Advanced Search

[TOC]

Purpose

The Advanced Search feature gives visitors a powerful, multi-criteria search form for finding properties that precisely match their requirements. Unlike a simple keyword search, Advanced Search allows users to combine many filters at once — such as location, price range, number of bedrooms, property type, amenities, and custom fields — to produce highly targeted results. Registered users can also save their search criteria and return to them later.

How It Works

The Advanced Search page presents a detailed form organized into tabs or sections. Visitors fill in the fields relevant to their search and submit the form. The system queries all published and approved properties against the selected criteria and returns a filtered listing of matching results.

Depending on site configuration, the form may be organized into tabs:

  • General – Category, property type, keyword, price range, market status, sort order, and optionally check-in/check-out dates
  • Location – Address, country, state, city, postcode, and a radius-based search (search within X kilometers/miles of a point)
  • Amenities – Checkboxes for features such as appliances, accessibility, security, and community facilities
  • Other – Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, floors, rooms, square footage, lot size, and featured status

Extra fields defined for specific property types may also appear, extending the form with property-specific attributes.

For text and numeric extra fields, the search supports multiple comparison operators, allowing users to define whether a value should be equal to, greater than, less than, or different from a given input.

How to Use It

  1. Open the Advanced Search page from the site menu.
  2. Fill in the search criteria relevant to what you are looking for. You do not need to fill every field — leave fields blank to ignore them.
  3. Use the tabs or sections to navigate through the full range of available criteria (General, Location, Amenities, Other).
  4. Submit the search using the Search button. A list of matching properties will be displayed.
  5. Refine your search by adjusting the criteria and submitting again.
  6. Reset the form using the Reset button to return the form to its default state.
  7. (Registered users only) Save your search by clicking the Save Search List button after entering your criteria. Give the search a name so you can retrieve it later.

Practical Use Cases

  • Targeted property hunt – A buyer looking for a 3-bedroom apartment under a specific price in a certain city can fill in all these criteria to get a precise shortlist.
  • Rental search with amenities – A renter who needs pet-friendly accommodation with air conditioning can use the Amenities tab to filter for these features.
  • Radius-based search – A user can search for all properties within 10 kilometers of a specific address, useful for relocating near a workplace or school.
  • Saved search for alerts – A registered user saves a search for "2-bedroom apartments in the city centre under $1,500/month." Each time they return, they can re-run the search to find newly listed properties that match.
  • Advanced field filtering – Users searching for properties with a specific lot size or floor area can use the numeric comparison operators to define an exact range.

Key Elements on the Screen

General tab / section

  • Category – Select a property category
  • Property type – Select one or multiple property types
  • Keyword – Free-text search box
  • Price range – Minimum and maximum price inputs or slider
  • Market status – For sale, for rent, etc.
  • Sort by / Order by – Controls how results are presented
  • Check-in / Check-out dates (if OS Calendar is integrated) – Date pickers for short-term rental availability

Location tab / section

  • Country, State, City – Hierarchical location dropdowns
  • Address / Postcode – Text input for a specific address
  • Search radius – Defines a distance from the specified location point

Amenities tab / section
Checkboxes grouped by amenity type, such as:

  • General amenities
  • Appliances
  • Accessibility features
  • Community features
  • Energy-saving features
  • Security features
  • Interior and exterior features
  • Landscape features

Other tab / section

  • Bedrooms, Bathrooms, Floors, Rooms – Numeric filters for key room counts
  • Square feet / Lot size – Area range inputs
  • Featured – Toggle to search only featured properties

Comparison operators for extra fields
When custom extra fields are present, a dropdown operator selector appears next to the input:

For number/date fields:

  • = Equal
  • >= Greater or equal
  • <= Smaller or equal
  • > Greater than
  • < Less than
  • != Not equal

For text fields:

  • LIKE – Exact match
  • NOT LIKE – Does not match
  • LIKE %…% – Contains the keyword anywhere in the value
  • IN (…) – Value is one of a comma-separated list, e.g. (option1,option2)
  • NOT IN (…) – Value is not in the list

Action buttons

  • Search – Submit the form and retrieve results
  • Reset – Clear or revert the search form
  • Save Search List (registered users only) – Save the current search criteria under a name

Expected Results

After submitting the form, a list of matching properties is displayed. Results respect all the criteria entered, so a search with many specific conditions may return a smaller, highly relevant list. If no properties match, the result page will show an empty listing, prompting the user to broaden their criteria.

Important Notes

  • Only registered and logged-in users can see and use the Save Search List button.
  • The Reset button behavior depends on context. On the initial Advanced Search page, clicking Reset will clear all fields. If you are on the results page and click Reset after changing criteria, the form reverts to the state it was in before the most recent change — not to a fully blank state.
  • The availability of specific tabs and fields (Amenities, extra fields, date pickers) depends on the site configuration and the property types set up in the back-end.
  • The radius search requires a location to be specified (address or coordinates). The search area is based on property geo-coordinates, so properties must have location data for this feature to work.
  • Saved searches are linked to your user account. If you log out, you cannot access your saved searches until you log in again.
  • The form may display additional custom fields beyond the standard set, depending on the property types configured on the site.