> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.broadstripes.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Search event info using dates or a timeframe
> Use the search builder to find contacts based on when an event step was checked, using dates or natural language timeframes like "last week."
## Overview
The Broadstripes search builder lets you search for very specific event-related information, including who has attended a rally in the last month or signed a card in the past week. In Broadstripes, that type of information is recorded as **events** and **event steps**. Keep in mind that events are created and customized by users and admins, so each project will have its own unique events. (Learn more in the [creating events](/docs/customize/create-events-to-track-goals) article.)
In this article, we'll show you how to search based on an event called "**Card**" to find all the people who have signed a card within a specific timeframe.
## Build a search to capture events in time
In another article, we [built a search to look at people who had not yet signed cards](/docs/search/search-by-event-step). For this article, we're going to assume it's a week later, and we want to see how many new cards have been signed since we ran that previous search. Here's how:
1. Start a new search by clicking the **Search Builder** button to the right of the search box at the top of the page.
2. A **search building panel** opens below the search box.
3. Since we want to limit our search to workers who have signed a card in the last week, click the rule's **field button** and choose the **Card - Signed** event step from the field picker.
4. In the middle drop-down menu, select **was checked on or after**.
5. In the right-hand text box, type **last week**.
Broadstripes accepts natural language date terms like "last week," "6 months ago," or "yesterday." You can also use a calendar date like "2/20/2025."
6. Click the **Search** button to run the search. All contacts who have had their card signed within the specified timeframe display in the **Search Results** page.
7. To see a count of the total number of contacts in the search results at a glance, check the bold count below the **Search Results** heading in the upper-left corner of the page (for example, "128 contacts"). Next to it, a **Records 1-20** label tells you which portion of those results is on the current page.
## Date operators for events
When you select an event or event step keyword in the search builder, the following date-based operators are available:
| Operator | Description |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **was checked on** | Matches contacts where the event step was checked on a specific date |
| **was not checked on** | Excludes contacts where the event step was checked on a specific date |
| **was checked before** | Matches contacts where the event step was checked before a specific date |
| **was checked after** | Matches contacts where the event step was checked after a specific date |
| **was checked on or before** | Matches contacts where the event step was checked on or before a specific date |
| **was checked on or after** | Matches contacts where the event step was checked on or after a specific date |
## Date value examples
You can enter dates in multiple formats:
| Format | Example |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Natural language (relative) | last week, 6 months ago, yesterday, 2 days ago |
| Calendar date | 2/20/2025, 12/01/2024 |