When we work with clients using Wild Apricot, we find we often need a discussion on what can be done with member search. Here are the most common first questions and the answers in general – specifics for any given search setup would require more specifics.
Can we provide different public and private searches of our membership?
Yes. Different by criteria of search. Different by criteria of results. Different in what fields are shown. It’s very flexible, but it requires that you set up the fields AND the display pages appropriately in order to make available the results you want to make available.
Can we provide different results for searches in different sections of the site?
Again, yes. You can save search results layouts and plug them into search pages which will define what fields can and can’t be seen in the results.
What kind of data searches can be made on membership data?
There’s a wide variety of types of searches can be made, both on public and members-only sections, on Wild Apricot – as long as you’ve set your membership data and data fields up appropriately to provide for such searches. There are alpha searches, date range searches, multiple choice checkbox searches, binary response searches. It all depends on how the field being searched is structured and populated with data.
Can I customize sort order?
You can rank sort order by your data field priority.
Setting up the membership data properly can impact so much on a Wild Apricot site, so it makes sense to work through it diligently so you can maximize the benefit – on member searches, on registrations, on membership renewals, etc. Of course, it’s relatively easy on Wild Apricot to change both field characteristics and the data populated within that field, but it’s best to map it out ahead of time if you can.