Switching Search Modes

Search modes offer you different ways of finding resource results, letting you filter either by using menus or by specifying queries that use the Search service's query language.

The default search mode that you get depends on how you access the Search service. If you begin with a free text search and explore results from that starting point, you enter basic search mode by default. If you begin by entering the Search URL in a browser address bar, you enter advanced query mode by default. You can get to either search mode from the other.

Understanding the following information can help you when switching between search modes:
  • When you switch from basic search mode to advanced query mode, the contents of the search box are effectively translated into a query. You might find this helpful for understanding search parameters more precisely or for learning how Search query language works.
  • If you then change the query in any way, switching from advanced query mode back to basic search mode clears the way for a new search. Having no query also prompts you to confirm that you want to switch to basic search mode.

Using the Console

These steps assume that you already ran an advanced resource query according to the instructions in Running a Custom, Free-Form Query or performed a free text search and selected the Resources category of results according to the instructions in Performing a Free Text Search.

  1. On the Resources page, do one of the following:
    • To switch to basic search mode, click Show basic search mode.
    • To switch to advanced query mode, click Show advanced query mode.
  2. (Optional) If needed, when prompted to acknowledge that you lose any existing query when switching to basic search mode, click Switch to confirm.