Element-web: [Feature request] Add filters by date, author, room to search interface in Riot

[MurzNN]

At now search interface allow only search messages by keywords. Will be good to add advanced filter to search form for filter results via other useful fields:

• Date interval (from-to)
• Author of message
• Mentioned user
• Room name & description (for All rooms search)

Good implementation of this filter we can see at Twist app: https://static.twistapp.com/8545d0058b88794f6bb55eda07d40003.png

[MurzNN]

Seems at now there are no Client-Server API that can filter search results by date interval: https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client_server/r0.2.0.html#id60 so this must be also implemented in server side too, here is issue about this: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/issues/969

[MurzNN]

Also will be good to add searching by star and other tags, when they will be implemented in https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/2938

[turt2live]

It would also be nice to be able to specify particular tags to look in. I often find myself trying to find that one conversation I had with someone, but my options are manually going through ~900 rooms or using the "All Rooms" function with generic keywords (like "sewing machine"). If I could say "only look at Direct Chats", that'd be much easier to find that one conversation I know I had with someone.

[MurzNN]

Good example of easy interface with filters we can see in Discord:

[Pestdoktor]

Experimental branch adding search by author:
https://github.com/Pestdoktor/matrix-react-sdk/tree/author-search

Oddities:

• nolacking gui
• only works on current room members
• serverside search only (no e2ee support)

I'd be willing to take this further... Should I make a PR so it can be commented on? Or iron out the aforementioned deficiencies first?

[aaronraimist]

It probably makes sense to open a draft PR while you work on it

[DJCrashdummy]

referencing https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/2938#issuecomment-629764841, also a filter for reactions would be nice.

[DJCrashdummy]

IMHO also filters for files (#9754), links ( #8746) perhaps also mentions and/or keywords (#5382) should be merged into a more advanced search... else sooner or later we would end up with a panel for every filter. :unamused:
beside that, additionally the discussion, whether a panel should just display the current rooms items or globally, is addressed (for now i would prefer a switch to toggle either or) and even combined searches are possible and superior to the panel approach ("i'm looking for a link and given its topic it must have been in one of these 3 rooms." -> 1 search with 2 filters and you don't have to go through 3 different rooms one after another).

[DJCrashdummy]

thinking a little bit further, this could also help to streamline the UI:

• remove the panel-icons from the top right, except the one for the member-panel
• also remove the search-icon from the top right
• add a search-section to the left panel like direct messages, rooms etc.:
  
  
  
  • with the +-icon you'll get to the full blown search interface (or use instead of the + a magnifier-icon to "mark it as a special section")
  
  
  • and then (similar to virtual folders in thunderbird) within the search-section a bunch of pre-/user-defined searches can be saved without bothering anyone.
  
  
• perhaps the saved searches can also be (optionally) included into the shortcuts to recently viewed rooms above the room list
• and for sure the results of every search should be displayed in the main window and not squeezed into a side panel

as a result all icons on the top right are room-dependent (settings, integrations, share & members) and every user can define & save his own repeatedly needed searches/filters, no mater how much.

btw: the majority of my noobs never look at the top right icons anyway, especially since the right panel is closed by default.

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it seems to me that, if this issue is solved properly, it also closes a bunch of other issues with even higher priority as well. :wink: