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Filters and Search Boxes

Beyond the global search input, Browse Views support dedicated filter controls above the table — dropdowns, date pickers, toggles, range sliders. Configure them once and your users get a far better browsing experience than typing into a generic search box.

Why filters beat search

Search is universal but blunt. The user has to know what they're searching for and type it accurately. Filters are domain-specific and forgiving — a Status dropdown lists the available options so the user doesn't have to remember them; a Date Range picker constrains valid input; a toggle is binary so there's no typing involved.

For any browse view where users will return repeatedly to similar subsets of the data, filters give a much better experience than search. Add both; users will gravitate to filters once they discover them.

Adding a filter

In the Browse View's configuration, find the Filters section and click Add. For each filter specify:

  • Field — which datastore column the filter narrows on.
  • Display type — dropdown (single-select or multi-select), date range, search box (textual contains-match), toggle (boolean on/off), range slider (numeric min/max), pills (visual multi-select).
  • Default value — what the filter is set to when the user first lands on the view.
  • Label — text shown above the filter control.
  • Width — pixel or percent value for the filter's horizontal space.

Stacking filters

Multiple filters are AND-combined. A user can pick a Status, a Date Range, and an Owner — and the resulting list reflects all three constraints. Filters with no selection contribute nothing (they pass everything through).

The platform's filter UI clearly shows which filters are active, with a quick "Clear all" button to reset. Active filter counts also show in the URL, so users can bookmark or share specific filtered states.

Three real-world filter sets

Example 1: Customer browse view (sales)

  • Status (dropdown) — Active / Inactive / All. Default: Active.
  • Owner (dropdown) — list of salespeople. Default: All.
  • Total Spend Above (number) — Default: blank.
  • Last Activity (date range) — Default: blank.
  • Tags (multi-select pills) — Default: blank.

Example 2: Order queue for fulfilment

  • Status (multi-select dropdown) — Pending / Picking / Packed / Shipped. Default: Pending+Picking.
  • Required-by Date (date range) — Default: today + next 7 days.
  • Warehouse (dropdown) — Default: current user's primary warehouse.
  • Priority (pills) — Standard / High / Urgent.

Example 3: Ticket dashboard for support

  • Status (multi-select pills) — Open / In Progress / Awaiting Customer / Resolved.
  • Assignee (dropdown) — Default: "My Tickets" (current user).
  • Priority (pills).
  • SLA Status (toggle) — On = only show breaching SLA.
  • Customer Tier (multi-select) — Bronze / Silver / Gold / Platinum.

Screenshot of a Browse View with filter controls above the table showing Status, Date Range, Owner, and Priority filters in a horizontal row, with active filters highlighted

Saved filter sets

If a particular combination is used often, users can save it as a Data Layout — see the Data Layouts section. The Data Layout captures every filter setting plus the column arrangement plus the sort order, giving the user a one-click way back to their preferred view.

Permission-respecting filters

Filter dropdowns that source their options from a datastore (e.g. a Salesperson filter listing the users group) respect the same permission rules as the rest of the platform. A user without read access to the Salespeople table sees no options in the filter — which is correct, but worth knowing when debugging "why doesn't this filter have any options for this user?".