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Search

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Introduction

Blinksale offers powerful search capabilities that allow you to quickly find clients, estimates, invoices, and payments across your organization. The search functionality is accessible throughout the application and provides a seamless way to locate and navigate to your business data. The global search feature allows you to search across multiple entity types simultaneously. This command palette-style search provides immediate results as you type, organized by category. Global search can be accessed from anywhere in the application by:
  • Using the keyboard shortcut Cmd + K (Mac) or Ctrl + K (Windows/Linux)
  • Clicking the search icon in the top navigation bar
Global search requires at least 2 characters to begin searching. This helps ensure relevant results and optimal performance.

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Search Results

Search results are organized into four categories:
  • Clients: Searches client names, emails, and other identifying information
  • Estimates: Searches estimate numbers, client names, and line item descriptions
  • Invoices: Searches invoice numbers, client names, and line item descriptions
  • Payments: Searches payment reference numbers and related invoice information
Each result shows:
  • A relevant icon indicating the entity type
  • The primary identifier (name for clients, number for documents)
  • Additional context (email for clients, associated client for documents)
Search results interface showing categorized results

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Keyboard Navigation

The global search supports keyboard navigation for quick access:
  • ↑ and ↓ arrows to navigate between results
  • Enter to select and navigate to the highlighted result
  • Esc to close the search dialog
In addition to global search, Blinksale provides dedicated search boxes on list pages for clients, estimates, invoices, and payments. These search fields allow for more focused searching within a specific entity type.

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List Page Search

Entity-specific search is available on the following pages:
  • Clients list
  • Estimates list
  • Invoices list
  • Payments list
Entity-specific search on the clients list page These search boxes:
  • Filter the current list view based on your search terms
  • Preserve other active filters while searching
  • Update results in real-time as you type (after 2 characters)
Search terms in entity-specific searches may behave differently than in global search. Entity-specific searches may include additional filterable fields that aren’t available in global search.

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Search Technology

Blinksale uses TypeSense with Laravel Scout for powerful, fast, and typo-tolerant search capabilities. The search engine indexes your data in real-time, ensuring search results are always up to date.

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Best Practices

To get the most out of Blinksale’s search functionality:
  1. Use specific identifiers when possible - invoice numbers, client names, or reference numbers will yield more precise results
  2. Try partial terms if full search terms don’t yield results
  3. Utilize global search when you’re not sure which section contains the information
  4. Use entity-specific search when you need to filter a specific list with additional criteria

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Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues with search functionality:

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Common Issues

  1. No search results appear
    • Ensure you’ve entered at least 2 characters
    • Try simplifying your search term or using partial matches
    • Check if the item was recently created (indexing may take a moment)
  2. Unexpected search results
    • Consider if your search term might match other fields you’re not targeting
    • Try using more specific identifiers (invoice numbers instead of generic terms)
  3. Search appears slow
    • Large datasets may take slightly longer to search
    • Network connectivity can impact search performance
If search functionality appears completely non-responsive or consistently returns errors, contact your system administrator as there may be an issue with the search index.