Detailed Guide

Searching

Quick Search
Advanced Search
Search Results
User Search

Quick Search

If you know what item you are looking for, you can use the Quick Search feature. This can be found in the Search section on the left menu.

Select what type of item it is you are looking for from the drop down box then enter the title/author/artist/ISBN of the item you are looking for and click 'Search'.

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Advanced Search

If you are not sure what the title of the item you are looking for is or you just want to browse through some items, use the advanced search. Click 'Advanced Search' in the Search section on the left menu then select the type of item you are searching for.

There are a few different methods you can use for searching. This example deals with the Book Search but it is very similar for CD/Vinyl, DVD/Video and Video Game.

Browse All

If you don't really know what book you want and just want to have a browse, click on the 'Browse All Books' link at the top of the page and all books will be displayed. Alternatively, there is a 'Browse All' link in the Search section on the left menu.

Alphabetical Search

You can choose to view all books beginning with 'B' or all authors whose surname begins with 'S' by clicking on the appropriate links near the top of the page.

Search by Item Details

You can choose to search by any combination of book details (apart from Additional Information'). Enter the details you want to search by then click the 'Search' button at the bottom of the page and all books that fit these criteria will be displayed.

Search by Owner

This is a useful feature if you want to find books located in an area near you. This is also useful if you only want to find books owned by users who are willing to meet up to swap. You can search using both book details and owner details.

Example
Let's say you are looking for Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code'. There may well be several copies of this book listed on Swapaholic. You have decided that you would like to meet up to swap so that you don't have to pay for postage and you live in Surrey.

The fields you would need to fill in to accomplish this are as following.
Title: The Da Vinci Code
County: Surrey
Meet?: Yes

This would bring up all copies of The Da Vinci Code where the owner of the book lives in Kent and is willing to meet up to swap.

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Search Results

Whichever method you choose to search by, all results will come up in the same format. Results will automatically be shown alphabetically by author in the case of books, but you can re-order them by Title, Format or Owner by clicking on the field header.

Item and Owner Details

You can view the details of the items that come up on the search results page. Click on the title of the item and a page will come up displaying all relevant details. You can also view the user details of the owner of the item by clicking on the owner's username or the feedback details by clicking on the feedback score next to the username.

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User Search

It is possible to search for a particular user. You may want to do this if you have swapped with a user before and would like to again. Click on 'Advanced Search' in the left menu then select 'User Search'.

A page similar to the item search pages will come up. You can search alphabetically for users, browse all or do a detailed search by filling in the fields and clicking Search.

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