Search answers a question you thought to ask. Alerts cover the ones you did not — a name that appears in a comment thread nobody is watching, a subject that surfaces on a quiet weekend.
Create a rule
Go to Archive → Alerts, choose New rule, and fill in:
- Keywords — the words or phrases to watch for, separated by commas (for example: closure, festival, chief). A record matches when it contains any of them. Keywords match whole words in any case — ice does not match police — so add plurals and variants separately.
- Author contains — optionally limit to authors whose name matches this text. Leave it blank to match any author.
- Archives — which archives the rule applies to. Scope it to the accounts the subject actually concerns, or leave every archive unchecked to watch all of them.
A rule needs a name and at least one keyword or author match.
Name the rule for what it is watching — Officer mentions is a clearer name than Rule 3 when someone else reads the list next year.
Matches
Matching records collect on the Alerts page, showing when each matched, the rule that fired, and the record. The rule's creator is also notified. Open the record to read it in context, and add it to a case if it turns into a matter.
Rules apply to content as it is captured, so a new rule starts working from the moment you create it. To find matches in content already archived, use Search — the same keywords, applied to what you already hold.
Tip
Keep keyword lists specific. A rule watching a common word matches constantly, and a match list nobody reads is the same as no rule at all. Names, street names, project names, and program names make good keywords; ordinary vocabulary does not.
What alerts are not
Alerts are a monitoring aid, not a moderation tool and not a compliance guarantee. They surface what matched the words you chose — nothing more. Records capture happens regardless of whether any rule exists, so a missing rule never means a missing record.