Searching the workspace

Flowtly Editorial Team3 min

One search box in the top bar finds records across the whole workspace and the settings pages, so you can jump to a project, a person or an invoice without first opening the module it lives in.

  • Click Search Flowtly… in the top bar. On a phone it is the magnifier icon, and the search opens full screen.
  • Press Ctrl + K (⌘ + K on a Mac) on any page, even while typing in an ordinary text field.
  • Press / when you are not typing in a field.

On a list page, / stays with that page's own table search. Use Ctrl + K there to reach the workspace search instead.

What it finds

Type at least 2 characters. Results appear as you type, grouped by kind:

  • Settings: the settings pages whose name matches, up to five. The search tolerates missing accents and knows common alternative names, so currency finds the organisation settings where the default currency is set.
  • Records: Projects, Tasks, People, Departments, Clients & suppliers, Contracts, Invoices, Incoming invoices, Transactions, Budgets and Assets.

Each group shows up to five matches, and its heading shows 5+ when there are more. Each row shows the record's name, the client, project or department it belongs to, and an amount or a date where one applies.

Settings are always listed first, so the rows you are about to click do not move when the records arrive.

To narrow the search, pick a kind in the row of pills under the search box, for example only Invoices. All Workspace searches everything again. If a narrowed search finds nothing, Search all Workspace widens it in one click.

The search covers records and settings. It does not filter the menu and it does not replace a list page's own search.

Only what you can open

Search returns records you have access to, and nothing else:

  • A kind of record from a module your organisation does not use never appears.
  • A kind your role cannot list is left out entirely, rather than shown as an empty group.
  • Settings pages follow your organisation role, the same way the Settings page does.

A record you can see in a list but not open in detail can appear in the results without opening.

Recently opened

Before you type, the search shows Recently opened: the last five places you went to from it, newest first. Opening the same place again moves it to the top rather than listing it twice.

The list is kept in this browser, separately for each organisation. It does not follow you to another device or another browser, and clearing your browser's site data clears it.

Keyboard

The cursor stays in the search box the whole time:

  • ↑ and ↓ move through the results, and wrap round at either end.
  • Enter opens the selected result.
  • Esc closes the search. What you typed is still there when you open it again.

When something goes wrong

If the search cannot reach Flowtly, it says Search couldn't load and offers Retry. Settings matches already found stay on screen, since they are found in the browser.

Example use cases

  • Open an invoice from its number while on a call, without leaving the page you are on.
  • Find a colleague's profile by typing part of their name.
  • Jump to the time off settings by typing time off, without remembering where they sit in Settings.
  • Go back to the project you were working on an hour ago from Recently opened.