When multiple keywords are entered, for example logo, design, website, the search engine finds projects containing any of these words in the title, description, or skills. To customize the search scope, use the checkboxes under ‘Advanced Keywords Options’ to enable/disable searching within title, description, or skills fields.

To find projects that contain all of your keywords, use the AND operator between words:

  • logo AND design AND website - Must include all three words
  • react AND developer - Must include both “react” and “developer”

Wildcards

Use * to match variations of a word:

  • develop* - Matches “developer”, “development”, “developing”, etc.

Exact Phrases

Use quotes for exact phrase matches:

  • "website design" - Finds the exact phrase “website design”

Must-Include Terms

Use the + symbol before any word that must be present. For example:

  • +website +design logo - Must include both “website” and “design”, “logo” is optional

Excluded Terms

Use the - symbol to exclude specific terms. For example:

  • +developer -wordpress - Must include “developer” but exclude projects with “wordpress”

Advanced Mode

Advanced Search Mode provides the same functionality as Basic Search, but uses a text field instead of tags for greater control and visibility. This makes it easier to:

  • Write and edit complex queries
  • See your entire search at once
  • Copy and save queries for later use
  • Fine-tune your search terms

To enable Advanced Mode, click on the ‘Advanced Keywords Options’ and select ‘Advanced Search Mode’. This will switch you to single search field.

All instructions from Basic Search work in Advanced Mode:

OperationExampleDescription
AND operatorlogo AND design AND websiteFinds projects containing all specified terms
Must-include (+)+website +design logoTerms with + must be present, others optional
Exclude (-)+developer -wordpressExcludes projects containing terms with -
Wildcards (*)develop*Matches variations like “developer”, “development”
Exact phrases"website design"Matches the exact phrase in order

Default Search Behavior

By default, all terms are optional. By entering app design mobile you’ll find projects that contain any of these words.

More Advanced Operators

Advanced Mode adds these powerful features:

Search by Field

You can search within specific fields using field prefixes:

Available fields:

  • title: - Search in project titles
  • description: - Search in project descriptions
  • skills: - Search in required skills

Examples:

  • title:wordpress AND skills:php - Find WordPress in projects title and PHP in Skills
  • description:"mobile app" AND NOT skills:flutter - Find “mobile app” in projects descriptions and Skills doesn’t contain Flutter
  • skills:(react OR vue) AND title:frontend - Find frontend in projects title and Skills contains React or Vue

Boolean Operators

You can use AND, OR, NOT for complex queries:

Examples:

  • mobile OR web
  • ui AND design NOT wordpress

Grouping Terms

Use parentheses to group terms and create sub-queries:

Examples:

  • (frontend OR backend) AND (react OR node)
  • (ui OR ux) AND mobile AND NOT (wordpress OR shopify)

Pro Tips

  • Always use parentheses when combining different operators
  • You can mix basic and advanced syntax: "react (vue OR angular)"
  • Group similar alternatives within parentheses
  • Start simple and add complexity as needed