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Search Game Notes

LaunchBox for Windows

📋 Summary

Expand LaunchBox’s internal search functionality to include the Notes field of each game. This would allow users to quickly locate titles based on custom notes or annotations they’ve added — not just by the game’s name or metadata.

🎯 Feature Overview

  • Extend search indexing to include the Notes field stored for each game.

  • When searching, LaunchBox should:

    • Return results where the search term appears in the game’s Notes.

    • Optionally highlight matched terms in the Notes section of results.

  • Add a small “Include Notes” checkbox in the search bar or filters to toggle this behavior.

🛠 Example Use Case

  • A user has written in their Notes:

    “Requires patch v1.2 to fix save bug.”

  • Searching for “patch” or “save bug” would return that game, even though those terms aren’t in the title or metadata.

📦 Benefits

  • Better discoverability of user-entered notes and details.

  • Improved organization for users who annotate their collections.

  • Consistency with other searchable fields, making LaunchBox’s search more powerful overall.

Posted by Daliant ¡
Status: Open To Community4 comments

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Comments4

  • AstroBob changed status to Open To Community
    Team•

    Oct 13, 2025

    Pinned

    Hi there!

    Thanks so much for submitting this request and for taking the time to explain your use case — that context is always super helpful.

    I’ve gone ahead and fleshed out the main idea using the info you provided, and I’m opening it up to the community for further discussion and feedback. Please let me know if this fleshed-out version doesn’t match your original intended request.

    Feel free to let me know if you have any extra thoughts, examples, or edge cases you think might be relevant!

    Cheers,
    The LaunchBox team

    • Daliant

      •

      Oct 13, 2025

      Hi AstroBob,

      Thank you so much for accepting and refining my suggestion — I really appreciate the time you took to review it and give it a more polished structure.

      Although the example you provided focuses on user notes like “Requires patch v1.2 to fix save bug,” my original use case was slightly different: I use LaunchBox not only for games but also for retro gaming magazines and books, where the Notes field includes summaries of their contents.

      Being able to search through those Notes would allow me to quickly find, for example, which magazines feature articles or reviews about a specific game like Sonic.

      Still, your version absolutely captures the essence of what I had in mind — the goal is to make all stored information in LaunchBox searchable, whether it’s from games or related media.

      And I also love the idea of highlighting matched terms in the Notes — that’s a great addition!

      Thanks again to you and the LaunchBox team for being so open and responsive to community feedback.

      Best regards

      • AstroBob

        Team•

        Oct 13, 2025

        Thanks for the clarification there, and you’re right the core request is still the same, but the more use-cases the better. We capture all of them on this thread so thanks for elaborating there, and cool use of the notes field! :)

  • Daliant

    •

    Oct 13, 2025

    Search in Game Notes

    📋 Summary
    Extend LaunchBox’s internal search functionality to also include the Notes field of games, magazines, and books in addition to titles. This would allow users to quickly find not only games but also related publications that reference specific franchises or topics.

    🎯 Feature Overview
    LaunchBox should expand its current search scope beyond game titles to cover the Notes field. This enhancement could include:

    ✅ Searching across both game titles and notes simultaneously
    🔍 An optional “Advanced Search” menu that lets users choose whether to include Notes in their search
    📖 Equal support for non-game media (magazines, books, strategy guides) stored in LaunchBox
    📦 Results should show both games and related publications when a keyword is found

    🛠 Example Use Case
    A user searches for “Sonic” in their LaunchBox library.

    • Current behavior: only games with “Sonic” in the title are shown.

    • Improved behavior: the search results also include magazines whose Notes mention Sonic (e.g., reviews, tutorials, features).