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We've shipped so many products the Cloudflare dashboard needed its own search engine

09/28/2022

4 min read

Today we’re proud to announce our first release of quick search for the Cloudflare dashboard, a beta version of our first ever cross-dashboard search tool to help you navigate our products and features. This first release is now available to a small percentage of our customers. Want to request early access? Let us know by filling out this form.

What we’re launching

We’re launching quick search to speed up common interactions with the Cloudflare dashboard. Our dashboard allows you to configure Cloudflare’s full suite of products and features, and quick search gives you a shortcut.

To get started, you can access the quick search tool from anywhere within the Cloudflare dashboard by clicking the magnifying glass button in the top navigation, or hitting Ctrl + K on Linux and Windows or ⌘ + K on Mac. (If you find yourself forgetting which key combination it is just remember that it’s or Ctrl-K-wik.) From there, enter a search term and then select from the results shown below.

Image of search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing results for the search term “ddos”
Access quick search from the top navigation bar, or use keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + K on Linux and Windows or ⌘ + K on Mac.

Current supported functionality

What functionality will you have access to? Below you’ll learn about the three core capabilities of quick search that are included in this release, as well as helpful tips for using the tool.

Search for a page in the dashboard

Start typing in the name of the product you’re looking for, and we’ll load matching terms after each key press. You will see results for any dashboard page that currently exists in your sidebar navigation. Then, just click the desired result to navigate directly there.

Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing results for the search term “page”
Search for “page” and you’ll see results categorized into “website-only products” and “account-wide products.”
Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing results for the search term “ddos”
Search for “ddos” and you’ll see results categorized into “websites,” “website-only products” and “account-wide products.”

Search for website-only products

For our customers who manage a website or domain in Cloudflare, you have access to a multitude of Cloudflare products and features to enhance your website’s security, performance and reliability. Quick search can be used to easily find those products and features, regardless of where you currently are in the dashboard (even from within another website!).

You may easily search for your website by name to navigate to your website’s Overview page:

Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing results for the search term “burrito”

You may also navigate to the products and feature pages within your specific website(s). Note that you can perform a website-specific search from anywhere in your core dashboard using one of two different approaches, which are explained below.

First, you may search first for your website by name, then navigate search results from there:

Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing how to navigate to the product and features pages within a specific Cloudflare website or domain

Alternatively, you may search first for the product or feature you’re looking for, then filter down by your website:

Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing how to navigate to the Analytics page within a specific Cloudflare website or domain

Search for account-wide products

Many Cloudflare products and features are not tied directly to a website or domain that you have set up in Cloudflare, like Workers, R2, Magic Transit—not to mention their related sub-pages. Now, you may use quick search to more easily navigate to those sections of the dashboard.

Image of quick search in the Cloudflare dashboard showing results for the search term “firewall”

Here’s an overview of what’s next on our quick search roadmap (and not yet supported today):

  • Search results do not currently return results of product- and feature-specific names or configurations, such as Worker names, specific DNS records, IP addresses, Firewall Rules.
  • Search results do not currently return results from within the Zero Trust dashboard.
  • Search results do not currently return results for Cloudflare content living outside the dashboard, like Support or Developer documentation.

We’d love to hear what you think. What would you like to see added next? Let us know using the feedback link found at the bottom of the search window.

Image of the “Give feedback” link in the quick search modal

Our vision for the future of the dashboard

We’re excited to launch quick search and to continue improving our dashboard experience for all customers. Over time, we’ll mature our search functionality to index any and all content you might be looking for — including search results for all product content, Support and Developer docs, extending search across accounts, caching your recent searches, and more.

Quick search is one of many important user experience improvements we are planning to tackle over the coming weeks, months and years. The dashboard is central to your Cloudflare experience, and we’re fully committed to making your experience delightful, useful, and easy. Stay tuned for an upcoming blog post outlining the vision for the Cloudflare dashboard, from our in-app home experience to our global navigation and beyond.

For now, keep your eye out for the little search icon that will help you in your day-to-day responsibilities in Cloudflare, and if you don’t see it yet, don’t worry—we can’t wait to ship it to you soon.

If you don’t yet see quick search in your Cloudflare dashboard, you can request early access by filling out this form.

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Harley Turan|@hturan
Cloudflare|@cloudflare

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