Filter Overview and Introduction

    

Filter Information

·      Filtering means displaying only certain articles in the thread list.

·      In Gravity terminology, "filtering" does not mean kill-filing or deleting articles.

·      You can create as many custom filters as you like.

The Default Filter
Gravity uses the default display filter when it starts up, or when you open another newsgroup (or come back to the current group). Here are some FAQs:

I can not see articles I have read. Where did they go?

I set Gravity to sort articles newest first, but it changes - WTF?

How do I make the display filter stay the way I want?
The Unread Article filter does not show read articles. You have to switch to another Filter, such as "All Articles" to see the read articles.
Gravity reverts to the default filter (unless you lock the filters - more about that soon), so sorting by clicking the column headings does not permanently change the effect of the filter.
You can set another default filter, or edit the Unread articles filters, or even link another default filter for individual groups (in theory, every group can have a custom default filter).
See the topic to learn more.

The Filter Toolbar
The filter commands are in the Newsgroup menu, but the fastest and easiest way to do nearly everything with filters is with the useful Filter Bar.
 
If you do not see this toolbar, turn it on with the menu:  View  - Toolbars - Filter Bar. See the topic .

  Click the "Filters" button to open a dialog filters where you , or set another global default filter.

Apply Another Filter
Select and apply another filter by clicking the list box control, which will pop up a list of available filters. See .

Edit or Create Filters
Another FAQ:
How do I make the article threads sort from newest to oldest?   You have to edit the filter for a permanent fix. Set the Filter to sort descending, not ascending). See if you need help.

Locking Filters (Manual Control)
FAQ: How do I make the display filter stay the way I want?
You can override the default behavior and LOCK the filters . Locking is a way to keep filters from changing and provides total manual. The current selected filter will be applied until you select another filter manually, which you can do anytime by picking another from the list.
  Use the pushpin icon on the Filter Bar to lock or unlock the filters. You can also use the menu command: Newsgroup - Lock Filter
See topic

Link a Filter to a Specific Newsgroup
You may want a newsgroup to open with a specific filter rather than the default filter. For example, you may want a busy group to open with a filter that only shows new articles, or high scored threads; or for binary groups, a filter that shows complete binaries.
The solution is to to the group, which overrides the global default filter. You can use the icon on the Filter Bar, or go to Newsgroup - Properties and set a filter.   (Linking does nothing while filters are "locked")

Quick Filter
The Quick Filter is a fast way to temporarily filter the current display. The easiest way to invoke it is to memorize the keyboard command "/" (forward slash) or "CONTROL + Q" or use the menu Newsgroup - Quickfilter.
You can quickly filter on "Subject" or "From" or both (the logic is From OR Subject), with or without regular expressions. Use F5 to restore the display, or reapply the main filter by selecting it from the list again.
See the topic for more.