Bridge 4 Public Safety is designed as a collaboration platform where information is shared across agencies, teams, and incidents. Because so much information is shared and retained in channels, search is a key part of the Bridge experience and allows users to quickly find people, channels, files, and past messages when they need them.

Here's a quick guide on how to search on Bridge4PS for users, channels, teams, and workspaces:


Searching Users, Channels, Teams, and Workspaces


  • Global search allows you to search for:

  • Users on the platform

  • Public channels

  • Public workspaces

  • Private channels and workspaces you're a member of


Global search is done through the Search bar at the top of the channel box on desktop or through the magnifying class above the chats list on mobile. Results appear as you type. The search bar can find any user on the platform, but private channels and workspaces only show up if you are a member. Note that global searches are limited to 5-7 results, so if you cannot find the user or channel, simply navigate to the corresponding Directory for a comprehensive search.


When performing a global search or from a Directory:

  • You can enter names exactly as they appear

  • Spaces do not need to be replaced with hyphens


Example: Bridge4PS Announcements & Resources


Searching for Users


  • Users can be searched by their name or username.

  • User names follow this format: Last Name, First Name (with a comma) followed by the agency suffix. Doe,  John (Agency, TX)

  • When searching, you can use either the user's name or username: doe.john.agc-tx

  • To mention a user in a message, type: @username. Usernames follow the format last.first.suffix.  If you do not know the username, simply start typing the last name followed by a period and continue typing the first name until the list filters to the person you want and click that person from the list.


Channel Links


  • Channels are referenced using the hashtag: #channel-name.

  • Spaces must be replaced with hyphens ( - ).


Example:

  • Channel name: Bridge4PS Announcements & Resources

  • Channel Link format: #bridge4ps-announcements-and-resources


Searching for Messages


  • You can search messages within a room using various filters:

  • By sender: from:me, from:username

  • Starred messages: has:star

  • Pinned messages: is:pinned, has:pin

  • Messages with links: has:url, has:link

  • Messages with location data: has:location, has:map

  • By date: before:mm/dd/yyyy, after:mm/dd/yyyy, on:mm/dd/yyyy (supported formats include mm/dd/yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, mm.dd.yyyy)

  • To sort messages by timestamp: sort:asc, order:descending, order:descend {example from:me order:asc)