XING Help Center

Here you’ll find answers to your questions, and information about XING features. You can also contact the XING Support team if you need any other assistance.

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Search

• How does the search feature work?

  The Search box in the upper right-hand corner of every XING page is a keyword search. All terms you enter there will be compared with every profile field and matches will be returned. The profiles returned are precisely those profiles which contain the terms you searched for. If you’re looking for a specific phrase (more than one word), you should enclose the phrase in quotation marks (e.g., “key account manager”). That way you’ll only see profiles which contain precisely this phrase.
  Using the Advanced Search feature at "Search", you can search in specific categories, such as name, Current company, City (business), Person wants and Person has. You can also combine a search for specific keywords with a search in specific categories.
  The Advanced Search feature also allows you to limit or expand the range of your search. For example, you can search the entire XING page, or you can limit results to your language, or even just search the contacts of your contacts. As with the Search box, the Advanced Search scans for all terms you enter. In effect, this means that if you enter four search criteria, and a profile contains only three of these four, it will not appear in the search results. There are several ways to modify your search criteria:
  
  Searching with quotation marks: Use quotation marks to find a precise combination of words. For example, "Key Account Manager" will only return profiles that contain these three words in exactly this order.
  
  Searching with OR: If you enter "OR" (in capital letters) between two search terms, you'll receive all profiles that contain at least one of the words. At top, those profiles that match both terms will be displayed. If OR is not entered between the terms, only profiles matching both of the terms will be displayed.
  
  Searching with a minus: Let's say you would like to find all members named Jones who work in Boston, but wish to exclude those who include 'Internet' in the Industry field. Simply type "-Internet" (without quotes) in the Industry field. A minus search is only possible if you enter at least one additional search parameter.
  
  Search by ZIP code area: Simply enter the first digit of the ZIP code area you're looking for, followed by an asterisk (*) and the search will return all members who have entered a business address within this ZIP code area.
  
  Search by word beginnings: You can search by the beginnings of words in all fields except the keyword search. Simply enter the first three letters of the term you're looking for, followed by an asterisk (*).
  
  The search results are sorted by relevancy, and are also influenced by the quality of a profile. This means that if all other factors are the same, a complete, comprehensive profile will appear higher in the results list than a less complete or comprehensive profile.
• Where is the search feature located?

  You'll find the Search box in the upper right-hand corner of every XING page. You can find the Advanced Search function at Home > Member search > Advanced Search. There you can search for specific categories such as company, industry, city, etc.
  http://www.xing.com/app/search
• How do I benefit from the search feature?

  You can use the search feature to find relevant contacts based on specific terms. Make entries in more than one search field to narrow down your search. Use the Powersearch feature to find various groups of members that may be of interest to you. Find out, for example, which members have visited your profile in the last 7 days, or which XING members attended the same university as you.
• XING search alerts – automatic search results

  Your search alerts (saved searches) notify you by email when new members register who match one of your search alerts. To set up a search alert: go to "Members" and start an "Advanced search". Then click on "Create search alert".
  
  Example: Search by industry: "Pharmaceuticals" in "all members" → "Find". Then click on "Create search alert". Select a name for your search alert such as "Pharmaceuticals Search" and choose a search frequency. The search alert will then notify you by email as soon as new members register that match your specific search.
• How does the search for members work?

  The Search box in the upper right-hand corner of every XING page is a keyword search. All terms you enter there will be compared with every profile field and matches will be returned. The profiles returned are precisely those profiles which contain the terms you searched for. If you’re looking for a specific phrase (more than one word), you should enclose the phrase in quotation marks (e.g., “key account manager”). That way you’ll only see profiles which contain precisely this phrase.
  Using the Advanced Search feature at "Home > Member search", you can search in specific categories, such as Last name, Current company, City (business), Person wants and Person has. You can also combine a search for specific keywords with a search in specific categories.
  The Advanced Search feature also allows you to limit or expand the range of your search. For example, you can search the entire XING page, or you can limit results to your language, or even just search the contacts of your contacts. As with the Search box, the Advanced Search scans for all terms you enter. In effect, this means that if you enter four search criteria, and a profile contains only three of these four, it will not appear in the search results. There are several ways to modify your search criteria:
  
  Searching with quotation marks: Use quotation marks to find a precise combination of words. For example, "Key Account Manager" will only return profiles that contain these three words in exactly this order.
  
  Searching with OR: If you enter "OR" (in capital letters) between two search terms, you'll receive all profiles that contain at least one of the words. At top, those profiles that match both terms will be displayed. If OR is not entered between the terms, only profiles matching both of the terms will be displayed.
  
  Searching with a minus: Let's say you would like to find all members named Jones who work in Boston, but wish to exclude those who include 'Internet' in the Industry field. Simply type "-Internet" (without quotes) in the Industry field. A minus search is only possible if you enter at least one additional search parameter.
  
  Search by ZIP code area: Simply enter the first digit of the ZIP code area you're looking for, followed by an asterisk (*) and the search will return all members who have entered a business address within this ZIP code area.
  
  Search by word beginnings: You can search by the beginnings of words in all fields except the keyword search. Simply enter the first three letters of the term you're looking for, followed by an asterisk (*).
  
  The search results are sorted by relevancy, and are also influenced by the quality of a profile. This means that if all other factors are the same, a complete, comprehensive profile will appear higher in the results list than a less complete or comprehensive profile.
• Which options do I have if I want to narrow down my search?

  The advanced search allows you to select various different search criteria to limit your search.
  
  Here are a few other tips to help you conduct more effective searches:
  
  

  • Search using quotation marks: Use quotation marks in order to find a keyword in an exact phrase. Example: “Key Account Manager" only locates profiles that contain these three words in exactly this order.
  • Search using OR: If you separate two keywords with “OR” (in capital letters), you will find all the profiles that contain at least one of the keywords. Profiles containing both keywords will be shown first. If you conduct this search without using "OR", only profiles that contain both keywords will be shown.
  • Search using a minus sign: For example, if you search for all members named Meyer who work in Hamburg and have not entered an industry that contains the word "Internet", you should enter "-Internet" (without quotation marks) in the industry field. A search using the minus sign is only possible when you use at least one other search parameter.
  • Search by ZIP code: Simply enter the first digit of the ZIP code area you are looking for and enter an asterisk (*) after that digit. This search will locate all members whose business address contains a ZIP code beginning with this digit.
  • Search for the beginning of a word: In every field except the keyword field, you can search for the beginning of a word plus any ending. Simply enter the first three letters of the keyword you are looking for and enter an asterisk (*) at the end.

  
  The search results will be sorted according to relevance and will also be influenced by the quality of the profile. A complete and thorough profile will appear higher up on the list of results than a profile that is equally relevant but less complete.
• How can I find out who has been on my profile?

  You can see which members have recently visited your profile in the Powersearch and on your start page in the "Visitors to your profile" infobox. Under "Info" you can see exactly how each person came to your profile, provided that the member concerned was logged in.
  
• How can I view all contacts of my contacts?

  The Powersearch offers the following option:
  
  Powersearch - All contacts of your contacts
  
  You can display all contacts of your contacts at once, provided that this option has been made visible to you by your contacts in their privacy settings.
• What are search alerts?

  Your search alerts (saved searches) notify you by email when new members register who match one of your search alerts. To set up a search alert: go to "Members" and start an "Advanced search". Then click on "Create search alert".
  
  Please note that the search alert only searches for new members, and not for existing members who have made profile changes.
  Example: Search by industry: "Pharmaceuticals" in "all members" → "Find". Then click on "Create search alert". Select a name for your search alert such as "Pharmaceuticals Search" and choose a search frequency. The search alert will notify you by email as soon as new members register that match your specific search.
  http://www.xing.com/cgi-bin/search.fpl?op=agents
• How is the address book search carried out?

  You can use the Address Book Comparison to compare those in your XING network with other online address books. Find out which of your coworkers, business partners, acquaintances and friends are already on XING. There are several ways to compare:
  
  

  • Import contact data from your Outlook, Lotus Notes or Mozilla address book
  • Import contact data from the address book of your email service (Yahoo! or Gmail)
  • Import contact data from a text file (CSV)
  • Use the XING Plugin

  
  XING guarantees that the data in your address books will only be saved to carry out a single scan and will be deleted immediately afterwards. XING always uses the most recent, recognized data protection and encryption technologies to protect your personal information.
• What's the maximum number of search results available?

  The number of member search results is currently limited to 15 for basic members and 300 for Premium members, even if there are more hits. The reason for this is that we want to provide you with the best-possible results rather than thousands of hits of minor relevance to you.
  
  If you'd like to view other profiles, we recommend you refine your search using other terms and filters.