Searching Contacts

April 23, 2026

Searching Contacts #

PloverCRM’s powerful search functionality helps you quickly find contacts using various criteria. Whether you’re looking for a specific person or a group of contacts matching certain conditions, the search system makes it fast and easy.

Overview #

Search capabilities include:

  • Quick text search across all fields
  • Advanced multi-field search
  • Custom field search
  • Combined search with filters
  • Saved search queries
  • API-based search

Quick Search #

Basic Text Search

  1. Navigate to PloverCRM → Contacts
  2. Enter a search term in the search box (top right)
  3. Press Enter or click Search
  4. Results appear instantly

What gets searched: Email addresses, first names, last names, phone numbers, and all custom fields (if configured).

Example Searches:

john → Finds all Johns
@example.com → Finds all contacts from example.com domain
555-0123 → Finds contacts with this phone number
Acme → Finds contacts with "Acme" in any field

Search Behavior

Case-Insensitive: "john" finds “John”, “JOHN”, and “john” — no need to match exact capitalization.

Partial Matching: "john" finds “John”, “Johnson”, “Johnathan” — searches within words, not just at the start.

Multiple Words: "john doe" finds contacts with both “john” AND “doe” in any order.

Special Characters: Searches work with @, +, -, etc. — e.g. [email protected] or +1-555-0123.

Advanced Search #

Multi-Field Search

  1. Go to PloverCRM → Contacts
  2. Click Advanced Search (or expand the search panel)
  3. Configure search criteria
  4. Click Search

Standard fields available: Email, First Name, Last Name, Phone, City, State, Country, Postal Code

Custom fields: All custom fields appear as search options. Field type determines search behavior — text fields use partial matching, select fields use exact matching, and date fields support range searching.

Search Modes

OR Mode (Default): Finds contacts matching ANY search criteria — broader results. Example: “john” OR “doe” → finds all Johns and all Does.

AND Mode: Finds contacts matching ALL search criteria — narrower results. Example: “john” AND “doe” → finds only John Does.

Switching modes: In the advanced search panel, select Match ALL or Match ANY, then run the search.

Field-Specific Search

Search in: Email
Query: @example.com
Result: All contacts with example.com email addresses

Search in: First Name, Last Name
Query: john
Result: Contacts with "john" in first OR last name

Search in: Company (custom field)
Query: acme
Result: Contacts with "acme" in company field

Benefits: more precise results, faster queries, fewer false positives, better performance on large databases.

Combining Search with Filters #

Search + List Filter

Search: john
List: Newsletter Subscribers
Result: All Johns who are newsletter subscribers

Search + Tag Filter

Search: @example.com
Tag: VIP
Result: All VIP contacts from example.com domain

Search + Stage Filter

Search: acme
Stage: Customer
Result: All customers with "acme" in their profile

Search + Owner Filter

Search: 555
Owner: John Smith
Result: All of John Smith's contacts with "555" in phone

Multiple Filters Combined

Search: tech
List: Newsletter
Tag: Hot Lead
Stage: Prospect
Owner: Jane Doe
Result: Jane's prospects who are hot leads, in newsletter, with "tech" in profile

Custom Field Search #

Text fields — partial matching:

Custom Field: Company Name
Query: tech
Result: All contacts with "tech" in company name

Select/Radio fields — exact option values:

Custom Field: Industry
Value: Technology
Result: All contacts in the Technology industry

Date fields — range searching:

Custom Field: Birthday
Range: 2026-01-01 to 2026-12-31
Result: All contacts with birthdays in 2026

Number fields — numeric ranges:

Custom Field: Annual Revenue
Range: 100000 to 500000
Result: All contacts with revenue between $100k–$500k

Checkbox/Multi-Select fields — selected options:

Custom Field: Interests
Values: Technology, Marketing
Result: All contacts interested in Technology OR Marketing

Search Results #

Results Display

Each result shows: contact name, email address, phone number, lists and tags, stage, owner, and last activity date.

Actions available: View contact, edit contact, quick edit, delete contact, select for bulk operations.

Sorting Results

Click any column header to sort; click again to reverse. Sort options: Name, Email, Date Created, Date Modified, Last Activity — each ascending or descending.

Pagination

Default results per page is 20. Options: 10, 20, 50, 100 — change in Screen Options (top right). Navigate with First/Previous/Next/Last buttons, page numbers, or jump to a specific page.

Exporting Search Results

  1. Perform the search
  2. Select all results or specific contacts
  3. Choose Export from Bulk Actions
  4. Download the CSV file

Use cases: Create targeted email lists, generate reports, share specific contact segments, back up filtered data.

Saved Searches #

Creating Saved Searches

  1. Configure search parameters
  2. Click Save Search
  3. Enter a name for the saved search
  4. Click Save

Example saved searches: “Hot Leads in Tech”, “VIP Customers in NY”, “Unassigned Prospects”, “Newsletter Subscribers”

Using Saved Searches

  1. Click the Saved Searches dropdown
  2. Select a saved search
  3. Results load automatically
  4. Modify and re-save if needed

Managing Saved Searches

Edit: Load the saved search → modify criteria → click Update Search

Delete: Click Saved Searches → click X next to the search name → confirm deletion

Share: Saved searches are user-specific. Super Admins can create global saved searches. Export search criteria to share with your team.

Search Performance #

Optimizing Search Speed

  1. Use Specific Fields: Search in targeted fields rather than all fields — reduces database queries and returns faster results
  2. Limit Results: Use filters to narrow results and reduce the per-page count for faster page loads
  3. Use Exact Matches: Exact email searches are fastest; use @ for email searches and + for phone searches
  4. Enable Caching: WordPress object caching speeds up repeat searches and reduces database load

Large Database Considerations (10,000+ contacts)

  1. Use FluentCRM Provider: Optimized for large datasets with better indexing and faster search queries
  2. Index Custom Fields: Add database indexes to speed up custom field searches (requires database access)
  3. Use Advanced Search: More efficient than quick search with targeted, better-performing queries

Search Tips and Tricks #

Email domain search — find all contacts from a domain:

Search: @example.com
Result: All contacts with example.com email addresses

Phone area code search — find contacts in a specific area:

Search: +1-555
Result: All contacts with 555 area code

Name variations — find all variations of a name:

Search: jon
Result: Jon, John, Jonathan, Jones, etc.

Company search — find all contacts from a company:

Custom Field: Company
Search: acme
Result: All Acme employees/contacts

Location search — find contacts in a specific location:

Fields: City, State
Search: new york
Result: All contacts in New York

Date range search — find contacts created in a period:

Date Created: 2026-01-01 to 2026-01-31
Result: All contacts created in January 2026

Troubleshooting #

No Results Found

Problem: Search returns no results but contacts exist.

  1. Check spelling and typos
  2. Try a partial search (fewer characters)
  3. Remove active filters
  4. Try different fields
  5. Check if contacts are in trash

Too Many Results

Problem: Search returns too many irrelevant results.

  1. Use more specific search terms
  2. Add filters (lists, tags, stage)
  3. Switch to AND mode instead of OR
  4. Search in specific fields only
  5. Use exact phrases in quotes

Search is Slow

Problem: Search takes a long time to complete.

  1. Use specific field search
  2. Add filters to narrow results
  3. Enable object caching
  4. Consider FluentCRM for large databases
  5. Contact your hosting provider about database optimization

Custom Fields Not Searchable

Problem: Cannot search custom field values.

  1. Verify the custom field exists and has data
  2. Check if the field is marked as searchable
  3. Try advanced search instead of quick search
  4. Verify field permissions
  5. Check if the field type supports search

Search Results Don’t Update

Problem: New or updated contacts don’t appear in search.

  1. Refresh the page
  2. Clear browser cache
  3. Clear WordPress object cache
  4. Check if contacts are published
  5. Verify search criteria includes the new contacts

Need Help? #

If you’re having trouble searching contacts:

  1. Try simpler search terms
  2. Remove filters and try again
  3. Check if contacts exist (view all contacts)
  4. Verify search permissions
  5. Contact support with your search criteria and expected results

Last updated: February 3, 2026

Updated on April 23, 2026

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