In 25Live, you can create searches for use by all users. This can be accomplished by sharing a search to the public search user or by creating the search when logged in as (or masquerading as) the public search user.
Common public searches help users find items like:
- Conference rooms and other easily booked locations
- Lists of locations for each campus or building
- Different types of resources, such as furniture or AV equipment
- Student clubs, community groups, and other types of organizations
Creating and Setting the Public Search User
1. Create a User
Image: If your instance doesn't already have a public search user, you need to use the Group Administration to create a new contact.
If your instance does not already have a public search user, start by creating a new contact in the Series25 Group Administration tool. This username should be in a group that gives it permission to see all events, locations, resources, and organizations in 25Live. Don't worry that this might give other users a way to see those objects despite their own permissions–when someone uses a public search, their own security restrictions still apply to the results.
It’s recommended that you do not use an existing system account for this purpose, such as the Viewer Seat or a Publisher user for the creation and management of public searches. It's best to create a separate user whose sole task will be creating the searches that are available to all users, whether signed in or “view only.”
Tip: Use "Public Search" in the Contact's Name
To make it easier to find your public search user, best practice is to use "Public" as the First Name and "Search" as the Last Name, then "public" as the contact's short Username.
2. Set the Public Search Username
Image: The public search username is set in System Settings > System Defaults.
In 25Live, go to System Settings > System Defaults, and complete the Public Search Username field with the username (not the first name, last name, or email) of the contact you wish to set as the public search user.
Note
Any search created by this user after the contact has been set as the Public Search Username will be available to all users. If you or any other user creates searches first and then sets the Public Search Username field, the searches you created earlier will not be public.
Creating a Public Search
1. Sign In as or Masquerade as the Public Search User
Image: Search for the public search username in the Masquerade section.
If you know the credentials (and don't use SSO authentication), you can log in as the public search user. However, the easiest option is to log in as an administrative user with access to System Settings, then use 25Live's masquerade feature to act as the contact set as the public search user. If you don't know the public search username, see the System Defaults view in System Settings.
Note: Sharing a Search With the Public Search User
Alternatively, you could create a search as your own username then share the search with the designated public search user. However, creating the searches as the public search user is the best method.
Image: Security setting to share searches with others.
If you choose to share the search, your username will need permission to share. Use the More menu's Go To Tool link to go to the Series25 Group Administration tool. Set the "Share Searches with Others" permissions. Another administrator can also enable this permission for you.
2. Create a New Search
Image: In this example, we're creating a search for athletic events within two location sets.
As the public search user, create a new search.
3. Save Your New Search
Image: Name and save your search.
After running the search to test your criteria is correct, save your search. See Saving Searches for basic instructions.
4. Test Your Public Search
Image: If the search was created correctly, it will appear in the Saved Searches menu.
Sign out of 25Live using the Sign Out option in the More menu. Then, log in as your own username. Use the Go to Search button near the top of 25Live to go to the search view, choose a search type with the Select Object, then look for your search in the Saved Searches dropdown menu under the Public [Object Type] Searches header.
Troubleshooting
If your new search doesn't show up under the Public Searches header:
- Be sure you created the search after the contact was set as the Public Search Username
- Check that you were masquerading as the correct public search user
- If you shared the search to make it public, make sure you shared the search with the correct contact
- Sign out of 25Live, clear your browser cache, and sign back in to check the dropdown search list again
Editing a Public Search
Sign in as or masquerade as the public search user, then follow the instructions for editing a shared search.
Deleting a Public Search
Image: The choice to Delete a search is in the Search Actions menu.
Sign in as or masquerade as the public search user, then follow the instructions for deleting a shared search.