with at least 5 posts, and containing images.
Permissions and Limitations
Some advanced search options may require certain user permissions or may be limited to specific user roles. For example:
-
in:all-pmsis only available to administrators, not to regular users or moderators. -
personal_messages:usernameis only available to administrators.
Always consider your user role and permissions when using advanced search options.
Search Alternative: Topic List Filter
An experimental /filter feature is available that supports many filter types. You can learn more on the official topic: Experimental topics list filter feature
Source Files
For a more technical look at these options, all search filters and parameters can be found in search.rb - look for the advanced_filter methods.
Additional Tips
-
You can also search for mentions of tags like bug https://meta.discourse.org/search?q=“%20%23bug”
-
Some filters may be added by plugins. For example, the Solved plugin adds:
-
status:solved: Returns posts from solved topics -
status:unsolved: Returns posts from unsolved topics in categories allowing solved marking
-
-
The Topic Voting plugin adds an additional order option:
-
order:votes: Sort results by number of votes on the topic containing the post
-
Take some time to experiment with different combinations of filters and options to find the most effective search strategy for your needs.
Last edited by @hugh 2024-07-25T01:14:14Z
Last checked by @hugh 2024-07-25T01:14:19Z
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