Tumblr Search Function Basics 🔎
Are you also tired of scrolling past unrelated self insert fanfictions when searching for posts about a fandom/show?
Or are you trying to find posts about a weekly show but you're several episodes behind and don't want spoilers?
Look no further because I am here to bestow upon you the knowledge of how you can make the most of the tumblr search function!!
Search just the Tags
If you keep seeing unrelated posts to the fandom you're trying to search for, try searching just for tags by ending you search with:
match:tags
Your search input doesn't need to match the tags precisely but if you do want to search for specific tags just use quotation marks like
"ice cream" "quality content" match:tags
An alternative to match:tags is using # as
#ice cream #quality content
These search operators for searching just the tags are particularly useful because the reason you get unrelated posts like fanfiction in your search is because those posts contain a LOT of words and as such are very likely to contain your search words, but this way the wall of text isn't factored into your search!
Using the search function instead of the Tags search means you can also specify which types of posts you're looking for and what period of time you want to search by using the built-in "Filter by".
If you want to be even more specific about which time period you're searching, I've got just the tip for you!
Searching in time
I often use these when I'm watching an TV show but I'm behind the airing schedule so I don't want to see posts about newer episodes that I have yet to watch.
By defining which period of time you want to search within you can make sure to not see any posts posted after the date you choose.
This could for example be the date before the most recent episode you haven't seen of the show you're currently watching.
Search for posts within a time period by adding the dates you want to search between as
since:YYYY-MM-DD before:YYYY-MM-DD
@rythyme made a great post on how to get the "watch along" experience this way!
Specifically the dates seem to be according to your timezone and the search is including the "since" date but excluding the "before" date. Also you don't have to include both dates if you just want to search since a specific date and until now or before a certain date and as far back as possible.
You can also just search for a specific date or year by writing
date:YYYY-MM-DD or year:YYYY
Misc
And finally you can also specify which blog's posts you want to search for by adding this to your search
from:blog or from:@blog
Additionally to match:tags you can also use match:text instead to only search the text body of posts.
All these search operators should also work on people's blogs.
