AO3 News

Hidden search operators cheatsheet

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Published:
Sun, 22 Jul 2018 12:57:37 +0000
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Now that we've finished rolling out the new search and filtering features, it's time to give our previous series on hidden search operators and neat tricks an update as well.

Works

As before, you can use all of these suggestions in the main search box (in the site header), the "Any field" box in the work search, or the "Search within results" field in the filters. Keep in mind that this input is case-sensitive and the space after the colon is non-optional. Just copy-paste what you need, mix and match as you like, and bookmark the result in your browser for quick access to fanworks perfectly tailored to your tastes!

Work Properties

  • expected_number_of_chapters: 1 for single-chapter works only
  • -expected_number_of_chapters: 1 for multi-chapter works only
  • creators: username for works by a particular creator
  • -creators: username to filter out all works by a particular creator
  • restricted: true for restricted works (if you're logged in to access them)
  • restricted: false for public works
  • work_skin_id: 277 for works using a specific skin (Homestuck, in this case)
  • imported_from_url: xyz for works imported from a specific site or domain
    • xyz cannot start with http://, so use an asterisk instead (e.g. *username.dreamwidth.org)
    • xyz may contain periods and slashes and asterisks, so *username.dreamwidth.org/1234.html and *username* would both be fine
  • notes: string or endnotes: string for works with notes or end notes containing a particular string
    • string can be any single word or a phrase enclosed in quotation marks
    • notes: "ball game" notes: peanuts will find works whose notes contain the words "ball" and "game" together and in that order, as well as the word "peanuts"
  • summary: string for works with a particular word or phrase (in quotation marks) in the summary
  • backdate: true for works that have been backdated
  • backdate: false for works that have not been backdated
  • otp: true for works tagged with only one relationship (experimental!)
    • can be used by itself or in combination with a specific relationship tag (e.g. chosen from the filtering options)
    • will exclude all A/B works where A/B might only be a side pairing, but also all A/B works with other side pairings
    • will include works with multiple relationship tags if they're all synned to the same canonical tag
  • otp: false for works tagged with multiple relationships (experimental!)
  • -relationship_ids: * for works with no relationship tags at all
  • collection_ids: * for works that are part of a collection
  • series.title: string for works in a series whose title contains a particular word or phrase (in quotation marks)
  • series.title: * for works that are part of a series
  • -series.title: * for works that aren't in a series

Sorting

By work properties
  • sort:words to sort works by word count, longest works first
  • sort:>words to reverse the sorting order and show shortest works first
  • sort:author to sort works by the creators' pseuds, A-Z
  • sort:<author to reverse the sorting order and show pseuds starting with Z first
  • sort:title to sort works by title, from A to Z
  • sort:<title to reverse the sorting order and show titles starting with Z first
By date
  • sort:posted to sort from newest to oldest, going by the day they were posted to the Archive
  • sort:>posted to reverse that order and show oldest first, going by the day they were posted to the Archive
  • sort:updated to sort from newest to oldest, going by the day they were originally published (if backdated) or had a chapter added (this is the default sort)
  • sort:>updated to show oldest works first, going by the day they were originally published (if backdated) or had a chapter added
By feedback metrics
  • sort:kudos to sort works by amount of kudos, most kudos first
  • sort:>kudos to reverse the sorting order and show least kudos first
  • sort:comments to sort works by number of comments, most comments first
  • sort:>comments to reverse the sorting order and show fewest comments first
  • sort:bookmarks to sort works by number of bookmarks, most bookmarks first
  • sort:>bookmarks to reverse the sorting order and show fewest bookmarks first
  • sort:hits to sort works by number of hits, most hits first
  • sort:>hits to reverse the sorting order and show fewest hits first
Within a range

You can also specify a range of works with some of these properties, namely words, hits, kudos, comments, and bookmarks, with the following options:

  • words:1000 (works with exactly 1000 words)
  • words>1000 (works with more than 1000 words)
  • words<1000 (works with less than 1000 words)
  • words:1000-5000 (works between 1000 and 5000 words)

Text Searches

Due to the way Elasticsearch 6 handles query strings, putting several words or phrases into the search box will result in a list of works with all of those words in one field (such as the notes, or the title). For example, searching for BTS love will bring up a work with the phrase "I love BTS!" in the notes, but will not find works with the BTS fandom tag and the word "love" in the title.

To make sure that your input is matched against all possible work properties, separate your search terms by an AND, such as BTS AND love or BTS AND puppies AND "slow burn". This will search for any combination of those words in all fields.

However, the search operators above can just be added on, separated by spaces, resulting in a query like Discworld AND library expected_number_of_chapters: 1 sort:>posted to find all single-chapter works with the words "Discworld" and "library" anywhere in the title, tags, notes, or creator's username, sorted to show oldest first.

Bookmarks

We have made some changes to the way bookmarks are stored and displayed, enabling us to differentiate between properties of the bookmarked work and properties of the bookmark itself more easily. As a result, bookmarks now allow for more finegrained searches, but require a little more input to find exactly the bookmarks you're looking for.

Bookmarked Work Properties

In addition to any word or phrase that will be matched against the title, summary, notes, and tags of a work, you can also use the following in the "Search within results" field (for filtering) or the "Any field on work" field (for bookmark searches):

  • restricted: true for bookmarks of restricted works only
  • restricted: false for bookmarks of public works only
  • complete: true for bookmarks of complete works
  • complete: false for bookmarks of works in progress
  • bookmarkable_type: ExternalWork for bookmarks of external works
  • bookmarkable_type: Series for bookmarks of series

Bookmark Properties

Likewise, you can put any word or phrase in the "Search bookmarker's tags and notes" field (for filtering) or the "Any field on bookmark" field (for bookmark searches). You also have the following options:

  • private: true to filter for your private bookmarks only (if you're logged in to access them)
  • private: false to filter for public bookmarks only
  • tag: * for bookmarks with tags added by the bookmarker

Searching and filtering by language

You can use language codes to limit your searches to works or bookmarks in a particular language (or several languages in one search), or exclude items in a particular language. You can use this list of language codes for reference and replace abbreviation with the code for the language you want.

All these options will work in the main search box (in the site header), the "Any field" box in the work search, and the "Search within results" field in the filters, as well as the "Any field on work" field in the bookmark search and the "Search within results" field in the bookmark filters.

  • language_id: abbreviation for items in that language
  • language_id: abbreviation OR language_id: abbreviation for items in either of those languages
  • -language_id: abbreviation to filter out all items in that language