Filters and sorting

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Filtering has two modes. Basic builds a query out of chips, which covers most questions. CQL hands you the raw query, which covers the rest.

Filter bar with a keyword box and chips for Contributors, Mention, Parent, Creator, Labels and Macros, with the Macros list open
Filters you have added sit as chips along the bar. Each chip opens its own list of values to match on, like the Macros list here.

You can start in Basic and switch to CQL to see what it built, which is the fastest way to learn the syntax.

#The filters Search itself provides

Text, Space, Contributors, Created, Updated, Mentions, Favorited by, Ancestor, Parent, Type and Label. Everything else in the filter list comes from another capability.

Filter picker with a Built in group listing Text, Contributors, Mentions, Parent, Creator, Labels and Macros, and an Approval group below
The built-in set comes first, then a group for each capability. The approval filters only appear where that capability is installed.

#Basic or CQL

Mode

Use it when

Basic

The question fits chips: a space, a date range, a person, a label

CQL

You need a condition the chips cannot express, or you are copying a query from elsewhere

#Sorting

Any sortable column, ascending or descending. Sorting on a Capable field only orders pages Confluence has indexed, so on a partly indexed site the rest are left out.

Sort menu with built in options Title, Created, Last updated and Author, then Approval options such as Approval Status
The options are grouped the same way as columns, so a capability such as Approval brings its own dates and statuses to sort by.

#A few things worth knowing

  • A CQL query with a leading wildcard matches nothing. Confluence does not support it, and it fails quietly.

  • Switching from CQL back to Basic can lose a clause the chips cannot represent.

  • Filter choices are saved with the saved search, just like columns.

Chips first. CQL when they run out.