Tutorial 3: Use Search Features

This short tutorial shows you how to use the search features in NewsDesk to quickly find channels and headlines.

NewsDesk offers several ways to help you find the information that matters to you:

• The View | Unread Channels Menu
• The Age Filter
• The Search Field

Using the View | Unread Channels Menu

Use the View | Unread Channels menu to hide headlines you've already read. This makes it much easier to find the latest news. When you'd like to see all headlines again, simply select View | All Channels.

With View | Unread Channels selected, NewsDesk will show only those channels that have unread headlines. The status bar at the bottom of the NewsDesk window shows how many channels have unread headlines.

Using the Age Filter

Sometimes you want to see breaking news, or the very latest weblog entries. Or you may want to see headlines published since this morning. To do this in NewsDesk, look for the age filter in the status bar at the bottom of the main window.

For example, select Last 15 Minutes to show only those headlines published in the last 15 minutes. NewsDesk immediately hides headlines that are older than 15 minutes. By default, NewsDesk is configured to download the latest headlines every 30 minutes. When you select an age filter, NewsDesk will automatically show new headlines and remove older headlines. This is a great way to watch channels like CNN that change frequently. To restore the hidden headlines, select All Headlines.

Using the Search Field

To find a specific word or phrase in a headline or headline description, use the search field. Enter a keyword or phrase in the search field and watch as NewsDesk immediately filters out headlines that don't match.

The search field matches headlines incrementally. Type in car, then pause for a moment, and NewsDesk will display headlines that match. Continue typing, adding toon to the search keyword. Pause again, and NewsDesk will display headlines that have cartoon in their title or description.

To cancel the search, press the cancel button at the right end of the search field.

When you use the search field, look at the status bar to see how many channels have headlines that match.

By default, NewsDesk searches headlines and their descriptions. To search channels and their descriptions for a keyword, change the search options. To open the search options menu, click the magnifying glass in the search field.

Select Channel to limit your search to channels and their descriptions. To search only titles, deselect Description.

An Example

Here is an example that uses the unread filter and search keyword. Suppose you want to read about the latest developments at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

This is what you might see before you apply the unread filter and search keword.

Let's narrow this down to only unread headlines that mention NASA in their title or description. Select the View | Unread Channels menu. Then enter "nasa" in the search field. As soon as you finish typing the keyword, NewsDisk removes any channels and headlines that don't match.

Of the 43 channels in NewsDesk, eight have unread headlines with the keyword "nasa" in a title or description.

This tutorial has shown you how NewsDesk makes it easy to find the channels and headlines that matter most to you.