4 Ways to Search for Discussions, Events or Members on Production Lot
You’ve got questions? The Production Lot community has answers! In this post, we’ll take a deep dive into 4 easy, yet effective, ways to use the search tools on the site to find exactly what (or whom) you’re looking for.
1: Explore Terms or Phrases with the Search Bar
Let's start at the beginning (it's a very good place to start!) From the Production Lot homepage, or any group page, add your desired terms to the search bar.
This will be your quickest way to find everything on the site that matches the keywords or phrases you are looking for.
2: Basic Sort and Filter
Now that you’ve got the results from your initial search, it’s time to refine the list.
Production Lot has helpful sorting options to quickly segment results by All, Discussions, Places, Events, and Members.
All: This is, well, everything. All discussions, groups, categories, events, and people. These results can be sorted by Title, Author, or Date.
Discussions: Posts created by community members and admins. Discussions can be sorted by:
- Title
- Author
- Date
- Category
- Tags
- Type (Discussions, Ideas, Polls, or Questions)
Places: Categories and groups. Places can be filtered by Title, Description, or Type.
Events: Webinars, conferences, live events, etc. Filter these by Title, Author or Date.
Members: Everyone who is a registered member of the Production Lot (more on this in step 4).
3. Advanced Filtering with Tags
A great way to filter discussion-based search results is by using tags. This will filter results to only show discussions containing your selected tag(s).
You can filter by more than one tag, using AND/OR rules. By default, the Production Lot search tool will default to an OR operator and will return results containing any of your selected tags.
In the example below, discussions with either the Incentives OR Locations tag will be returned.
Modify this search to show all results for Incentives AND Locations, by checking the Match All Tags box.
In our modified example, discussions with both the Incentives AND Locations tags will be returned in the search results.
4. Search by Members
We saved the best for last! This dedicated search allows community members to find one another. Click the Members button to access the member search.
At the top level, members can search for one another by a basic set of parameters:
- Username (this can be partial or full; think of it as searching for a username that contains your term. For example, searching for "andy" could return "Sandy" as a result.)
- Registered date
- Role
But wait, there's more!
Click the +More Filters button for advanced results by additional, member-specific criteria:
- Username
- Date registered
- Role
- Available for work (if they have checked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on their member profile)
- LinkedIn, IMDB or Personal Website
- Role
- Experience
- Mentorship Program status (if they have selected ‘Find a Mentor’ or ‘Become a Mentor’ on their profile)
This is a great way to connect with a fellow community member who has the same role as you, or perhaps someone in a role that you wish to have someday!
Hiring managers: Are you looking to crew up for your next show? You can easily find people who are available to work, and by what position or other details they have listed on their profile.
Job seekers: Make sure your profile is up-to-date and you have checked the “available for work” box so you appear in the search results!
There you have it! 4 easy—yet highly effective—ways to utilize the search functionality on Production Lot to find the discussions, events, or people you’re looking for.
Now it’s time for you to give it a try. Happy searching!