Archive → Search is where a records request gets answered. It searches across all of your archives at once rather than one account at a time.
Filters
Start with words in the Search records box, then narrow:
| Filter | Use it to |
|---|---|
| Date range | Restrict to a date range. Search covers the past 30 days until you change it |
| All archives | Limit to particular accounts |
| Type | Limit to posts, comments, direct messages, and other record kinds |
| Tags | Use tags your team has applied to records |
| Deleted | Find records no longer live on the network, or exclude them |
| Case | Look only within a case you have already built |
| All / Captured / Imported | Limit to records captured live, or to records brought in by an import |
| Author | Find everything from one person — your account or a member of the public |
Above the results, Records shows how many matched and Span shows the dates they cover. Counts by record type follow, so you can see the shape of what you matched before you start reading.
Deleted deserves special mention. It answers a question no live network can answer, and it is usually the fastest route to the substance of a request.
Note
Search starts on the past 30 days. For a records request that reaches further back, widen the date range first, or older records will not appear.
Saved views
A search you will run again should be a saved view. Choose New Search View to save the current filters as a view, rename it, and switch between saved views from the same control. A view keeps the filters you last used in it. Views are worth building for the searches your agency repeats — a standing subject, a particular department's accounts, a recurring reporting window.
Tip
Build a saved view the first time a request comes in, not the third. Records requests repeat far more often than people expect, and a named view turns the second one into a two-click job.
From results to a deliverable
Search results are the starting point for producing records:
- Select the results you need — there is a control to select all loaded results at once.
- Add them to a case, which keeps the set together with a title and description. See Building a case.
- Export the case when it is complete. See Exporting records.
Working through a case rather than exporting straight from search means the set is named, reviewable, and reproducible later — which matters when someone asks months afterward exactly what was produced.