Search announcements
Search and filter Info Hub announcements by keyword or semantic search, status, priority, tags, author, and visibility on the main feed.
Search and filters on the Info Hub main page help readers and editors find the right announcement in a growing feed. Keyword search matches titles as you type; when your institution enables semantic search, AI-powered matching can surface posts by meaning and even by content inside indexed attachments. Filter rows narrow results by priority, tags, pin state, author, and — for editors — status and visibility.
Why it matters
A mature Info Hub accumulates hundreds of posts across terms, faculties, and topics. Scrolling alone does not scale — especially for staff who need last semester’s exam policy or students looking for every post tagged “housing”. Search turns the Info Hub from a chronological stream into a retrievable institutional archive, while filters support operational workflows like “show me all Draft posts” or “what is Pinned right now”.
For authors, semantic search also powers Similar Content detection during create and edit — reducing duplicate or near-duplicate official notices that confuse readers.
How it fits
Search operates on the main Info Hub feed after publish. It respects each user’s permissions and audience: users only find posts they are allowed to see.
Administrators enable semantic search in Settings → Info Hub, alongside the main Info Hub enable option.
Keyword search (default)
When semantic search is disabled for your institution, the search box performs keyword search against announcement titles (and server-side title filtering as you type).
Open Info Hub from the sidebar.
Type in the search field at the top of the Info Hub page. Results update as you search.
Clear the field to show the full feed again.
Keyword search is fast and predictable — best when authors use descriptive titles and readers know roughly what the post was called.
Semantic search (optional)
When your administrator turns on semantic search in institution settings (under Info Hub in Settings), search uses AI-powered semantic matching:
- Finds announcements by meaning, not just exact words in the title.
- Can match content in announcement bodies and indexed attachments (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, and other supported types when attachment indexing is enabled).
- Requires at least three characters before semantic results run (with a short debounce).
With semantic search active, the feed may show a loading state while matches are fetched. Infinite scroll pagination behaves differently during an active semantic query — results come from the semantic index rather than paginated list loading.
Filters
Click Filters to add one or more filter rows, then Apply.
| Filter | Available to | Options |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Editors (can create announcements) | Draft, Published, Archived |
| Pinned | All users | Yes / No |
| Visibility | Editors | Everyone, Targeted Audience |
| Priority | All users | No Priority, Low, Medium, High, Urgent |
| Tags | All users | Institution announcement tags |
| Author | All users | Users who have authored announcements |
Editors see Status and Visibility in the “add filter” list; other users can filter by pinned state, priority, tags, and author.
Active filters show a count badge on the Filters button. Use Reset inside the filter popover to clear all filters.
Common filter combinations
| Goal | Suggested filters |
|---|---|
| Audit active highlights | Pinned: Yes + Status: Published |
| Editorial cleanup | Status: Draft (editors) |
| Topic review | Tags: chosen tag + Status: Published |
| Urgent comms review | Priority: Urgent |
| Institution-wide posts only | Visibility: Everyone (editors) |
Filter by tag from a card
Click a tag chip on an announcement card to navigate the feed filtered to that tag (when tag navigation is enabled on the card).
This is often faster than opening the filter panel when you notice a related tag on a post you are already reading.
Similar content while authoring
Semantic search also powers the Similar Content detector on the create and edit forms when enabled. That feature warns authors about duplicate or near-duplicate drafts while typing — separate from the main feed search. See Create an announcement.
Best practices
- Use descriptive titles even when semantic search is on — titles appear in cards, notifications, and keyword fallback.
- Apply consistent tags so filter-by-tag remains reliable across authors.
- Reset filters after a focused search session so your default feed is not unexpectedly narrowed.
- Editors: filter Draft before term start to clear outdated unpublished posts.
- Combine search text with filters — for example, search “examination” plus Tags: exams — to reduce noise in large institutions.
Common pitfalls
| Pitfall | What happens | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Semantic query under 3 characters | Semantic results do not run yet | Type at least three characters |
| Active semantic search + scroll | Pagination differs from normal feed | Clear search to restore standard infinite scroll |
| Forgetting active filters | Empty or sparse feed | Check badge on Filters; use Reset |
| Expecting to find posts outside audience | Search never shows inaccessible posts | Normal — visibility is always enforced |
| Duplicate posts | Similar topics without Similar Content check | Enable semantic search; heed author warnings on create |
FAQ
Who can enable semantic search?
Institution administrators configure it in Settings → Info Hub.
Can students filter by Draft status?
No. Status and Visibility filters require permission to create announcements.
Does search include archived posts?
Use the Status: Archived filter (editors) alongside search text to include archived content in results.
Why does semantic search show a loading state?
Results are fetched from the semantic index with a debounce after you type; this differs from instant title keyword filtering.