Answer Text Field Search Options

When you are searching for answers, you can use the search text type fields Phrases, Similar Phrases, Exact Search, Complex Expression, or Answer ID.

All search types look for different word forms such as singular, plural, or different verb tenses. For example, searching for reflect will find answers that contain reflection, reflections, reflected, reflecting, or reflects.

All search types use the logical operators + (AND) and – (NOT). Insert + before a word to find answers that must include the word. Insert – before a word to exclude answers containing that word. For a list of special characters that can be used for searching, see Special Characters Allowed When Searching.

The answer Summary, Question, Answer, and Keywords fields are searched for matching terms.

Answer Text Field Search Options

Field	Description
Phrases	Select this search technique to search for answers containing the words in the phrase or question you enter. Multi-word phrases usually produce better search results.
Similar Phrases	Select this search technique to search for answers that contain the words or phrase you enter as well as answers containing synonyms for the words you enter.
Exact Search	Select this search technique to search for answers with the same pattern of words as the words you enter. Only answers containing an identical pattern of words are matched, although the words in the matching answers may be separated by stopwords such as a, an, or the.
Complex Expression	Select this search technique to search for answers containing the complex expression you enter. This technique allows wildcard searching using an asterisk (*) at the end of a word or partial word and a tilde (~) before a word to perform a similar phrases search on that word only.
Answer ID	Enter a range of answer IDs to search for answers with answer IDs within the specified range. Wildcard characters are not supported in Answer ID searching.