EE Filters: The Short Version
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This is not the first EE Article about setting up an Expert Question Filter, but it is short and directly to the point. Follow these simple steps and you'll be up running and with a Question Filter in no time at all.
You can do lots of complex things with Filters, but usually, all you really need is a Filter that selects questions in one or more Zones; that is, you want to see questions that are in topic areas where you have some expertise. So, setting up a Filter is all about selecting some Zones.[step=""]Note: I'll also cover an often-overlooked but key feature of the EE Filter system: The ability to get email notifications of new questions in your favorite Zones.[/step]
1) Get to the Experts Zone
(Click the Answer tab on top of any EE webpage).
2) Click Create Filter
(it's under Expert Tools on the right).
Option #1: Use the Zone Selector
3) Click Zones (on the left).
4) Browse around the Zone hierarchy and put checkmarks next to one or more Zones.
5) Scroll down to the bottom of that zone selector and click Update Query
6) Just below that, under Filter Summary enter a name for your
Filter (for instance, "VB Programming")
7) Click Create Filter.
You are done!
The only hard part about all of that was finding the right Zones in the zone selector. So I'm now going to tell you a secret: There are are least two other ways to select the desired zones.
Option #2: Zone Name in the Terms Criteria
The simplest technique is to use the Terms criterion rather than the Zones criterion.
1,2) ...as above.
3) Click Terms (on the left).
4a) Enter a zone name or partial zone name in the second box.
4b) In the third box, select Zone Name.
5,6,7) Same as above.
You are finished. However, this is a rather "blunt instrument" because the partial zone name may cause the Filter to include zones you don't really want. For instance, "Windows" includes Windows Programming, Windows 3.x, Windows 7, Windows MFC, and many, many others.
Option #3: TAID(s) in the Custom Query Criteria
The next way is a more advanced, but it is very precise. It lets you isolate specific zones and even exclude zones.
1,2) ...as above.
3) Click Custom Query (on the left).
4) Enter text in the following format:
5,6,7) Same as above.[step=""]Note: TAID is an acronym for Topic Area ID -- EE Zones were previously called "Topic Areas" and so we still see that term occasionally.[/step]
So now you just need a list of Zone ID values. That list is available here:
Zone list (Thanks go to webtubbs for compiling that list!)
Here is the same list, but with the zone names in alphabetical order:
More Complex Criteria
Since I'm keeping this article short, I'll not go into the many complex ways that you can modify your Filter. Refining a Filter is just a matter of including or excluding zones and (sometimes) setting other search criteria. A bunch of not-too-obvious options are described in this article:
EE Advanced Search and Saved Searches
Using the Filter
Other articles (see References, below) tell you how to use a Filter to help you answer questions. Here's my short version:
To Get Emails About New Questions:
Create a Filter as described above, but in step 6, when you give the Filter a name, also select one of the Alert options.I chose Hourly Digest, but what you select will depend on how hungry you are :-) If you set it to Every Question, you will get an email immediately whenever a new question is asked in any of the Zones in your Filter. It's usually a big advantage to be the first Expert to respond to a question, so having EE send a "heads up" to your inbox can be your golden path to drawers full of T-shirts, ladder position, platinum-plated trophies, and EE glory.
There are many options I've not covered here, such as creating a Filter to see questions that contain any of a set of keywords (that you know you can answer), setting up to look for only 500-pt questions, finding neglected questions (for bonus points), ... and there are many other options.
But the important thing is getting set up with your first Filter -- to generate a list of open questions in your favorite Zones. That's the "hard part" and this article has shown you how to do that easily.
How to create a Question Filter at Experts Exchange
How to setup a Filter to view Questions Awaiting Answers
EE Advanced Search and Saved Searches
Other options for the Custom Query criteria (thanks again to webtubbs!)
Experts Exchange Search Help Page
EE Zone list
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You can do lots of complex things with Filters, but usually, all you really need is a Filter that selects questions in one or more Zones; that is, you want to see questions that are in topic areas where you have some expertise. So, setting up a Filter is all about selecting some Zones.[step=""]Note: I'll also cover an often-overlooked but key feature of the EE Filter system: The ability to get email notifications of new questions in your favorite Zones.[/step]
Creating a Filter
Steps 1 and 2 are the same for each of the following three options:1) Get to the Experts Zone
(Click the Answer tab on top of any EE webpage).
2) Click Create Filter
(it's under Expert Tools on the right).
Option #1: Use the Zone Selector
3) Click Zones (on the left).
4) Browse around the Zone hierarchy and put checkmarks next to one or more Zones.
5) Scroll down to the bottom of that zone selector and click Update Query
6) Just below that, under Filter Summary enter a name for your
Filter (for instance, "VB Programming")
7) Click Create Filter.
You are done!
The only hard part about all of that was finding the right Zones in the zone selector. So I'm now going to tell you a secret: There are are least two other ways to select the desired zones.
Option #2: Zone Name in the Terms Criteria
The simplest technique is to use the Terms criterion rather than the Zones criterion.
1,2) ...as above.
3) Click Terms (on the left).
4a) Enter a zone name or partial zone name in the second box.
4b) In the third box, select Zone Name.
5,6,7) Same as above.
You are finished. However, this is a rather "blunt instrument" because the partial zone name may cause the Filter to include zones you don't really want. For instance, "Windows" includes Windows Programming, Windows 3.x, Windows 7, Windows MFC, and many, many others.
Option #3: TAID(s) in the Custom Query Criteria
The next way is a more advanced, but it is very precise. It lets you isolate specific zones and even exclude zones.
1,2) ...as above.
3) Click Custom Query (on the left).
4) Enter text in the following format:
taid:(nnn OR nnn OR nnn)...where you replace nnn with specific Zone ID values.
5,6,7) Same as above.[step=""]Note: TAID is an acronym for Topic Area ID -- EE Zones were previously called "Topic Areas" and so we still see that term occasionally.[/step]
So now you just need a list of Zone ID values. That list is available here:
Zone list (Thanks go to webtubbs for compiling that list!)
Here is the same list, but with the zone names in alphabetical order:
TAID Zone Name ---- ------------------------------------------------------- 323 .NET 3647 .Net Application Servers 3917 .Net Compact Framework 4768 .Net Editors & IDEs 5719 .NET Framework 1.x 5327 .NET Framework 2.x 5651 .NET Framework 3.x versions 69 3D Game Programming 3580 3D Graphics Software 3577 3D-Studio 3D Graphics Software 3170 4GL Databases 2844 802.11 Wireless Access Points 254 802.11x 2845 802.16 Broadband Wireless Access 5313 Access Architecture/Design 5316 Access Coding/Macros 5315 Access Forms 5314 Access Reports 5520 ACT 3300 Action/Adventure Games 5663 ActionScript 3658 Active Directory 97 Active Server Pages (ASP) 5428 ActiveX 5510 Actuate 5638 ADA 623 Admin Only 5951 Admin/Mod/PE Only 951 Admin/Mod/ZA Only 246 Adobe Acrobat 5621 Adobe Creative Suite 113 Adobe Director 114 Adobe Dreamweaver 187 Adobe Fireworks 116 Adobe Flash 5645 Adobe Flex 3602 Adobe Freehand 3226 Adobe GoLive HTML Editor 3601 Adobe Illustrator 3606 Adobe InDesign Publishing Software 3632 Adobe JRun 3623 Adobe Lightroom 3607 Adobe Pagemaker Publishing Software 75 Adobe Photoshop 3594 Adobe Type Manager 4489 AEC FastTrack Schedule Project Management Software 3791 Algorithms 3253 All-Purpose Editors & IDEs 5698 ANT 3382 Anti-Spam Email Software 3380 Anti-Spam White Lists 3399 Anti-Spyware 5386 Anti-Virus 178 Anti-Virus Applications 3409 AOL Web Browser 3630 Apache Tomcat Application Server 110 Apache Web Server 5349 Apple 5438 Apple 5351 Apple Desktop 5353 Apple Display Monitors 5350 Apple Hardware 5352 Apple Laptop 124 Apple Networking 22 Apple Operating Systems 5370 Apple Programming 36 Apple Software 4668 AppleScript 5605 AppleShare IP 5606 Appletalk 5365 AppleWorks 3735 Application Protocols 462 Application Servers 3585 ArchiCAD Software 5970 Article Tips 3492 AS / 400 235 Assembly Programming Language 5641 Asterisk Open Source Telephony 5659 Asynchronous Javascript and XML (AJAX) 169 Asyncronous Transfer Mode (ATM) 234 ATG Dynamo Application Server 5589 Audio Editing 3582 AutoCAD Software 5724 Automated Tests 5685 Automation 5699 Automotive 3355 Avast Anti-Virus Software 5977 AVG 3668 Backup & Restore Software 3673 Backup Exec 3381 Bayesian Filters 233 BEA WebLogic Application Server 3490 BeOS 382 Berkeley DB 5703 Beta Site Feedback 5665 Biztalk Server 5549 Blackberry Operating System 176 Blackberry Programming 5435 Blogs 177 Bluetooth 5653 Bootcamp 4670 Bourne Shell (sh) 4673 Bourne-Again Shell (bash) 168 Broadband Internet 5471 Bryce 3D 3504 BSD Unix 3499 BSDI BSD 241 Btrieve 4GL Database 5692 Bulletin Boards 3266 Business Management Software 5511 Business Objects 5415 Business Process Execution Language 5695 Business Travel 3242 C / C++ / C# Editors and IDEs 83 C Programming Language 3245 C# Builder 327 C# Programming Language 847 C++ Builder 84 C++ Programming Language 971 CAD & Architecture Software 5394 Calypso 3805 Carbon Programming Language 100 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 4170 CD / MP3 Music & Players 253 CDMA 4237 Cellular Phones & Carriers 5950 CentOS 99 CGI Scripting 5595 Change Management 3360 Chat / IM Software 5479 Checkpoint Firewall 5480 Cisco PIX Firewall 1011 Citrix 5500 Clarion 5469 Classic Consoles 5338 ClearCase 3807 COBOL Programming Language 3804 Cocoa Programming Language 3264 Code Obfuscators 3243 CodeForge 3252 CodeWarrior 3227 CoffeeCup HTMLEditor 5506 Cognos PowerPlay 5411 Cold Fusion Markup Language 112 ColdFusion Application Server 3221 ColdFusion Studio 1071 Community Support 5976 Community Volunteers 5686 CommVault 3260 Compilers for Software Development 5426 Components 236 Computer CPU Processors 4504 Computer Displays / Monitors 2810 Computer Fans and Cooling 5634 Computer Games 2908 Computer Hard Drives 5625 Computer Hardware 2811 Computer Memory (RAM) 50 Computer Modems 2820 Computer Motherboards 48 Computer Scanners 162 Computer Scanners by HP 3041 Computer Servers 2822 Computer Sound Cards 4650 Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) 3057 Computer Web Cameras 846 Conferencing Software 5670 Consulting 5475 Consumer Firewalls 5519 Contact Management 5560 Content Management 5711 Continuous Integration 5581 CORBA 5704 Core Conference 1073 Core Conference 2010 3603 Corel Draw 5406 Corel Photo-Paint 3144 Corel Presentations Presentation Software 3125 Corel Quattro Spreadsheet Software 5408 Corel Ventura 786 Corel WordPerfect Office Suite 3157 Corel WordPerfect Word Processing Software 5974 CPanel 747 CRM Software 3044 CRT Monitors 40 Crystal Reports Software 583 CS EAB 4672 csh / tcsh 1072 CV_Admin 5334 CVS 5531 CYGWIN 3839 D Programming Language 3706 Data Hosting/Data Havens 5514 Data Manipulation 5515 Data Mining 5383 Database 38 Databases Miscellaneous 238 DB2 Database 5347 dBase 4202 dbPowerAmp Software for Ripping and Encoding MP3s 5333 DCOM 3509 Debian Linux 3262 Debugging Software for Development 3845 Delphi Components 3851 Delphi Curiosities 3846 Delphi Database 3844 Delphi IDE 3850 Delphi Printing 85 Delphi Programming 3848 Delphi.net Programming 3263 Deployment Software for Development 5593 Design & Methodology 5671 Design Patterns 5387 Desktop Anti-Virus 5380 Developer 5622 Developer Tools 3211 Development Editors & IDEs 3210 Development Software 3588 Digital Camera Acqusition Software 3592 Digital Camera Software 3958 Digital Cameras 5718 Digital Forensics 5375 Digital Living 5440 Digital Living Hardware 5447 Digital Living Software 4509 Digital Music and Video 4058 Digital Video Recorders / TiVo 324 DirectX Graphics & Game Programming 5710 Disability Access 5715 Disaster Recovery 3678 Disk Partition Tools 5425 Document Imaging 5696 Document Management 5427 Document Object Model 3794 Documentation in Programming 3261 Documentation Software for Development 5561 Documentum 3722 Domain Name Service (DNS) 5946 DOS and Windows 61 DOS Games 5708 Dovecot 5528 Dragon NaturallySpeaking 3500 Dragonfly BSD 3672 DriveCopy 3676 Drivers 5963 Drupal 171 DSL Lines / Cable Internet 3982 DVD Players & Recorders 3721 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) 3880 Dynamic HTML (DHTML) 891 EAI 4203 Easy CD/DA Extractor Software for Ripping and Encoding MP3s 3233 Eclipse 3766 E-Commerce 5417 E-Commerce Security 5579 Editors IDEs 5539 Education Industry 183 EE Bugs 302 EE Community Cleanup 522 Eiffel Programming Language 5701 Electronic Systems 3251 Emacs 5389 Email Anti-Virus 130 Email Clients 3723 Email Protocols 3654 Email Servers 14 Email Software 5961 Embedded Databases 5679 Embedded Hardware 3476 Embedix Handheld Operating System 3745 Encryption for Network Security 3636 Enhydra Application Server 5390 Enterprise Anti-Virus 5476 Enterprise Firewalls 3819 Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) 5487 Enterprise Software 55 EPOC / Symbian Programming 763 ERP Software 5512 Essbase 5693 Essential Business Server 131 Eudora Email Client 5396 Evolution 3074 Evolution Groupware Software 132 Exchange Email Server 3829 eXO Velocity 182 Expert Advisory 5289 Expert Announcements 181 Expert Input 5148 Experts Lounge 138 Experts-Exchange Lounge 5945 Expression Web 3879 Extensible HTML (XHTML) 105 Extensible Markup Language (XML) 3881 Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) 5720 F# 3513 Fedora Linux 139 Feedback 3674 File Compression Utilities 3655 File Servers 3737 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) 242 FileMaker Pro Database 5965 Final Cut 3404 Firefox Web Browser 3169 Focus 4GL Database 3595 Font Creator 73 Font Software 6020 FORTRAN 41 FoxPro Database 191 Frame Relay 5677 Free Pascal 788 FreeBSD 117 FrontPage-Expressions 3656 FTP Servers 3384 FTP Software 5956 Fusebox 5599 Gambling 4279 Game Boy Advance Handheld Video-Game Console 64 Game Emulators 66 Game Programming 70 Game Programming User Interface 62 Game Tips & Tricks 5624 Gamers 5620 Gaming World 2 General Business & Productivity Software 180 General Community Support 46 General Computer Systems 783 General Laptop 78 General Macintosh Programming 805 General Multi-Media Software 250 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) 3514 Gentoo Linux 3596 Ghostscript PDF Software 325 GIS & GPS Programming 249 Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) 3505 GNU HURD Unix 5521 Goldmine 5722 Google Chrome 6061 Google Chrome OS 5404 Graphics 68 Graphics & Game Programming 3849 Graphics and Delphi Programming 5571 Grid 4205 Grip Software for Ripping and Encoding MP3s 5664 Groove 5580 Groovy 3077 Groupware / Collaborative Software 785 Handheld and PDA Programming 4277 Handheld Video Game Consoles 175 Handhelds and PDAs 562 Hard Drives & Storage 5483 Hardware Components 5540 Health Care / MUMPS 5594 HelpDesk Authoring 4519 Hidden 5049 HijackThis Software 5619 Home Security 3994 Home Theater Audio / Video Receivers 4014 Home Theater Speaker Systems 3980 Home Theater Systems 3981 Home Theater Wiring & Accessories 108 Hot URLs 3506 HP-UX Unix 5494 HR Human Capital Management 5432 HTMLkit 5397 HTTP 101 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) 3736 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 5953 Hyper-V 5680 Hypervisor 826 IBM AIX Unix 5530 IBM ViaVoice 232 IBM Websphere Application Server 3604 Illustration Software 3590 Image Correction Software 5960 ImageMagick 3621 Images & Photo Software 5448 Imaging Software 5507 Impromptu 4488 IMSI TurboProject Project Management Software 5535 Industry Specific Software 5662 Infopath 5959 Informatica 3183 Informix Database 5553 Infragistics 3168 Ingress 4GL Database 5943 InnoSetup 5574 Installation 5575 InstallShield 3795 Intellectual Property 244 Interbase / Firebird Database 5374 Internet 3351 Internet & Email Software 3779 Internet Advertising 3847 Internet and Delphi Programming 3739 Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) 3401 Internet Explorer Web Browser 3388 Internet File Sharing Software 342 Internet Marketing 3726 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) 5343 Internet Protocols 3778 Internet Search Engine Optimization 5472 Internet Security 172 Internet Service Providers (ISP) 5501 InterSystems Cache 3749 Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) 3282 Investment Software 4649 IP PBX Systems 5477 IP Tables/IP Chains 4648 IP Telephony 5637 iPhone 3612 iPhoto Photo Software 4177 iPod 5354 iPODs 3750 IPSec Security Protocol 104 ISPs & Web Hosting 5969 IT Administration 5379 ITPro 4208 iTunes Software 5368 iWork 3818 J2EE 3825 J2EE Frameworks 3826 Jakarta Struts 3828 Jakarta Turbine 3816 Java 2 Micro-Edition (J2ME) 3638 Java Application Servers 3835 Java AWT & Swing 3241 Java Editors & IDEs 3823 Java Naming & Directory Interface (JNDI) 3832 Java Native Interface (JNI) 86 Java Programming Language 3827 Java Server Faces (JSF) 202 Java Server Pages (JSP) 3821 Java Servlets 4605 Java Standard Edition 3824 Java Standard Tag Library (JSTL) & Server Tags 3822 JavaMail 87 JavaScript 5675 JavaScript Frameworks 3833 JAXP & SAX (XML APIs) 3631 Jboss Application Server 3236 JCreator IDE 5433 JDeveloper 3235 jEdit Editor 3635 JonAS Application Server 5964 Joomla 5705 Jquery 5585 JScript 5966 JSON 5972 Kaspersky 5958 KDevelop 3904 Kernel And Operating System Specific Programming 4674 KornShell (ksh) 5716 KVM Switches 5717 LabView 4204 LAME Software for Ripping and Encoding MP3s 5650 Language Integrated Query - LINQ 5957 Latest Threats 3597 LATeX Font Software 5678 Lazarus 3046 LCD & Plasma 4637 Legacy PBX 74 Lightwave 3D 3185 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) 5399 LimeWire 3515 Lindows / Linspire Linux 32 Linux 159 Linux Administration 5631 Linux Distributions 502 Linux Network Security 123 Linux Networking 160 Linux Printing 77 Linux Programming 161 Linux Setup 5975 Linux Virtualization 5517 LISP 3370 List Server Software 5309 Live/Office Communications Server 5545 Longview Solutions 3126 Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet Software 3111 Lotus Approach Database 848 Lotus Domino Email Server 3140 Lotus Freelance Graphics Presentation Software 133 Lotus Notes 245 Lotus SmartSuite 3156 Lotus Word Pro Word Processing Software 3407 Lynx Web Browser 2846 Mac Airport Wireless Access Point 60 Mac Games 3485 Mac OS 10.1 (Cheetah) 3487 Mac OS 10.2 (Jaguar) 3486 Mac OS 10.3 (Panther) 5363 Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) 5648 Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) 3484 Mac OS X 3480 Macintosh Classic Operating Systems 3067 Macromedia Breeze Conferencing Software 3223 Macromedia Homesite 115 Macromedia UltraDev 5551 MainFrame Operating Systems 3806 Main-Frame Programming Languages 5714 Managed Services 3265 Management & Debugging Software 3516 Mandrake Linux 5416 Marketing 5603 Marketing Software 3273 MAS90 Financial Software 65 Massive Multiple Online Role Playing and Other Online Games 329 Math & Science 3809 MatLab Programming Language 5674 Maya 3354 McAfee Anti-Virus Software 5942 Mdaemon 5541 Measurement Industry 3677 Memory Boosters 5523 Message Queue 4848 Mice / Keyboards 5297 Microsoft 39 Microsoft Access Database 5068 Microsoft ADP 5312 Microsoft Applications 911 Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix 5318 Microsoft Development 5348 Microsoft Dynamics 5968 Microsoft Enterprise 604 Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software 5342 Microsoft Hardware 5660 Microsoft Identity Integration Server 186 Microsoft IIS Web Server 5317 Microsoft Money 3066 Microsoft NetMeeting Conferencing Software 35 Microsoft Office Suite 5298 Microsoft Operating Systems 3131 Microsoft Powerpoint Presentation Software 5339 Microsoft Programming 931 Microsoft Project Project Management Software 3609 Microsoft Publisher 5303 Microsoft Server 5655 Microsoft Virtual Server 3218 Microsoft Visio 866 Microsoft Visual Basic.Net 3216 Microsoft Visual C#.Net 3247 Microsoft Visual C++ 867 Microsoft Visual C++.Net 120 Microsoft Visual Interdev 3217 Microsoft Visual J#.Net 5319 Microsoft Visual Studio Express 3560 Microsoft Windows Operating Systems 605 Microsoft Word 3124 Microsoft Works Spreadsheet Software 5513 MicroStrategy 343 Miscellaneous 59 Miscellaneous Games 45 Miscellaneous Hardware 122 Miscellaneous Networking 82 Miscellaneous Programming 174 Miscellaneous Security 34 Miscellaneous Software 96 Miscellaneous Web Development 3521 MkLinux 5401 Mobile / Handheld 3810 Modeling Programming Languages 282 Mod's only 5647 Mono - Multi-Platform .NET Framework 5436 Movable Type 4626 Movix 3403 Mozilla Web Browser 4211 MP3 Download Software and Web Sites 23 MS DOS 3268 MS Dynamics GP 5341 MS Forefront-ISA 1012 MS SharePoint 5228 MS SQL DTS 5948 MS SQL Reporting 42 MS SQL Server 5311 MS System Center 5588 Multimedia Programming 3834 Multimedia Programming with Java 5955 MVC 237 MySQL Server 5700 Navigational Systems 5344 Net BIOS and NetBEUI 3234 NetBeans IDE 3502 NetBSD 3228 NetObjects Fusion 3068 Netscape Conference Conferencing Software 3364 Netscape Email Client 3405 Netscape Navigator Web Browser 3465 Network Analysis Software 3457 Network Auditing Software 2833 Network Cards & Adapters 5534 Network Design & Methodology 5532 Network Management 5533 Network Operations 51 Network Routers 5629 Network Security 193 Network Software Firewalls 2840 Network Switches & Hubs 5626 Networking 2834 Networking Cables 2836 Networking Hardware 2835 Networking Hardware Firewalls 52 Networking Hardware for Macintosh 3734 Networking Protocols 194 Networking Security Vulnerabilities 47 New Computer Users 106 New Internet Users 322 New to Experts-Exchange? 3837 New to Java Programming 136 New Zones 3659 NFS File Server 4281 N-Gage Handheld Video-Game Console 4278 Nintendo DS Handheld Video-Game Console 4282 Nintendo Video Game Console 3669 Norton Ghost Backup Software 1014 Novell Groupwise 3729 Novell Internet Packet Exchange (IPX) 125 Novell Netware Network Software 3803 Objective-C Programming Language 3086 OCR / Scanner Software 3363 OE-WindowsLive 3063 Office & Productivity Software 5503 OLAP 3811 OMG UML Programming Language 3591 Online Digital Photo Services 5591 Open Source Programming 243 OpenBSD 422 OpenGL Graphics & Game Programming 5431 OpenLaszlo 5697 OpenXML_OXML 3406 Opera Web Browser 3714 Operating System Specific Networking 5573 Operating Systems Development 21 Operating Systems Miscellaneous 3755 Operating Systems Network Security 5604 Optical Networking 3202 Oracle 10.x 5652 Oracle 11.x Database 195 Oracle 3rd Party Tools 3199 Oracle 7.x 3200 Oracle 8.x 3201 Oracle 9.x 5489 Oracle CRM 43 Oracle Database 5492 Oracle ERP 5495 Oracle HCM 603 Oracle IAS Application Server 196 Oracle Product Info 5498 Oracle SCM 5382 OS 126 OS / 2 Network Security 31 OS / 2 Operating System 37 OS / 2 Software 158 OS/2 Setup 5667 OS-X Server 5627 Other 3350 Other Strategy Games 134 Outlook Groupware Software 3610 Page Layout / Desktop Publishing Software 3619 Paint Shop Pro Photo Editing Software 3471 Palm OS Handheld Operating System 56 Palm OS Programming 5654 Parallels 5423 Parsers 90 Pascal Programming Language 3769 Payment Processing Recommendation and Integrating 63 PC / Windows Games 3681 PC Anywhere Remote Access Software 5445 PC Laptops 2799 PCMCIA Laptop Interface 624 PE Adm 5546 Peachtree 5398 Peer to Peer 5395 Pegasus 5668 PeopleSoft 5336 Perforce 5484 Peripherals 91 Perl Programming Language 5485 Personal Computers 330 Philosophy & Religion 3589 Photo Album Software 3575 Photos & Graphics Software 190 PHP and Databases 189 PHP for Windows 5713 PHP Frameworks 188 PHP Installation 103 PHP Scripting Language 5666 phpBB 3076 phpGroupware Groupware Software 67 Physics & Artificial Intelligence in Game Programming 4949 PL / SQL 4283 Playstation Video Game Consoles 5973 Plesk 5429 Plug Ins 825 Pocket PC Other 5419 Point of Sale 4325 Politics 3725 Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) 5707 Postfix 849 PostgreSQL Database 5644 Power Questions 4835 Power Supplies / UPS 92 PowerBuilder Programming Language 5583 PowerPlant 5584 Powershell 5516 Predictive Analysis 3145 Presentation Software 4490 Primavera SureTrack Project Management Software 49 Printers 163 Printers by HP 5656 Private Discussions 5598 Probability & Statistics 185 Processor Programming for Specific Platforms 5393 Products 3799 Program Quality Control 5628 Programming 255 Programming for 802.11x Wireless Standard 865 Programming for ASP.NET 71 Programming for Game Consoles 76 Programming for iSeries / AS400 81 Programming for OS / 2 10 Programming Languages 3797 Programming User Management 3167 Progress 4GL Database 3798 Project Management 4486 Project Management Software 3048 Projectors 5391 Proxy/Firewall Anti-Virus 4280 PSP Handheld Video-Game Console 5538 Public Agency Industry 5537 Publishing Industry 3314 Puzzle Games 331 Puzzles & Riddles 5340 PVCS 683 Python Scripting Language 3653 Qmail Email Server 3841 QT Programming Language 5642 Quality Assurance 3608 Quark XPress Publishing Software 3270 Quickbooks Financial Software 3271 Quicken Financial Software 3434 Quicktime Player 3840 RAD Programming Languages 3433 Real Audio Media Player 3421 Real Jukebox Software MP3 Player 5372 REALbasic 3522 Red Hat Linux 5424 Regular Expressions 3544 Reliant Unix 3680 Remote Access Software 5310 Remote Desktop/Terminal Services 5569 Removable Backup Media 5508 ReportNet 5689 REST 5536 Retail Industry 3670 Retrospect Backup Utility 3326 Role Playing Games 3808 RPG Programming Language 5578 RPM Installer 5422 RSS 3671 rSync Backup Utility 3853 Ruby Scripting Language 5582 RubyOnRails 3408 Safari Web Browser 5522 Salesforce.com 3657 Samba File Server 3386 Samba File Sharing 5723 SAP 5490 SAP CRM 326 SAP ERP 5496 SAP HR HCM 5499 SAP SCM 5505 SAS 4008 Satellite Dishes & Receivers 3698 Satellite Internet 1031 SBS Small Business Server 3545 SCO Unix 5409 Scribus 3852 Scripting Languages 5954 SCVMM 3389 Search Engines 3768 Secure Socket Layer (SSL) & HTTPS 5384 Security 3800 Security Issues in Programming 5547 Security Software 4510 Security Utilities 135 SendMail Email Server 5388 Server Anti-Virus 5944 Server Applications 3882 Server Side Includes (SSI) 3627 Server Software 3551 SGI / Irix 5550 Sharp Zaurus Operating System 4676 Shell Scripting 5691 Short Message Service 5502 Siebel 5596 Signal Processing 3724 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) 3269 Simply Accounting Software 5949 Skype 3530 Slax / Slackware Linux 5443 SmartCards & Readers 5555 SmartCards Security 6040 Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) 5421 SOAP 3062 Software 4206 Software for Ripping and Encoding MP3s 3423 Software MP3 Media Players 3093 Software Office Suites 1013 Software/Systems Design 3584 SolidWorks CAD Software 3272 Southware Financial Software 3378 Spam Assassin 3379 Spam Black Holes 3377 Spam Cop 5413 Speech Synthesis ML 3338 Sports Games 3129 Spreadsheet Software 5676 Spring 5518 SPSS 4948 SQL Query Syntax 239 SQL Reporting 5231 SQL Server 2005 5639 SQL Server 2008 5504 SQLBase 5509 SQR 3385 SSH / Telnet Software 5706 SSIS 3143 Star / Open Office Impress Presentation Software 4988 Star / OpenOffice 3127 Star / OpenOffice Calc Spreadsheet Software 3112 Star / OpenOffice Database 5559 Star / OpenOffice Draw 3158 StarOffice Write Word Processing Software 5381 Storage 5570 Storage Technology 5418 Stores & Carts 3435 Streaming Media Players 5335 Subversion 137 Suggestions for Experts-Exchange 3598 Suitcase Font Manager 5952 Summit 2009 5402 Sun Java System Web Server 3535 Sun JDS 2971 Sun Microsystems Desktop Computers 5617 Sun ONE 29 Sun Solaris 5497 Supply Chain Management 3536 SuSE Linux 44 Sybase Database 3353 Symantec Anti-Virus Software 3477 Symbian Handheld Operating System 5971 System Administration 3675 System Diagnostic Software 3667 System Utilities 3274 Tax / Financial Software 3286 Tax Software 5544 TaxCut 3854 TCL Scripting Language 5610 TCP/IP 3758 Telecommunications 4627 Telecommunications Providers 4120 Televisions 5669 Teradata 3256 Test / Validation Development Software 582 Test With Points 262 Test Without Points 3620 The Gimp Photo Editing Software 5597 Theory 3663 tHttpd Web Server 3365 Thunderbird Email Client 5566 Tivoli Storage Manager 4520 Topic Area for Testing 3045 Touch-Screen Displays 5609 Transport 3558 Tru64 / Digital Unix 3583 TurboCAD Software 5543 TurboTax 4491 TUTOS Project Management Software 5548 Ubuntu 5600 UI Design 3579 U-Lead Cool 3D 3D Graphics Software 504 Unix Network Security 127 Unix Networking 30 Unix Operating Systems 157 Unix Setup 79 Unix Systems Programming 5690 URL/URI Usage and Design 3727 UseNet (NNTP) 3738 User Datagram Protocol (UDP) 94 VB Controls 95 VB Database Programming 5330 VB Objects 5331 VB Script 5088 Version Control 3250 vi 3050 Video Cards 5590 Video Editing 4275 Video Game Consoles 173 Virtual Private Networking (VPN) 5682 Virtualization 5369 VirtualPC 5377 Virus & Spyware 93 Visual Basic Programming 5332 Visual Basic v1.0.5.x 5337 Visual SourceSafe-Team Foundation 5321 Visual Studio 3493 VMS / OpenVMS Operating System 5643 VMware 3683 VNC Remote Access Software 5529 VoCon 845 Voice Over IP 5527 Voice Recognition 5412 Voice XML 5702 VSTO 5481 Watchguard Firewall 5709 Web APIs 170 Web Application Hosting 98 Web Authoring 107 Web Browsers 5385 Web Development 5403 Web Development 109 Web Development Software 5712 Web Frameworks 72 Web Graphics Software 3705 Web Hosting 102 Web Images 11 Web Languages/Standards 89 Web Ontology Language (OWL) 463 Web Servers 5688 Web Services 3923 Web Services and WCF 5414 Web Services Description Language 3411 Web Site Statistics Software / WebTrends 5687 Web/Cloud Computing 5556 WebApplications 5661 Web-Based CMS 5050 WebDAV File Sharing 3065 WebEx Conferencing Software 5557 WebObjects 3237 WebSphere Studio 3665 WebStar Web Server 3422 Winamp Software MP3 Player 28 Windows 2000 Operating System 3565 Windows 2000 Server 666 Windows 2003 Server 24 Windows 3.x Operating System 155 Windows 3.x Setup 5301 Windows 64-bit 5947 Windows 7 128 Windows 95 - 98 Networking 442 Windows 95 and 3.x 25 Windows 95 Operating System 156 Windows 95 Setup 26 Windows 98 Operating System 3911 Windows ATL / WTL / COM Programming 4675 Windows Batch Scripting 5658 Windows Home Server 5576 Windows Installer 5967 Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) 230 Windows ME Operating System 3432 Windows Media Player 3420 Windows Media Player Software MP3 Player 88 Windows MFC Programming 3572 Windows Mobile (Pocket PC / Win CE) Operating Systems 58 Windows MobileProgramming 503 Windows Network Security 201 Windows Networking 129 Windows NT Networking 27 Windows NT Operating System 166 Windows NT Setup 3914 Windows OLE Programming 80 Windows Programming 3679 Windows Registry Cleaners 5657 Windows Server 2008 5300 Windows Tablet 5346 Windows Ultra-Mobile PC- Origami 5299 Windows Vista 5681 Windows XP Embedded 231 Windows XP Operating System 5345 WINS 5587 Winsock 57 Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) 5616 Wireless Local Area Network 2843 Wireless Network Access Points 2842 Wireless Network Cards & Adapters 787 Wireless Networking 2847 Wireless Networking Range Extenders 2849 Wireless Print Servers 3935 Wireless Standards 54 Wireless Technologies 5577 WISE 3147 Word Processors 5437 WordPress 5646 WPF and Silverlight 3540 Xandros Linux 4284 Xbox Video Game Console 5683 XenServer 5684 XML Databases 5694 XMPP 5673 XPath 5672 XQuery 5962 XSL Formatting Objects 33 X-Windows Window Manager 3664 Zeus Web ServerIf you don't see the desired Zone name immediately, try using your browser's find feature to locate a zone in that list (e.g., search for "AJAX" -- its Zone name is "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)").
More Complex Criteria
Since I'm keeping this article short, I'll not go into the many complex ways that you can modify your Filter. Refining a Filter is just a matter of including or excluding zones and (sometimes) setting other search criteria. A bunch of not-too-obvious options are described in this article:
EE Advanced Search and Saved Searches
Using the Filter
Other articles (see References, below) tell you how to use a Filter to help you answer questions. Here's my short version:
- In the Expert Zone, I click one of my Filters (under Expert Tools on the right).
- That displays the matching questions in a list view. I peruse the list, and click on Questions that look interesting. Without scrolling, I can see the first few lines of the questions in the View Question panel.
- If I decide to take a closer look, I drag an item from the list and drop it onto a second browser window. This technique is discussed in some detail here.
- You can work directly in the View Question panel of course, but since I have two wide-screen monitors, I've found it much easier to work with a secondary browser window. Try it, you might like it.
Email Notification of New Questions
Using this feature is optional, but I recently set up a Filter to provide email notifications for newly-posted questions and I've found it to be very useful. I looked at my Zone Rank in my Profile and saw that I was edging up on a new T-shirt in several Zones, so I created a Filter and set it so that EE would send me an email whenever there was a new question in any of those Zones.To Get Emails About New Questions:
Create a Filter as described above, but in step 6, when you give the Filter a name, also select one of the Alert options.I chose Hourly Digest, but what you select will depend on how hungry you are :-) If you set it to Every Question, you will get an email immediately whenever a new question is asked in any of the Zones in your Filter. It's usually a big advantage to be the first Expert to respond to a question, so having EE send a "heads up" to your inbox can be your golden path to drawers full of T-shirts, ladder position, platinum-plated trophies, and EE glory.
Summary
EE Filters make it very easy to find questions that you can solve. It is a vast improvement over the previous system, but many Experts don't use it -- perhaps because it seems intimidating or difficult to set up. It's not. Just select a few Zones, save the Filter with a name, and (as they say in England), "Robert's your father's brother!" (er... there you go!)There are many options I've not covered here, such as creating a Filter to see questions that contain any of a set of keywords (that you know you can answer), setting up to look for only 500-pt questions, finding neglected questions (for bonus points), ... and there are many other options.
But the important thing is getting set up with your first Filter -- to generate a list of open questions in your favorite Zones. That's the "hard part" and this article has shown you how to do that easily.
References:
Other EE Articles about Filters and Searching include...How to create a Question Filter at Experts Exchange
How to setup a Filter to view Questions Awaiting Answers
EE Advanced Search and Saved Searches
Other options for the Custom Query criteria (thanks again to webtubbs!)
Experts Exchange Search Help Page
EE Zone list
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Comments (4)
Administrative
Commented:Nice work on describing what is really the underpinning of Experts Exchange's entire system.
I have published this, and have awarded it bonus points.
Thanks, and congratulations!
ericpete
Page Editor
Commented:
Regards,
Pavel
Author
Commented:Use webtubbs's very cool Win7 Gadget, which you can download here:
http://www.webtubbs.net/EE/EEFilters.zip
webtubbs is the creator of QuickEE, a full-featured tool that many of the EE hotshots use. I don't use QuickEE, but I love this new low-impact desktop tool... It updates constantly and uses your existing EE filters.
Author
Commented:https://www.experts-exchange.com/Other/Miscellaneous/A_3328-EE-Filters-Desktop-Gadget.html