Add global search bar

[xamberl]

Will we also have a general search bar? Maybe something like a field for search, and then a dropdown menu on the side: "Search by all", "Search by Name", "Search by NetID, "Search by Project"...

[CannonLock]

@xamberl Can you break down the request a bit more?

Are you looking for a single search bar at the top that will return results for users, projects, notes, groups, etc...?

Do you think that maybe it would be more usable to have a better search function on each individual page? and maybe add a note page so you can sort through all notes at once?

It might help us with the design if you give a example of how this would be used.

[aowen-uwmad]

My main application for a global search is a PI name. Our practice of adding a PI to the userapp with an inactive account is a (relatively) recent development, and one that we are still inconsistent about. So if I want to know if we are already working with professor,

• they may or may not have a User record
• they may or may not have a Project named after them
• they may or may not have a Unix Group named after them
• they may or may not appear in project/user notes

This could be an unnecessary feature, but only if we were certain the data was complete, i.e., every project has a PI User record.

[xamberl]

I currently use the search bar in the existing user app mainly to search for NetIDs, Names, Projects, and Unix groups, but there are some special occasions where I am trying to look for any information tied to a specific user or specific software. In these occasions, having a general search that catches information from all fields (NetIDs, Names, Projects, Unix groups, Notes, etc.) is pretty helpful.

I think being able to have a general search bar where we can decide to filter for certain fields (i.e., NetIDs) would be helpful, but also having the option to search all fields would be great. Having to navigate to each page to search is inconvenient, but better than nothing.

One example that comes to mind is the library's search bar - I can filter the search by different fields (i.e., Title, Author), but the Keyword field allows me to search everything related to it.

[aowen-uwmad]

I'd like to have a single search bar in the header so that regardless of what page I'm on, I can search for something, even if it's in a different category than the page I'm on currently. That sort of thing probably only makes sense if there is a global search.

[CannonLock]

@aowen-uwmad @xamberl Sounds good, definitely helpful to have a couple examples for this one. Thank you!