How do I navigate to the Metadata Search (advanced search) form?
Searching explicitly using metadata takes place in the FileHold advanced search form. To access the advanced search view from the 'Search & Smart Folder' simple search click the Advanced link (highlighted) to the right of the search button as per the following screenshot.

To access the advanced search from the folder view click on the gray down arrow (highlighted) to the right of the search field and icon in the top right corner of the folder view.

What are the different areas of the advanced search form?
The following screenshot outlines the main features of the advanced search form with each feature being discussed in more detail below.

Metadata Field Selector - allows users to select the metadata field they want to search with.
Search Operator Selector - Allows users to select an operator to use when searching with the selected metadata field. The total list of possible operators are Equal to, Between, Greater than (>), Less than (<), Greater than or equal to (>=), Less than or equal to (<=), In the list or Is Blank. The list of available operators is dependent on the type of Metadata field selected. For example you cannot use the Greater than operator when searching using the 'Document Author' metadata field. Visit the following link for a complete list of available operators by metadata field type.
Search Criteria Value Select - this field allows the user to enter the specific search criteria they are looking for based on the metadata field and operator selected. The value field is masked based on the type of metadata field selected preventing users from entering numbers into a date field as an example. By default their is only one value field for each operator used the only exception is the between operator that allows users to search between two values such as dates.
Add or Remove Search Rows - the [ - ] and [ + ] buttons to the right of each row allow users to remove or add (respectively) rows from the search criteria. Multiple search rows are joined automatically joined using the AND operator. For example if I select the Purchase Order document type I can refine my search to look for purchase orders. By adding additional rows to the query I can further refine the search by other metadata fields like document owner, file type, library location and more.
Advanced Metadata Search Options - the advanced metadata search options allow the scope of the search to be expanded to include all versions of the document (by default only the latest versions are shown), searching of documents in the Library Archive (by default these are not included in the search), searching using historical metadata fields (by default only the most recent metadata associated with a document is searched) or search using metadata only.

What Kind of Metadata Fields Can I use to define My Search?
There are a number of metadata fields that a user can select using the metadata field selector. The below screenshot is of an expanded metadata field selector. The same metadata field selector is used in both the FileHold Desktop Application and the web client.

File Or Metadata - this field allows users to add a full text search value to their metadata search criteria. This hybrid approach can be used to combine the best aspects of full text and metadata only searching. As an example this would allow a user to restrict the scope of their search to documents of type = Contract and search the content of these documents for the phrase "court ruling". The same full text search operators apply to this field as outlined in the Full Text Searching article.
Document Name - allows for users to include the document name in the search criteria.
Person - The Person menu contains sub menu options allowing users to search by a) Documents that they are the owner / author of b) that other user(s) are owners / authors of.
File Date- The File Data menu contains sub menu options allowing users to search by a) Last Modified Date b) Document Creation Date
Library Location - this allows users to restrict searching to a specific cabinet, drawer, folder group or folder in the library
Common MD (metadata) Fields - this menu contains sub menu options consisting of a list of metadata fields that are belong to more than one document type. For example if a 'Customer Name' metadata field is used in the Invoice, Purchase Order and Contract document types users will be able to search for all document types (Invoices, Purchase Orders and Contracts) where Customer Name = ABC Heating Inc. This list of possible metadata field options is customized based on how the library administrator has defined the document classification standards for the FileHold server.
Search by Document Type - allows users to select to restrict searching to a metadata value restricted by document type. The list of possible document types and metadata fields associated with them is customized based on how the library administrator has defined the document classification standards for the FileHold server. In the above example the library administrator has configured the FileHold server to capture packing list as a type of document containing metadata fields of Customer Number (selected) and Bill of Lading number (BOL(Order)) No). By making the above selection the user is automatically restricting their search to the customer number field within the Packing List document type.
Special Fields- This menu contains sub menu options allowing users to search by a) folder name b) file type or c) the FileHold document ID.