Advanced searching using our new software upgrade

We're pleased to announce some new functionality to provide you with more tools at your disposal to find the needle-in-a-haystack appeal you've been hunting for.

There are 5 new tools for finding search terms which are close together:

1. The * wildcard. Handy when your search terms might be separated by various combinations of word(s).
2. Special command SENTENCE to find occurences of your search terms within the same sentence.
3. Special command PARAGRAPH to find occurences of your search terms within the same paragraph.
4. Special command NEAR/x to find occurences of your search terms within a block of words. You define how many words (x).
5. Special command NOTNEAR/x to exclude certain word combinations.

I love the * wildcard to represent a variable word. For example, "presumption against * development" will find 'presumption against sustainable development' and 'presumption against inappropriate development' and 'presumption against the development' and 'presumption against harmful development' etc.

You can use as many * as you like, with each one representing one wild card word. For example, the search "specialist * * housing" finds 'specialist older persons housing' and 'specialist elderly C2 housing' and 'specialist and general housing' and 'specialist forms of housing' etc. When using more than one * it is important to separate each * with a space.

Note it is vital to include inverted commas around your search terms when using the * wildcard.

For a more flexible search you have a choice of specifying NEAR, or within the same SENTENCE or within the same PARAGRAPH.

Say you are searching for appeals where substantial weight may have been given to design issues. Using this command in the search bar:

The above example search returns results like this:

… not amount to good design. These matters carry substantial weight against the proposal …
… achieving high-quality design that respects its context, substantial weight should be given …
… that the high standard of design merits substantial weight.”19 The evidence before …

I find the new tools helpful in identifying appeals where the Inspector has found 'no conflict' with key policies. Try this for example:

This produces results like the ones below, enabling you to narrow down appeals that may be relevant to you:

… the Framework and there being no conflict with Policy CS5 of the Core Strategy …
… therefore do not and would not conflict with policies CS5, CS6 and CS16 of …
… Accordingly I find no conflict with Policy CS5 of the CS or with …

Struggling? Check your inverted commas

With all the special commands, it is important to be rigorous in your use of inverted commas. Never put inverted commas around the commands SENTENCE, PARAGARPH, or NEAR, but conversely you must use inverted commas around combinations of words to ensure the search finds your specified combination rather than unrelated individual words (see the example above).

You may notice the software automatically allows swapping of small words, like no and not, or Policy and Policies. This provides some flexibility designed to produce better results, although I admit on occasion it can be a little annoying. For more examples check out the new 'Advanced Searching' section at the bottom of the Search Tips page.

Happy Hunting!