Advanced Search
Advanced Search is a Media Library Organizer Pro feature that extends WordPress's default media search with additional fields and comparison operators. Use it to find attachments by exact title, alt text, caption, description, or metadata with more precision than the standard search.
In this article
Prerequisites
- Any Media Library Organizer Pro license
- Advanced Search option enabled
Overview
Advanced Search enables or disables additional search options, which are displayed next to the search field in List and Grid Media Views:
Search Field
By default, WordPress will search all of the following Attachment fields, returning results where a partial match of the given Search Term exists in any of the fields:
- Title
- Alternative Text
- Caption
- Description
With Advanced Search enabled, you can choose the specific Attachment field to search:
- Any Field: The default WordPress method of searching
- Title
- Alternative Text
- Caption
- Description
- EXIF Metadata
- IPTC Metadata
Search Comparison Operator
By default, WordPress will return Attachments where the given Search Term is contained within the given Attachment Field(s), sometimes known as a partial match or 'LIKE' query. With Advanced Search enabled, you can choose how the search query should be performed:
| Comparison | Description |
|---|---|
| Contains | The default WordPress method of searching; the selected Search Field(s) must partially match (contain) the given Search Terms |
| Does Not Contain | The selected Search Field(s) must not contain the given Search Terms |
| Matches | The selected Search Field(s) must exactly match the given Search Terms |
| Does Not Match | The selected Search Field(s) must exactly not match the given Search Terms |
| Starts With | The selected Search Field(s) must start with the given Search Terms |
| Ends With | The selected Search Field(s) must end with the given Search Terms |
Example: Search by Exact Title
To only return Attachments that have a Title precisely matching "longwalk":
- Search Field: Title
- Search Comparison Operator: Matches
- Search Term: longwalk
