Welcome everyone. My name is Anne O’Shea, and I’m your Flexmls trader today. And today’s coffee break webinar is on how to customize your search results.
So today, we’re gonna cover custom search templates, custom views, and custom sorts. And custom search templates, you can start in quick search, or you can start in the menu item quick search templates. Custom views can also be created in quick search on the list tab, or you can start in my views in the menu. And custom sorts, the same thing.
You can start a quick search on the list tab with the views, or you can start in my safe source. And all throughout, I’ll show you how to share your custom creation.
So let’s jump in.
So here I am in my training account in the Fargo Morehead MLS. So some things might look a little different than your MLS. Some of the fields might be named something different, that kind of thing, but don’t worry. The process that I wanna show you today is still the same. Okay?
So as I mentioned, a lot of these you can start straight in quick search, and I actually prefer starting in a quick search because the fields are already there. You don’t have to start from scratch, but it’s entirely up to you. I’m gonna show you all of that. And we will start in quick search, but I wanna point out that you have these items in the menu, quick search templates, my views, and my saved sorts.
And they’re all found in the menu here down in preferences. There’s my views, my safe sorts, and quick search templates. Okay? Now let’s go into quick search.
And what do I mean by quick search template? Well, one dash residential is a template of parameters that my MLS set up that are commonly used in my MLS. But what if I don’t always use all of these? Or I want to add something to this list. Well, that’s where my custom quick search template comes in. So maybe I’m constantly finding that I don’t need everything on this list.
I can easily live without maybe lot acres. Maybe I’m always working in you know, a city or urban part of town, and I just never get asked about acres. I’m not searching by acres. I just wanna make a list a little shorter so I can skip by it and get to the fields that I wanna add.
Maybe I’ll remove new construction, maybe that’s something that I don’t need to see all the time or laundry location. I can remove anything I like. It’s never gone because I can always add them back when in in Add a field. So like new construction, you’ll see there’s new construction. If I wanted to add it back, I certainly could.
But in this case, let’s say I’m always being asked about fireplace, what type of fireplace it is, and also about how many full baths and I’m always searching for these things for my clients. And so it would be nice if they were here on my quick search template.
So and I can add many more. I can remove whatever I’d like. I’m just gonna stick with those two for now. So I’ve added these two. And I’ve removed things that I don’t need. And now this is a template. You’ll notice I haven’t done a search because I’m not searching. There’s still a thousand forty six results.
I’m just making this easier on myself by putting in here the fields that I want to see because I always search by full bass. I’m always adding fireplace to my template using the add a field button and wouldn’t it be nice not to have to add it each time? Okay? So here I am. I have the fields I want, but what if I’d like total full baths up here by total bathrooms.
Well, I can’t move that here, but I can save this template and I’m gonna show you how to do that first, and then I’ll show you how to rearrange things. So let’s save this template. I have the fields I want here.
So now whenever I jump in, I can do a search from here easily. I’m just gonna come up here to my action buttons in quick search and click save. And because I made changes on the left here in my search parameters, save quick search template is available. I’m gonna Click and save that. And now I can replace an existing template. Maybe I’ve just wanted to tweak something that I’ve already created. Maybe I needed to add one more field in or something.
I can find my existing quick search template. But I only made a land template in the past. So this time, I’m creating a brand new one.
And as you see, you see my LAN template, you can do this for any property type. You can also do more than one. It’s entirely up to you. So but in this case, I’m gonna call it my res template. Okay. And, actually, I’m gonna put an asterisk in a space My res template. Because sometimes that’ll help it move to the top of the list when I’m in quick launch or I’m in my app.
Now one thing to note is that your quick search templates that you create here and your source do go over into the Flexmls Pro app. So that’s a handy thing. So right now, I’m not worrying about the view. I’m just worrying about this. So I’m just gonna stick with let’s go to the basic info and my res template. And I’ll click save.
If I had a custom view that I already made, I could link it right there. But I I’m gonna create that later so I can link it later. Okay?
So now I have this. And if I come in here, I can see my res template.
And in here, I can see that I removed acres, I removed laundry, I removed new construction, and I just have total, full bass, and fireplace on here. But again, I wanna move them up. So I’ve saved this template. How do I move them around? Well, this is when I would go into the menu and click on quick search templates.
And in here, you can see there’s my res template. Easy. So over here, it tells me that there’s seventeen fields, and it’s what view well, that’s the residential. My res template has twenty two fields, and it’s using the basic info view. Here’s where I can come in and edit.
Here’s the template. I don’t need to change the name. Property type residential because that determines what fields are available when I create it. And I have the default view of basic info.
And here’s the layout, and I can see all the fields, and I can add things back in. I can remove things now, but I wanted to move Total full baths up. Now, I can click up, move up several times and get it up here.
And now I have it directly under total bathroom. So total full baths is right under total bathrooms and above total square feet. And again, some of these fields may look different than what they’re called in your MLS. Don’t worry. The process will still work for you. Okay? Now, I want to point out that I fireplace, all those options under Flyer Place are here.
But maybe I want fireplace up here, after garage stalls, I want water below. Now I can click on waterfront and click on move down. However, many times, that is seven or eight times. Or I can click all of these. I’m gonna click the first one. Hold down my shift button and click on the last on the list.
And it doesn’t have to be this list. It could just be a group, but I wanna move a group of fields. I can click the first one, hold down my shift button and click the last one of the group, and I can move them up as a group. So I don’t have to click eight times if I want.
Okay? So now I’ve moved waterfront to the last, and now I’m happy, and I’m gonna click save. Now if I wanted to, as I mentioned before, you don’t have to start in quick search to create a quick search template. You can click on new and start it in here rather than in quick search. So if I start by clicking new in here under quick search templates, I give it a name and I’ll say, my second res.
Template. You can call it whatever you like. I’m just gonna call it that for fun. And it’s residential, and I can now pick whichever view I want. I’ll link it to the full listing view. Click next. And now the templates empty.
So now this is where I pick what I want. I wanna put, current price, and I can hold down my controller command and add the, list number, list member. Maybe I want, you know, There’s so many things. Maybe I want the city separated out, garage stalls, whatever it is. I can put whatever I want in here.
And, maybe I want lot acres click add. And now they’re here and I can rearrange. Maybe I want City to move up. List number up. Whatever I wanna do and click save. So you can start from scratch too, but I like the shortcut of just starting in quick search. Okay?
So now let’s go back to quick search. And if you notice, it remembered my res template. That’s nice. I like how it’s sticky like that. If I last searched in land, it would be, bland when I came back into quick search. So it’ll remember whatever I did last.
But in this case, my risk template is the one that I was last in, and there are those fields. And now total bathrooms is right above total full baths. Which is where I moved it, and I moved fireplace above waterfront. So everything’s how just how I like it. And now if you don’t, I still haven’t searched for anything.
So I can do that. I can click on city and price and all those things and now search, but we’re just talking about the template today. So now it makes my searching in the future easier. Okay? So now let’s look at that list tab. Because I want to now create a view that includes those fields that I added to my quick search template.
I wanna see when I look at the list tab, those columns that I’m constantly searching for. I want to see the results here in the list tab. So let’s add, and right now the view is the basic info. And if you notice, there’s a little info bubble here, and there’s a guided tour right here to help you create a custom view. Very nice.
So you can take advantage of that if you forget what I’ve told you today. But meanwhile, I’ll show you how to go about So just click on view, and I’m on the list tab again. Click on view.
And I wanna create a view from basic info. Actually, let me go back and I wanna show you something. You can select any view. I created a land view here, and it does notice it doesn’t have an asterisk. That means it’s not an I have not inherited it from anywhere from my MLS or anyone. It is just something I created, and so I could use that.
But that’s not gonna help me much in residential because it does have beds and baths. Right? It’s about zoning and acres. So that’s why I’d like to name my things by property types, so I don’t forget what the fields are that are included. So I’ll go back to basic info, and maybe I like this generally, but I want to add in fireplace and total full baths. I have total bathroom. But I don’t have total full baths.
So let’s go in and click on view. So I’m creating a view from basic info.
So that’s my starting point. And I’m gonna call it my, res view. I can give it a little info bubble here if you hover, says the report description appears on the list of results imprinted and emailed reports. So if I wanna put a blurb up there or something, title it, that’s fine if you want. I it’s not necessary. Name is required. It has the red asterisk.
This is not required, so I’m gonna skip it. Show photo. Yes. I liked to show the photo. Maybe I want a default for my office listings, my listings, whatever, or not. I’ll just take that off. I don’t need it to default for anything. And the fields. These are the fields that are already in the basic info view that I’m gonna now tweak.
Like, say, beds and total bathrooms, I wanna add that full bath. I just added to my quick search template.
So I can see the results in my columns in the list tab. So I’m gonna add total full baths, and I’ll add fireplace too. Just click on the name and I get the whole group over here. Now, total full bass, I want to click and drag up here below total bathrooms. And fireplace, maybe I wanna put this up here.
Right after square feet. And let’s see. Maybe I don’t need start date, lot acres. Maybe I don’t need that. And see DOM, maybe I do wanna keep that. So I can pick and choose what I want to put here. Okay? And I may want to, add other things. I can add whatever I like, and I just had to pick the proper property type for whatever I’m creating for. Okay?
Now the sort. Now I could just save this, and that’s a custom view. And now I have the columns I want on the list tab. And I can use that view in any of the, you know, property types that I want, but I will link it to my residential template that I created. And I’ll show you how to do that shortly. But before I save it, I also want to create a custom sort. Now I don’t have to do a sort. I don’t have to do a view.
I don’t have to do a custom quick search template. You can just do a view and maybe a sort or just sort with the existing view. Whatever you want. You can do one or all of these steps. I’m just showing you how they kind of roll in together. Like nesting dolls or something, but you don’t have to do them all. Okay? I’m just we’re just throwing it in just to show you you can.
So let’s go on to sort And these little info bubbles here talk about, you know, good information. I always recommend reading these. If not acting on the little links. Like, here’s a guided tour for help in customizing your view. Okay?
We’re already there. No. So we’re good. But on the sort, the default always is the column order. Column orders, when you click on the top of the column in the list tab, you can make, you know, you wanna sort by price ascending or descending or bathrooms ascending or descending, whatever it is, bedrooms, but you can also create a custom sort.
And the nice thing about custom sort is you can have it multi layered if you’d like. So I can select to save sort. So if I click in here, I can see that I’ve already in the past made a save sort that was total bath and then full bath and then by price. Or I can create a new sort. So let’s create a new sort. And I have to give it a name, and I’m gonna call it my res sort for lack of a better idea.
And the fields for residential And how do I wanna sort it?
Well, maybe I wanna sort it by, Maybe I wanna sort it by, let’s see, full bath.
I’ll just type in full to get total full baths and by price. Maybe I want the current price. So that it can come over here, and you can see I have total full baths and current price. And I can reorder these. If I want to first look at the price and then sort by full bass, but typically you won’t do that because prices can be so varied.
You’re not gonna get a lot of things with the same price, and then you’re gonna all the things that are, you know, one point two million exactly, and then sort by total best. So you’re usually sorting the other way and price is one of the last things. Okay? If you were doing price, you don’t have to. But so I’m gonna sort by full bass and current price, and it says ascending. And maybe I want decent.
I would like to start with the highest number of full baths and then go descend down to the lowest number of full baths. And same with price. I can go ascending or descending. Maybe I’ll leave it ascending. Maybe I want the most full best for the lowest price, and that’s what this would show me. And I can always adjust this later too, but I’m just gonna go ahead and click.
Save.
So now I could be in my res template or I can be in residential, I could be anywhere.
And the view on the list tab in quick search is my res view. And if I were to go out of here, click on Flexmls and then go back into quick search. There’s my rest template. And on the list tab is the view. Where’s my res view? Here it is. My res view that has the total full baths and the fireplace column that I added.
And if you notice it’s sorting by total full bath. So it’s descending from six to five to four. And then of the four total full baths, it’s going from low to high price. And for the three total full bass, it’s starting low and going higher as well. So that’s my sort. So it automatically puts them in that order right off the bat. Very handy.
So if you notice, though, total bathrooms is like a really long label for such a skinny column. It doesn’t need to be that wide. And of course, you can always come in here and edit these column widths. By clicking and dragging. Oops, excuse me. Click and drag and make them skinnier if you like. Maybe I wanna make this one a little bit shorter. And I can do that.
But what I would like to do is change this up. So I’m gonna go into my res view. I’m gonna click on view and I want to edit this. So I’m in my res view, and I want to edit some of these. I don’t need total bathrooms to be such a wide column header. So I’m gonna click on that. And I’m gonna just say, maybe I want total baths, or maybe I’ll just do baths. I can call it whatever I like.
Click done. Easy. Total full baths. Maybe I’ll, click on that. And make this just full baths. Done. I can even just do full if I wanted. And maybe like cumulative dom. Maybe I want to just make this seed dom. Just take this out, make that seed dom. That’s another one that doesn’t need to be so wide. Okay. So maybe I’m happy with that and click save.
So now the column headers are handier. And I can now make them even tighter if I wanted to. If you add a lot of columns, you may wanna do this. You don’t have to. But it’s nice.
And now I’m good to go. I have everything how I like it. So Let’s go in. Remember when I went to quick search, and I got this template back, but it doesn’t stick to this view necessarily. So let’s make sure that they stick together.
So let’s go into quick search templates, and I’m gonna go to my res template and you can see the view is basic info. That’s the default view for this. So I’m gonna edit this. And in here, I’ve now created a custom view and I can find it my res view.
Click next, and I can see all the column, you know, all the, items in my quick search template. I’m gonna leave those alone. I’m just gonna click save. Because I just want to link it to that. So now when I click it, my res template, I can see my res view will always show up. Awesome.
Now I wanna point out while you’re in quick search templates, I can come in here and remove one. Maybe I wanna start over. I don’t like this one. I made too many whatever it is. I can remove them. Just delete the one. I don’t need anymore. I can also give them to someone. So I can come in here and you know what? I can find maybe I I find the office first.
So I’m gonna I’m just gonna start typing in FBS. So I can find this test office, and I can give it to someone. I could give it to the office, account itself, or give it to someone in the selected office. And I can give it to Josh, say. And I just click on give to selected member. Easy. And done. I can edit again. I can create a new one.
And as you saw it before, when you create a new one, you give it a name and you start out with a blank slate. You have to put everything added. So let’s look at my views. Again, You can start in quick search and go to the list tab and click on that view button, or you can go to my views.
And in here, I can see all the inherited views, And then there’s my land view and my res view residential that I just created. If I click on residential, I can see the columns that are in this view right here.
And I can’t see the title of it. I can copy this. Maybe I wanna make a new version. I can copy it and just tweak something on it and then save it under a new name. I can remove it. If I wanna delete it, I can give it to someone. I can give it to someone here just like I can before. I can give it to a selected office or I can give it to someone in the selected office that I find. Okay?
So easy. And then edit. Of course, I can go in and edit things, add fields, remove fields, etcetera. On the view.
And if I create a new one, just like before I give it a name, and I pick the fields, and it gives me, by default, it has to have price status and MLS number in the view. So then I would add other things like, bath. Maybe I want total bathrooms full bath, three quarter. And I could choose bed, and I can do total bed and add whatever it is that I want, you know, whatever it is, and then just click save.
I can also create a sort from here as well and incorporate that into the view that I’m creating. But I’m gonna go up to save sorts. You can also look at my sorts here. I can see the one that I previously made that was three layers. Total bathrooms descending, total full bath descending, and then list price ascending. And I can see if there’s a view using the sort.
No view is using the sort. My res sort, I can see that the fields that I put in, this total full bass descending, current price ascending, And the view that’s using this is my resume. So that was linked to a view. And again, I can copy it, remove it, give it to someone. This interface is slightly different. I can type in like Amy, and I get all the Amys, and I just send it off and give it to Amy.
Easy. Slightly different interface, same idea. You can give it to someone in the MLS. And of course, I could come in and edit.
Now, a save sort, click on new, and I can decide again how to create, you know, maybe I want it always first by beds, total bedrooms, and then by price. Or I could do total bedrooms and then full bath. Maybe that’s a good sort. Maybe that would be handy. And I tend to like descending.
I wanna see the biggest number of bedrooms first, but it’s entirely up to you, maybe, and then descending for total full baths. Just click save. Easy. I’d have to give it a name. Okay?
So you can go in and get to these places from quick search or go in individually here to link a view to a quick search template. You come in here and pick the template, and then pick the view you want it to always pull up when you’re looking at that template.
So many things. And each way, I’ve shown you how to share it with someone.
If you make this fabulous template or maybe it’s a fabulous view and sort. If you do notice though, my res template, if I go in and edit, All these columns, all these items that are in my template are not necessarily in my view. Some people might want those to match up.
Some people might want, to, you know, to do what I did to just add more things to it. So Whatever’s on your template doesn’t have to match what’s on your view, but oftentimes you do want them to. So it’s up to you though. You have that power. So have fun. Hopefully, this was helpful.
You can see you can create a custom template And over here on the list tab, you can see that you can create a view that has all the columns of data that you wanna see whether they’re on the template or not, and you can have them automatically sort by, in this case, full bath and then price or whatever it is.
However, you would like to sort, and you can have many layers of sorts. So Thank you so much for joining me. I hope this was helpful, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
