Saved Searches
Most of you have probably used the set of dropdowns at the top of the @task application such as ‘My’, or ‘Find’. These dropdown menus provide quick access to many of the objects you need to work with in @task. Under the ‘My’ dropdown, there is a quick access to ‘Saved Searches.’ The 'Saved Searches’ feature is a commonly underrated and underused feature by many clients. However, using saved searches will actually “save searches” in the future, and provide quick access to information you need.
When you perform a search in @task, you have the ability to define your search by numerous fields, allowing you to perform searches that range from very complicated and specific to quite simple and general. Once the search has been performed and you obtain the results you like, did you know…you can save the search for future use?
After performing the search, there is an option to ‘Save Search’ in the contextual menu on the left hand side of the screen. Once the search is saved, you can access it whenever you wish through ‘Saved Searches’ in the ‘My’ dropdown. As you may have already noticed, when you run one of your saved searches, your results appear in a report-like format. So, in a way, your saved search can be considered and used as a quick report.
When creating list reports, you can actually use your saved searches as the filter piece of the wizard. In other words, when you create a saved search, you are creating a filter with the benefits of already defined fields. Many would agree that the interface for a search is simpler to use than the filter creation interface.
Just remember that there are limitations. Saved searches can only be used as filters in list reports and are only available as a filter within the reporting wizard. Also, although saved searches can be used as a quick report, they cannot be attached to a tab in your dashboard. However, as a quick access to information, they are powerfully handy tools that users should become more familiar with.
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