SharePoint 2010 Search list using OOTB Text filter Web Part

SharePoint 2010 Search list using OOTB Text filter Web Part

The SharePoint Text filter web part is simple to deploy as a search input for your SharePoint list or library view, you simply add it on your view’s page, connect it to your data view web part and choose the column to filter by, neat and easy, but the disadvantage of it all is that your search has to be exact and case sensitive which makes it not very useful.

The solution – follow this simple steps to configure your text filter with a little help from SharePoint Designer that make it work as a search box on your list view without the disadvantages described above:

1. Open your site in SharePoint Designer –
   
2. In SharePoint Designer go to Lists and Libaries and click on the list or library you wish to add a search view for –
   
3. Create a new view for your list and call it “Search”.
   
4. Click on your new view’s name in order to open it’s page in design mode –
5. In desgin view click on the div above your list view, and then on the desginer ribbon go to the “insert” tab, click on the “web part” button, and choose to insert the “text filter” web part from the “filters” folder on to your page, just above your list view –
   
6. Left click your list view and then look for the “Parameters” on the “List View Tools” options tab on your ribbon and click it -
   
7. Create a new parameter, you can leave the default options and the default name value “param1″ as is and click OK –
   
8. Click the list view tools “Filter” button –
   
9. Create a filter stating that the column you want to use as a search field contains your parameter –
   
10. Right click your text filter web part and choose to add a connection –
    
11. Choose “Send Filter Values To” from the combobox and click Next –
    
12. Click next to connect to a web part on your page –
    
13. Choose “Get Parameters From” as your target action and click next –
    
14. Click the your parameter name and your text filter name and then click next –
    
15. Click finish and then save your page –
    
16. Open your page and search your column using partial text and uppercase or lowercase, you should anyway get search results.
    
17. You can also create filters that are more complex, and search through a number of columns at once using this solution, hope you find this useful!