I really like osTicket but the Search function just doesn't work at all like I expect. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

For example, I'm in the Agency panel. I click on Open. It lists all Open tickets. There's a box in which I can search. I assume it's going to search the Open tickets (since that where I am). I type a word in the search box, press enter, and get results from ALL tickets and a wierd pop up box appears floating in the upper left corner of the screen with a bunch of different users.

What am I doing wrong?

Or, is my expectation of the Search incorrect?

Also, there are times where I perform a search and get zero results, yet I can clearly see the ticket I'm searching for when I browse the list. Why is the search not finding the result?

For example, I have a ticket with subject "Add COM-P to online forms"
I perform a search for 'com-p' and there are no results - why? I can see the ticket in the list and 'com-p' is part of the ticket's subject.

These are just a few examples of the trouble I have when it comes to searching for tickets in osTicket.

Thanks for any tips or advice for using the Search boxes

    Oh ... and one more thing ... the number of pages appearing at the bottom of the list of search results goes from 1 through 10 even when all the possible search results in my case there was only a single result.

    Why are there numerous pages I can click to when there's only a single page of results?

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    Environment details? (see Admin panel -> Dashboard -> Information)

    The number of pages at the bottom has been wrong on search for a while now.

    13 days later

    Still trying to understand how the Search box works ... it's not intuitive, mostly because it doesn't search the current list of tickets I'm reviewing. If I click My Tickets, then search for something, it searches the whole database for all tickets, including closed tickets.

    Server Information
    osTicket Version v1.14.3 (f4f5bc6) — Up to date
    Web Server Software Apache/2.4.38 (Debian)
    MySQL Version 10.3.23
    PHP Version 7.3.22-1+020200909.67+debian91.gbpdd7b72

    @cfa-it

    When you perform a search it searches all tickets you have access to (unless your account is configured to see all tickets regardless of access). If you want to search for tickets only in the My Tickets queue you'll have to create an Advanced Search, add your search term/keyword, and add the criteria Assignee => includes => Me / One of My Teams.

    Cheers.

    a year later

    cfa-it Also, there are times where I perform a search and get zero results, yet I can clearly see the ticket I'm searching for when I browse the list. Why is the search not finding the result?

    For example, I have a ticket with subject "Add COM-P to online forms"
    I perform a search for 'com-p' and there are no results - why? I can see the ticket in the list and 'com-p' is part of the ticket's subject.

    This particular part was not answered. All our agents are really struggling with this. Is it a bug or a mis-configuration?

        Robbie_79

        We continue to struggle with the bizarre logic around the search functionality in osTicket. I believe it's the weakest part of the software. Otherwise it's a great product. We're still on the 15.x release branch. I'm hoping the 16.x release is better when it comes to searching.

        Whenever we do a search, we only use the Advanced Search. The box at the top of the list of tickets is essentially useless since it doesn't search the current view, as indicated in the message above it searches ALL tickets regardless of your current view. So in order to search for open tickets in your queue the steps to search are onerous.

        Also, that search box at the top of the list also causes weird popup lists of usernames at random times if you try searching with it.

        My personal recommendation is to never use the search box at the top of the list and only use the Advanced Search. It's more steps but the results are accurate.

          @Robbie_79 @cfa-it

          We use MySQL Natural Language Mode and BOOLEAN Mode full-text searches. You can read up on the documentation below to get better search results:

          My thinking is since - is an operator in BOOLEAN mode and means "show me results that don't contain" then COM-P will show 0 matches (as you're saying show me results that contain "com" but not "p").

          Cheers.

            KevinTheJedi

            That's interesting and your explanation is helpful.

            But I'd make the point it's an unusual approach for search and doesn't align well with the norms that users would think about when searching. Most people would expect a search box to look for whatever they type in there, including the special characters they included.

            How else could I search for my ticket related to the "COM-P" template a user requested?

            Other search weirdness, as I indicated when I type something, a popup box appears with usernames, like this

            And if I happen press enter (assuming that I'm submitting the query for what I typed) I get ALL the tickets from the first user in the popup - nothing at all related to what I was searching for.

            And ... to broaden the issue related to searching ...

            When there are multiple pages of search results, the pagination at the bottom of the list is not accurate.

            The search results I have in my query actually end on Page 2 (there are fewer than 50 results). If I click onto Page 3 or 4 there are no results displayed. Which means the total search results is wrong and the number of pages should have stopped at the appropriate length.

              @cfa-it

              But I'd make the point it's an unusual approach for search

              We do things our way and you are entitled to your opinion.

              How else could I search for my ticket related to the "COM-P" template a user requested?

              You should be able to search for "COM-P" (including the double quotes) and find the exact matches. Please read the documentation I referenced earlier, it explains this.

              And if I happen press enter (assuming that I'm submitting the query for what I typed) I get ALL the tickets from the first user in the popup - nothing at all related to what I was searching for.

              Because when you press enter is selects the first item in the dropdown (notice the blue highlight on the first dropdown item). You must click the search icon to search the typed query.

              When there are multiple pages of search results, the pagination at the bottom of the list is not accurate.

              This is a bug on our bug sheet to look into at a future date. This bug was introduced when we did Custom Columns/Custom Queues.

              Cheers.

                KevinTheJedi

                Agreed, we all have different approaches.

                Follow up question ... the popup search that appears ... why does that happen?

                I typed the word "outpatient" but the pop up list shows usernames. Why? They have nothing to do with the word I typed.

                At first I thought it was because the system found tickets under those usernames that also matched the keyword I typed. But if I click or press Enter I get a list of all the tickets for that user. I don't understand this behavior of the software. What's the purpose of this pop up?

                  @cfa-it

                  Ticket/User quick lookup. You can type a ticket number or part of the user information (like email, name, etc.) and it will try to suggest tickets that match the number you typed or user(s) that match what word you're typing.

                  Cheers.

                  If it's a matter of different opinions, is this open for a more in-depth discussion?
                  There is no a right or wrong for this issue, but I don't underestimate the complaints of our staff who spend many hours working on the OST platform.

                  The linked documentation I quoted, is not really something I would ask my staff to read and expect them to understand. They are people working/communication with other people, definitely no techies.
                  What I am trying to point out is that the more intuitive the search bar is, the easier it is for agents to work with it and keep their focus on the content of the tickets and conversations.

                  I see the value of the current search-bar, but I would be very enthusiastic if all confusing features which cfa-it pointed out can be disabled/configured.

                  The fancy features could be incorporated into advanced-search, and the plain accessible search-bar could be as simple as possible.

                  KevinTheJedi Because when you press enter is selects the first item in the dropdown (notice the blue highlight on the first dropdown item). You must click the search icon to search the typed query.

                  Perhaps the first item shouldn't be selected by default, so a search can be done by keyboard alone without the need of the mouse?

                      @Robbie_79

                      We are completely rewriting the software currently (v2.0). We are using a completely new front end and completely new backend. The whole codebase is changing in its entirety. We have plans to make things more intuitive and easier from a user standpoint.

                      Cheers.

                      Great, looking forward to that. Looks like your have got your work cut out for yourselves, up to v2.0!

                      @cfa-it you can make an edit to /scp/tickets.php so every search is actually "quoted" and discards any operators.
                      Replace every occurrences of $_GET['query'] with '\"'.$_GET['query'].'\"'. (Don't replace the one on line 85).
                      It's dirty but it does the trick.

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