Hosted Document Library Pro adds a keyword search box to your library so visitors can quickly find what they need. A common question is whether that search can match information you have not shown as a column. This article explains how the search works and how to make sure the data you want people to find is searchable.
What the search box looks at
The library’s search box matches against the key information stored for each document: the title, excerpt, description, author and filename, along with its categories, tags and any other taxonomies. It also looks inside the text of attached files such as PDFs and Word documents. All of this is searchable whether or not it is displayed as a column, and the search covers your whole library, including documents that are not currently visible on screen. Read more about the search logic.
The search box itself can be shown or hidden in your library’s design settings.
Making a custom field searchable
Custom fields are the one type of data that must be displayed for the search to match it. If you want visitors to be able to search by a custom field, add it as a column to the library in the columns settings. Once the field is displayed, its text becomes part of what the search matches.
If you want a custom field to be searchable but would rather it did not clutter the table on smaller screens, you can include the column and use the responsive options to hide it on mobile. The information still counts toward search even when a column is collapsed on narrower devices.
In short
The document title, excerpt, description, author, filename, categories, tags, taxonomies and file contents are all searchable automatically. To make a custom field findable through the search box, include it as a column in your library.