Advanced Search lets you filter your database by fields that the basic search does not show, including custom fields, past activity, whether a Contact has an email address or phone number, and where a Contact is in your workflow. Starting with a Boolean search is a great start, and Advanced Search lets you narrow your results to the right people.
How do I turn on Advanced Search?
You turn on Advanced Search in the filters panel on the right side of Search. Select Advanced in the top right corner. When it is on, the button reads Advanced: ON. You can then add filters for unique fields, including custom fields.
Where do custom fields appear in the filters?
Any custom field you create appears toward the bottom of the filter list under the Other category. A custom date field is the exception, and it appears under Dates.
Which advanced filters are most popular?
We see five primary use cases among our customers. They also show how Search can support reporting and data analysis, so you can gain deeper insight into your candidate activity and streamline your recruiting.
Past Activity
Email and Phone Number
Date fields
Activity Form Responses
On Opportunity
What is the Past Activity filter?
The Past Activity filter finds Contacts who have specific activities, so you can refine a search based on historical engagement. It lists every default activity first, followed by any custom activities your organization has created. You narrow it with these options:
Find records with: Select one or more activities, such as Outbound Calls, Inbound Calls, Text, Notes, or Emails.
Regarding: Choose what the activity was about. [Verify: what Regarding lets you pick, such as a Job or a Company.]
Since: Choose a date. Crelate finds records with the activity since that date.
Containing: Enter words that the activity must contain. [Verify: that it searches the text of the activity.]
More Options: Select the cogwheel on the filter to open more options.
How do I open the Past Activity filter?
You open it from the Add Filter menu. Select Add Filter, and then choose Past Activity under Common. The filter opens in the filters panel on the right.
How is Past Activity different from regular activity filtering?
Past Activity is time-bound, and regular activity filtering is not.
Time frame: The Past Activity filter only looks at activities since the date you set. Regular activity filtering finds Contacts who have certain activities at any point in time, unless you add date criteria.
Use case: Use Past Activity to analyze historical engagement. Use regular activity filtering to find records that have specific activities, regardless of when they happened.
How do I use the Past Activity filter?
You add the filter in Search, select the activities you want, and then narrow the results with Regarding, Since, Containing, or More Options.
Select Add Filter, and then choose Past Activity under Common.
Under Find records with, select the activities you want. You can select more than one.
Optional: In Regarding, choose what the activity was about.
Optional: In Since, choose a date.
Optional: In Containing, enter the words the activity must contain.
Optional: Select the cogwheel, and choose from More Options.
The results update as you set each option, so you do not need to select GO.
What are the More Options on the Past Activity filter?
Select the cogwheel on the filter to open More Options. They let you limit the filter by who owned the activity and include activities that are scheduled.
Activities Owned By: Limit the results to activities owned by the people you choose.
Also Include Scheduled Activities: Include activities that are scheduled, along with the ones that already happened.
Only Activities Owned by Me: Limit the results to your own activities.
💡 Pro Tip: Use Activities Owned By to review one recruiter’s outreach, for example the calls and texts they made, without filtering on anything else.
How do I find Contacts by how I last reached them?
You select Outbound Calls, Inbound Calls, or Text under Find records with, and use Since to choose how far back to look. This lets you build follow-up lists by how you last reached someone, and rule out people you have already contacted.
Select Add Filter, and then choose Past Activity.
Under Find records with, select Outbound Calls, Inbound Calls, or Text. These are at the top of the list, before your other activities and any custom activities.
In Since, choose the date to look back to.
Optional: Select the cogwheel, and choose Activities Owned By or Only Activities Owned by Me to limit the results to one person’s outreach.
These filters also work in Find in Contacts. See Using Find in Contacts.
💡 Pro Tip: Save a search that excludes recent calls and texts, and run it each week. It gives you a list of people you have not reached recently. See Saving and Deleting a Search.
How do I leave out Contacts I have already reached?
You change the AND connector above the filter to And not. The filter then leaves out the Contacts that match it, so you can rule out people you have already contacted.
Add the Past Activity filter, and select the activities, such as Outbound Calls and Text.
In Since, choose how far back to look, such as 30 days ago.
Select the AND drop-down above the filter, and then choose And not.
The results now leave out anyone who matches the filter. For example, selecting Outbound Calls and Text with And not and a Since date 30 days ago leaves out Contacts you called or texted in that time.
The AND drop-down above each filter works the same way for other filters. Choose And to keep the Contacts that match, and And not to leave them out. For more on combining filters, see Advanced Search Groupings.
💡 Pro Tip: Save a search that leaves out recent calls and texts, and run it each week. It gives you a list of people you have not reached recently. See Saving and Deleting a Search.
How can I use the Past Activity filter in my recruiting?
Find Contacts who engaged with your team during a specific hiring campaign.
Combine Past Activity with other search criteria to narrow your results.
Update your filters regularly so they match your current recruiting goals.
How do I find Contacts who have or do not have an email address or phone number?
You add the Email Addresses or Phone Numbers filter, and then select the cogwheel on the filter. More Options lets you find Contacts who have any data in the field, or no data in it. This helps you clean up your data, or find Contacts who are missing information that you would like to source and update.
Select Add Filter, and then choose Email Addresses or Phone Numbers.
Select the cogwheel on the filter.
Under More Options, choose one:
Has any data in this field: Finds Contacts who have something in the field.
Has no data in this field: Finds Contacts who have nothing in the field.
Some other filters have the same options in their cogwheel menu.
💡 Pro Tip: To find Contacts who are missing a phone number, add the Phone Numbers filter and choose Has no data in this field. You can then source the number for those Contacts, for example with enrichment.
What is Match mode?
Match mode is an option on some filters, such as Email Addresses. It controls how Crelate compares the words you type with what is stored on the Contact. You choose it from the cogwheel menu on the filter, under Match mode.
Match mode | What it does |
The default for the Email Addresses filter. It matches full or partial email addresses. | |
Contains | Finds values that have your words anywhere in them. |
Starts With | Finds values that begin with your words. |
Exact Match | Finds values that match your words exactly. |
With Email, you can search in three ways:
A full email address, such as example@crelate.com, searches for that exact address.
A domain, such as @example.com or example.com, searches for all emails in that domain. You can use the domain with or without the @ sign.
A word, such as “hello,” searches for all emails that contain it, such as hello@example.com or example@hello.com.
To search for more than one email address or domain, separate them with a space. You do not need to type the word “or.”
💡 Pro Tip: To find every Contact at a company, type the company’s domain in the Email Addresses filter. The Email mode is already selected, so you do not need to change it. To find Contacts at several companies, type the domains with a space between them.
How do I search by the date fields?
You add a date filter from the Dates section of the Add Filter menu. Crelate has many date fields, so you can search your database by when a record was created, when it was last updated, and when you last reached it.
Select Add Filter.
Scroll to the Dates section.
Choose the date filter you want.
Set the date range.
The date filters are:
Created On Date
Key Dates
Last Action Date
Last Activity Date
Last Activity or Modified
Last Engagement Date
Last Reach Out Date
Last Updated Date
Select the information icon next to a date to see exactly what it measures. For a full explanation of each one, see Last Updated, Last Activity, Last Engagement, Last Reach Out and Other Date Fields. A custom date field you create also appears in this section.
💡 Pro Tip: Several dates look alike, such as Last Activity Date and Last Engagement Date. Select the information icon on each before you choose, since they measure different things.
How do I search by Activity Form responses?
You add the Activity Form Responses filter, choose a question from your forms, and then set the answer you want. If your team uses Creating Activity Forms, you can search by any question in your forms. This filter is available in Search only. It is not available in Find.
For example, your team interviews a Contact and asks about contract dates, why they are leaving their employer, and whether they would relocate. With Activity Form Responses, you can run a Boolean search for Sales Managers and Sales Executives in Washington, D.C., and also filter on what those Contacts told you.
Select Add Filter, and then choose Activity Form Responses.
In Question, search for and choose the question from your forms, such as “How many years of experience do you have in this field?”
Set the answer you want. For a number question, enter a Min and a Max. For example, enter 5 in Min to find Contacts with at least five years of experience. [Verify: what fields appear for other kinds of questions, such as text or yes and no.]
Decide whether to select Only search most recent responses? When it is selected, Crelate looks only at each Contact’s most recent response to that question.
Note: The results do not show a Contact’s answers. The answers are stored on the form document that is attached to the record, not in a field on the Contact. The only time an answer shows in the results is when the form maps it to a field. In that case, filter on that field instead. For more, see Field Mappings and Best Practices: Field Mappings.
💡 Pro Tip: Leave Only search most recent responses? selected when a Contact may have answered the same form more than once. Clear it when you want to search every response.
How do I find Contacts who have been on an Opportunity?
You use the On Opportunity filter to find qualified Contacts who are being considered, or were considered before, for a Job. When a new Job arrives and you need a Sales candidate fast, you can start with someone who has already moved through your workflow. You can search only previous Sales Opportunities, and you can use the Stage filter to find Contacts who reached a particular stage.
You can also build monthly reports by grouping or pivoting your data by the interview stage date. This shows the number of Contacts at each stage over time, which gives you insight into your hiring pipeline.
What tips help me filter and group effectively?
Log data consistently: Log interview events and other activities consistently in stages or activity data, so your reports are accurate.
Use grouping for complex filters: When you apply several filters, group related conditions, such as location filters, to keep the search logic simple. See Advanced Search Groupings.
Use the reporting tools: Use Crelate’s reports to analyze trends, such as monthly interview counts or activity ownership. See Reporting Master Guide.
Troubleshooting
Why do I not see my custom field in the filter list?
Custom fields appear under Other, and custom date fields appear under Dates. Scroll to the bottom of the list. Turn on Advanced if you do not see them.
Why does Past Activity return no Contacts?
Check which activities are selected under Find records with, the Since date, and any words in Containing. A Since date that is too recent, or words that the activity does not contain, can leave no results. Also check More Options, since Activities Owned By or Only Activities Owned by Me limits the results to certain people.
Why do I not see scheduled activities in my results?
Select the cogwheel on the filter, and then select Also Include Scheduled Activities.
Why does my search still include people I already called or texted?
The connector above the filter is set to And. Select the AND drop-down above the filter and choose And not to leave them out.
Why do I see activities in the Past Activity list that I did not expect?
The list shows every default activity first, followed by any custom activities your organization has created. Select only the ones you want.
Why does Past Activity return different Contacts than the regular activity filter?
The regular activity filter finds Contacts with an activity at any time. Past Activity only finds Contacts with an activity since the date you set. Use the one that matches what you want to know.
Why do I not see Activity Form Responses in Find?
Activity Form Responses is available in Search only. Use Search to filter by what Contacts said in your forms.
Why do the Contacts in my results not show their form answers?
The answers are stored on the form document on the record, and not in a field on the Contact. The results show an answer only when the form maps it to a field. If it does, filter on that field. See Field Mappings.
Why does my email search return too many or too few Contacts?
Check the Match mode in the cogwheel menu. Email matches full or partial addresses and domains. Contains finds your words anywhere, Starts With finds only values that begin with them, and Exact Match finds only identical values. To search for several addresses or domains, separate them with a space.
Why does the date filter return Contacts I did not expect?
Several date filters look alike. Select the information icon next to each date to see what it measures, and choose the one that matches what you want.
What to share if it still does not work: the filters you added, the connector above each one, the Since date, and a screenshot of the filters panel.
Key takeaway
Turn on Advanced in the filters panel to search by unique fields, including custom fields. The Past Activity filter finds Contacts who have specific activities, and it now includes Outbound Calls, Inbound Calls, and Text. Use And not above a filter to leave out matches, such as people you already reached. You can find Contacts with or without an email address or phone number, search by the date filters, search by Activity Form Responses in Search, and find Contacts who have been on an Opportunity. Some filters have options in the cogwheel menu, such as More Options and Match mode, to fine-tune how they work.
What's Next?
Looking for more search training and more advanced steps? Take a look at our content below!