FlexMAM Search

FlexMAM's powerful search functions allow you to search and filter your assets so you can easily find and manage your media. There are several ways to search and filter through you assets, such as free text search, taxonomy exploration, or advanced search with metadata. All these can be used alone or together to further refine your search results.

Using Search

You can perform searches, refine your search criteria, and filter your search results in a number of different ways within FlexMAM.

1. Free text search: Search terms entered in the search bar are matched across any metadata stored.
2. Advanced search: Allows you to add filter chips and search operators to refine your free text search.
3. Refined search: Terms are targeted to match specific fields included as columns in your table template (adds chips to the advanced search bar)
4. Taxonomy filter: Filter assets based on media categorisation (adds chips to the advanced search bar).

Performing Free Text Search

You can enter free text  or Flex Query Language (FQL) directly into the free text search bar. Learn more about FQL here.

To perform free text search:

1. Enter your search criteria in the search bar at the top of the FlexMAM interface.

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2. As you start typing, a list of assets appears in the Suggested Assets list.​

3. If you see the specific asset that you are looking for in the list, click to open it in the Manage Page.​

4. Otherwise, press Enter on your keyboard to validate your search query and run the search; the search results appear in the Asset Results table.

Performing Advanced Search

You can improve your search results by creating an advanced search that uses search chips and search operators. You can then save the query as a search profile and share it with other users. The filter icon to the right of the search bar allows you to use Advanced Search.

Using Operators in Advanced Search

In Advanced Search, you can select from the following search operators:

• contains
• is
• is not
• starts with
• ends with
• is empty
• is not empty

From the drop down, add ANY/ALL/NONE search operators to configure your search.

ANY will create an OR operator between chips, and ALL will create an AND operator and NONE will create a NOT operator. These can be changed via drop down.

To create an advanced search query:

1. Click the filter icon to in the search bar to open Advanced Search.

2. In Advanced Search, click Add Filter to add chips that refine your search using available metadata fields.

3. Select  whether to add asset or marker fields to your query

3. Select a metadata type. The fields are grouped by type, such as General, Technical etc.

4.  In drop down list (1), select the field you want to add to filter your results by and in drop down list (2) select the actual field as in this example.

5. In the operator drop down list, select the operator to use: contains, 'is,' 'is not,' 'starts with,' 'ends with,' 'is empty' and is 'not empty.' The available operators depend on the type of field that you have selected.

6. Add the value that you are searching for.

7. Click Add to add the chip to the Advanced Search bar and perform the search.

8. The results are displayed in the Results table. 

9. You can edit a chip by clicking on it to reopen the Edit Filter dialog.

10. In the drop down list, select operators to add to your search: ANY (OR) / ALL (AND) / NONE (NOT)

11. You can change the operator between chips using the drop down list between the chips.

12. When creating your filter, you can add multiple values for the same field. This creates multiple chips that are grouped together with brackets. Operators can then be changed between each group to further configure search.

13. If your number of chips exceeds one line, they will automatically flow onto multiple lines. You can click the icon to expand and collapse your filter chip field.

Performing a Refined Search

You refine your search by adding search filters that relate to the specific fields in the column headers in your Results view. You can learn how to configure the columns in your table template here. Any values that you add to the headers are added as a chip to the Advanced Search bar.

To perform a refined search:

1. At a column headed level you can search for terms that relate to specific fields. 
2. Hover over the column header of a field in the Results table.

3. Type in or select the value that you want to filter on. You can also use the arrows to sort your search results.

    

     4.  You can filter on multiple columns.

     5. All filters are added as chips to the Advanced Search bar and the search is performed and the results are displayed in the Asset Results table.

6. Results will change dynamically with your search.

These are examples of filters and how you can use them to sort/filter your search results.

To filter/sort by ID:

Enter an asset ID to find a specific asset, or use to sort results by ascending or descending ID numbers.

To filter/sort by DURATION:

Select Custom in the drop down menu to enter a range in the format HH:MM:SS:FF to filter your results for video assets of a certain length and click the Refine button.

You can also select from a list of predefined durations from the drop down menu. Alternatively, you can use to sort your video/audio assets by length.

To filter/sort by CREATED:

Select predefined ranges or specific date ranges to filter your results for assets created within certain time periods. You can also use to sort your asset by most to least recently created.

• Date: Select from Last Hour, Today, Last Day, Last Week and Last Month to find assets created within that specific time period. You cannot select more than one.
• Range: Set a date range by selecting a beginning and end date of your choosing from the calendar to find assets created within that specific time period.

Filtering Assets by a Taxonomy 

If you have configured a taxonomy structure for your environment, you can filter the assets based on the metadata assigned to them using the taxonomy. This option is only applicable if you have previously configured taxonomy structure(s) and selected the Display in Apps option. Learn how to create taxonomies in the Metadata Designer here.

To search using a taxonomy

1. In the left-hand navigation panel there is a taxonomy tree hierarchy with a number of levels.
2. Select one or more levels. Selected levels will be highlighted.
3. You can now apply search filters in the filter bar and enter a search term in the search bar.
4. Your search results will be updated to reflect the matched criteria.
5. Applying your table column filters and taxonomy selections creates chips in the search bar.

Using Workspaces with Search

If you have permissions in more than one workspace, you will see the Workspace section in the left navigation panel. Here you can select one or more workspaces to use in conjunction with search to filter your search result/asset list. You can enter a search term in the search bar before applying workspaces as a filter, or you can select your workspaces first, before entering your search term.

To search and filter with workspaces:

1. Expand Workspaces in the left panel to see a list of your available workspaces. A list of workspaces you are a member of will be displayed as tree view in the left panel.
2. Click on one or more workspaces to select them. Selected workspaces will be highlighted. You can unselect a workspace by clicking on it again.
3. Assets in the result list will be filtered down to the assets in the selected workspace(s).
   - By default, when no workspace is selected, all assets across all workspaces that you have access to should be searchable.

To view information about workspaces

1. Expand Workspaces in the left panel to see a list of your available workspaces.
2. As you hover over each workspace, you will see the information icon appear.
3. Click the icon and the right hand summary panel will display details about the selected workspace and its members.

Clearing your searches

Clicking the 'x' in the search bar will clear your free text search but will not clear your filters.

Clicking Clear Filters will clear your entire search. This includes your filter chips as well as your free text search in the search bar.

Using Saved searches

Creating saved searches with a combination of filters of your choice will allow you to easily locate specific assets or types of assets whenever you wish.

To create and use a saved search:

1. Once you have filtered by the categories you desire, click Save Search.
2. Give your search a relevant name that will help you identify it when you want to use it again next time.
3. Select whether you want this Saved Search to be visible to only you or shared with everyone.
4. Click Save and it will appear under the My Searches folder under the Activity section in the panel on the left.
5. The next time you want to filter by the same combination of categories, simply find it in the My Searches folder and click on it to use it.

To configure ACL permissions for a saved search:

1. Find the saved search you want to edit permissions for under My Searches.
2. Hover over the saved search and click the icon that appears on hover.
3. In the Share tab, you can add and edit permissions for the saved search by adding users or groups to the permission list.

Search Listing

You can display your search results in different views (tile or list), and create templates for each of these views according to your needs and preferences.

• Clicking on an asset in your search results list will highlight it, indicating that it is selected. Selecting an asset will open the preview panel on the right.
• Clicking on a marker in your search results list will highlight it, indicating that it is selected. Selecting a marker will open the preview panel for the relevant asset and load the marker tab.

Adjusting your Display Preferences

You can make adjustments to the way your assets and search results are displayed as well as the number of categories you can filter by.

To adjust asset view:

Display your assets according to your preference by toggling between Tile view and List view.

To adjust asset/marker view:

Toggle between Markers View and Asset View to search and view asset or marker results for any query.

Using Table Templates

You can create and apply templates to suit your preferences and needs when sorting and filtering assets within the search listing. Multiple templates can be created and easily switched to ensure that you are viewing the metadata fields that are most important and relevant to your roles and tasks at hand. Those templates can then be shared to other users in the team or remain private. You can edit and delete templates that they created, while other users are able to copy a template and make modifications.

Use the template selection bar to select and apply your desired template

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To create a new table template:

1. Click the filter icon on the right of the template selection bar .
2. Select New Template from the drop down menu.
3. In the New Template window, select whether you want to create a new template for List view, Tile view, or a template for viewing asset markers in the preview panel or manage page. Learn more about metadata markers here.
4. Name your template (max. 35 characters).
5. Select a Type: Asset or Marker to select asset or marker metadata to add to your template.
6. The What’s available drop down will allow you to switch between different metadata types: General, technical, basic, etc., and you can select different types of metadata from the table below.
7. Click the in the left column to add them to the right column.
8. In theWidth,PXcolumn set the column width in pixels for each field used in the table template. The value must be greater than 0. If no value is set, a default value is assigned and the value of the column is set to Auto.
9. Tick the Share your template? to select whether you want to share your template with other members of your team. This means that they will be able to see and use your template with their own account.
10. Click Save when you are happy with your new template.
    
    

To manage templates:

1. Once you have created a template, you must go to Manage Templates to activate it.
2. In the Manage list template window, you can toggle between templates for list view and tile view.
3. In the What’s available list, you can see all previously created templates as well as templates created by other users that have been shared with you.
4. Add the template(s) you wish to use by clicking . This will move the template to the column on the right, the Activated templates column.
   - You can also deactivate templates by clicking , moving the template from the right column to the right, meaning that it has been deactivated and you cannot currently use it.

5. Click Finish when you are happy with your settings.

To edit a template you created:

1. Click the filter icon next to the template selection bar .
2. Select Edit Template.
3. In the drop down menu, select the template you want to edit.
4. You can then edit your template by adding or removing metadata from the What's available and Your template columns using the and icons.

To copy and edit a template shared with you by another user:

1. Click the filter icon next to the template selection bar .
2. Select Manage Template.
3. In the What's available column on the left, you can see all available templates, including the ones that other users have created and shared with you.
4. Hover over the shared template you wish to edit and click the icon.
5. This will automatically create a copy of the template. You can now edit the name and metadata fields for this template.
6. Click Save.

Using Tile Templates

You can use tile templates to determine what metadata is displayed for different asset types in tile view. While in tile view, you can still use your table template to search and filter your assets.

To create a tile template:

1. Click the filter icon on the right of the template selection bar .
2. Select New Template from the drop down menu.
3. In the New Template window, select the Tile template tab .
4. Name your template (max. 35 characters).
5. From the drop down menu under What’s available, you can select the category of metadata: General, Technical, etc.
6. Click the in the left column to add them to the right column. You can only select a maximum of four metadata types.
7. Tick the Share your template? to select whether you want to share your template with other members of your team. This means that they will be able to see and use your template with their own account.
8. Click Save when you are happy with your new template.
9. Once you have created a template, go to the Tile template tab in Manage Templates.
10. Here you will see your tile template in the Activated templates column. The template at the top of the list will be your default tile template.
11. From the TYPE drop down menu, you can allocate an asset type for your template: Image, Video, Group, Package. The type you select will apply the template to all assets for the selected asset type when are viewing your assets in Tile View. Metadata for asset types that have not been allocated a template will be displayed with the default template. The first template on the list without a specified asset type will be the default template.

To view your assets in tile view:

1. You can view your assets in tile view by clicking the tile view icon
2. In the tile view, you can see your asset thumbnails as well as the different metadata template for each asset type.
3. You can continue to use your table template to sort and search for assets.

Using Thesaurus with Search

Thesauri can be configured in Metadata Designer to match terms within your search. See here to learn how to use the thesaurus tool to create thesauri in Metadata Designer.

1. When you add filters with Advanced search and table headers, terms you type in a Thesaurus field of type tab will be matched with those of your thesaurus (if configured) and you will be presented with a menu of matching terms (ordered alphabetically).
2. Once you select the term from the typeahead (or hit <enter>) then the thesaurus icon will be displayed next to the field.
3. A sliding Thesaurus panel will appear on the right of the Add Filter window, where you will see a scrollable list of thesaurus suggestions of related terms.

    4. You can click the highlighted term or type <enter> again, or click to select the thesaurus suggestion that you want to use for your search.