Version 5.x: Contact Search on "Opt-out" no longer possible

[hkphooey]

Hi,

I gather that version 5.x has re-arranged the way emails are handled within the system. While there are some good effects of this, I'm wondering if it has permanently affected the way my client is able to search the database.

Previously in version 4.5.x, the client used the Email Opt Out and Invalid Email fields in the Contact Advanced Search form to locate contacts who (surprise surprise) had opted out or who had bad email addresses. Now it no longer seems possible to add these fields to the Contact Advanced Search form.

Is there a way of getting these back onto the Contact Search form?

Is there a workaround which will allow my client to once again search on these fields? I realise I can pull the info directly out of the database with an SQL query or two, but this isn't really an option for my less technically inclined clients.

Any Suggestions?

[hkphooey]

I've now found a workaround way of displaying the information, as the Opt Out Field DOES appear in the Custom Search aread of the Advanced Search ... but it seems to be fundamentally broken.

- Go to Contacts > Advanced Search

- At the bottom of the Advanced Search Panel, click on Saved Search and Layout.

- Put the fields Name, Email, and Email Opt Out as a minimum. In the Order By Column box, select Email Opt Out. In the direction box pick Ascending. Type a name in the "Save this search as" box eg OptOutSearch and click Save.

Now in theory you should be able to group any list according to whether they have opted out or not. In practice however, this seems to be broken, there are no contacts with Opt Out checked, and the order they appear in seems to be random.

Should I raise this as a bug? Or was it never intended to be in the 5.0 release. Any comment from the developers?