Tag: How to configure Filters Collection

One of the filters in Filters Collection is the List Filter, which is designed specifically to connect to a SharePoint List web part that you are displaying on a SharePoint page. Unlike the other web parts in Filters Collection, the List Filter web part must be connected to a SharePoint List before it can be configured. Otherwise, you’ll see this message in the tool pane when you attempt to configure the part.

• Step 1 – Create the Connection – Make the connection between the List Filter web part and your list that you are displaying on the same page.

• Step 2 – Configure the List Filter – Within the tool pane view, select the connected list and configure the filter.

Create the Connection

Step	Action	Result
1.	Edit the web part to open the connections choices.	In this example, we have selected to send the filter to the list.
2.	Select the connection type for the list you selected in Step 1.	Choose “Get Filter Values From” to pull in the data that you want to filter through the List Filter web part.
3.	Click the Finish button.

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Configure the List Filter

Step	Action	Result
1.	Choose the list you’ve connected to from the drop-down menu under Select Connected List.
2.	To add a column on which to filter, click the Select Target Column drop down.	Note that by default, you don’t have any filter columns in the tool pane.
3.	Choose a column from the drop down list and click the Add button.
4.	You can order the columns by using the red and green up and down arrows to re-arrange them in the sequence you want them to appear on the page.	In this shot, the user is clicking on the Up arrow to re-order the “Created by” column
5.	Show default (Empty) token for searching empty values.	Checking this box will show empty values token. Date and People columns will not show default (Empty) token or validate filter values when this option is checked.
6.	You have the option to name this filter.
7.	Select the number of filter controls to be displayed in a row. This controls the number of columns displayed on the page; we recommend the same number as you have picked in Step 3 or an evenly divisible number for aesthetic reasons.	Notice in our screen shot below, the four filter columns we selected appear across a row. If we had chosen 3, one of the columns would be below the others making it look off balance as shown below.
8.	Click Apply and click OK to save your changes.

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There are two steps to configuring the filter.

1. Configure the tool pane
2. Connect to the data

The Text Filter is designed to filter out items that do not contain certain text values in a given list column. To connect and configure a Text Filter, follow the steps listed in this section.

Configuring the Text Filter

When you first add the Text Filter web part to the page, it will indicate that it needs to be configured, as pictured here.

Edit the web part to open the tool pane so you can start configuring the settings.

Options	Step	Action
	1.	Enter a name for the filter in the Filter Name field.
	2.	Enter a maximum length for the filter (in number of characters).
	3.	Select a default value for the filter to use.
	4.	To force users to select a text filter, select the Require user to choose a value option. (This is optional.)
	5.	To set the width to a specific size, enter it in the Control width in pixels field. To allow the field to size itself automatically, leave the value at “0”.
	6.	Language Settings

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Connecting the Text Filter to a Web Part

Once you’ve configured the Text Filter, you’ll need to connect it to the web part you want it provide data for. Until the filter is connected to a web part, it won’t do anything, and you’ll see the message displayed below.

Use the following procedure to connect the Filter.

Step	Action	Result
1.	If you haven’t already done so, add the web part that should receive filtered data to the current page.
2.	From the Site Actions menu, select Edit Page.
3.	From the Text Filter web part’s Edit menu, select Connections > Send Filter Values To > (your destination web part).	NOTE: You can also do this from the destination web part, by selecting Connections > Consume Filter From > Bamboo Text Filter Web Part.
4.	From the Text Filter web part’s Edit menu, select Connections > Send Filter Values To > (your destination web part).	NOTE: You can also do this from the destination web part, by selecting Connections > Consume Filter From > Bamboo Text Filter Web Part.
5.	From the dialog that pops up, select the List Column that the filter should be based on.	Remember, the List the web part is using as source data is determined by the web part, not the List Filter. So if you’re connecting to a Calendar web part that is configured to use data from the “Events” List, the available columns in this dialog will be from that List.
6.	Click Finish.	The dialog will close and your Filter is now ready to be used.

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One of the filters in Filters Collection is the Choice Filter, which is designed specifically to connect to a SharePoint List web part that you are displaying on a SharePoint page. After the Choice Filter web part is added to the page and the tool pane configured, a second step is required. You need to make a connection between the Choice Filter web part and the list on your page so that it knows where the source of your data is and on what column in the list to filter.

If you don’t make that connection, you’ll see this message on the page.

• Step 1 – Configure the Choice Filter
  Add the Choice Filter web part to the page and configure the tool pane.

• Step 2 – Create the Connection
  Make the connection between the Choice Filter web part and your list that you are displaying on the same page.

Configure the Choice Filter

Step	Action	Result
1.	Edit the web part on the page and name your filter.	The default name matches the type of filter you are using; in this case, it is the Choice Filter.
2.	In the text box, enter the choices on which users will be able to filter. If you want to select all the choices from a list Choice type column, open another window on your browser, navigate to the list and open the list settings. Copy the choices from the list’s Choice column and come back to this window and paste them into this box.
3.	Decide what type of filter your end users will see. The Checkboxes filter may not be enabled based on the type of column on which you are filtering.
4.	Expand the next section of the tool pane to see the options for advanced filters. You can require users to choose a value, enter a default value for the filter and show values that contain no data.
5.	Click Apply and click OK to save your changes.

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Create the Connection

Step	Action	Result
1.	After you have made your changes on the tool pane, edit the web part to open the connections choices.	In this example, we have selected to send the filter to the list.
2.	You have a couple of ways you can connect the filter web part to the list web part on the page.
3.	When you make a selection to Send Filter Values To a list, a dialog box opens on which you need to make more configuration choices.	Step 1- Select Get Filter Values From
4.	After choosing your connection, the view switches to the next step where you pick which column in your list that contains the data you want to filter. In our example, we are pulling data from a column called Choices.	Step 2 – Configure Connection
5.	Click Apply and click OK to save your changes.

After you have completed your configuration, the page is ready for end users to interact with. In the examples below, the first screen shot shows no choices made in the Choice Filter web part.

In the next screen shot, a choice was made using the Choice Filter web part and the list view shows data filtered by that choice.

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The Current User Filter is designed to filter out items that aren’t associated with the currently logged in SharePoint user; it can also be used to exclude items that don’t match certain parts of the current user’s profile (name, phone number, department, etc.). To connect and configure a Current User Filter, follow the steps listed below.

Step	Action	Result
1.	Sometimes when you add this web part to a page, you may not see anything on the page but a rectangle where your web part should be. If that happens, you may have to open the Ribbon and Edit the web part properties.	Click Web Part in the Ribbon. Click Web Part Properties to see the tool pane open on the right of your screen.
2.	Within the tool pane, you have a couple of ways to get values for the Current User filter. In this screenshot in the Select value to provide field, you see the radio button is selecting by Current user name.	If you choose the next option, SharePoint profile value for current user: You will see a drop-down selector containing columns within a SharePoint profile. (These columns are specific to your environment.) Choose a column from the drop-down that you want to base your filter on from the user profile. If you select this option, you are filtering out results that match the selection. So for example, if you choose Department, then all records that match the department value will not appear in the results.
Advanced Filter Options
1.	Send Empty if there are no values	This means that the filter will show results even when the column on which you are filter has no content.
2.	When handling multiple values	Three choices to select if results contain multiple values. Send only the first value – only the first result will display Send all values – all results will display Combine them into a single value and delimit with [blank text box for you to fill in] – if you want to
3.	Text to insert before values	In this option you have the option to pre-fill the results with certain text.
4.	Text to insert after values	In this option you have the option to end the results with certain text.

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Create the Connection

Step	Action	Result
1.	After you have made your changes on the tool pane, edit the web part to open the connections choices.	In this example, we have selected to send the filter to the list.
2.	You have a couple of ways you can connect the filter web part to the list web part on the page.
3.	When you make a selection to Send Filter Values To a list, a dialog box opens on which you need to make more configuration choices.	Step 1- Select Get Filter Values From
4.	After choosing your connection, the view switches to the next step where you pick which column in your list that contains the data you want to filter. In our example, we are pulling data from a column called Choices.	Step 2 – Configuring the Connection
5.	Click Apply and click OK to save your changes.

The Date Filter is designed to filter out items that aren’t associated with a specific date. To connect and configure a Date Filter, follow the steps listed in this section.

• Step 1 – Configure the Date Filter
  Add the Date Filter web part to the page and configure the tool pane.

• Step 2 – Create the Connection
  Make the connection between the Date Filter web part and your list that you are displaying on the same page.

Configure the Date Filter

Options	Step	Action
	1.	Edit the web part to open the tool pane to modify the settings to your specifications. The first step is to enter a name for the filter in the Filter Name field.
	2.	Select a default value for the filter to use. The available options are no default value, any specific date, or a pre-set distance (before or after) from the current date.
	3.	To force users to select a date filter, check the box next to the Require user to choose a value option.
	4.	Language Settings

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Connecting the Date Filter to a Web Part

Once you’ve configured the Date Filter, you’ll need to connect it to the Web Part you want it provide data for. Until the filter is connected to a Web Part, it won’t do anything, and you’ll see the message displayed below.

Use the following procedure to connect the Filter.

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