Help and Tips
If your question is not covered here, you can also try the Frequently Asked Questions page.General Help
Other tips
Region Selection
First, select between North America and the rest of the world, using the Options link at the top-right of the main page.
Next, you can use the Region Preset dropdown to automatically choose a group of states or countries. Alternatively, you can select states/countries manually using the States boxes.
Cities Boxes
The cities selection boxes can be used to narrow your search to specific cities.
To search entire states or countries, you don't have to use these boxes. If you DO select any specific cities, ONLY those cities will be searched.
If you do decide to select individual cities, you can easily add all the cities for a given state by adding the state's heading (ie: 'California - all')
Major Cities Only
Check the 'Major Cities Only' box to filter your results to only cities with large, active craigslists. Larger cities will tend to return more results.
Once the box is checked, a slider will appear. Drag the slider to choose what percentage of cities you want to show.
ie: 1% shows only the very largest cities.
Note: This slider only taxes effect in cases where entire states are being searched. When you choose specific cities using the Cities Boxes, this control has no effect.
Keywords
Find ads with ALL or ANY of your keywords, or a complete phrase, using the buttons provided.
Enter keywords to search for in the first box, and keywords to exclude in the second box. (Ads containing ANY of the keywords in the second box will not be found.)
You can also combine these options using the new advanced keyword option. There are several options available.
Advanced Keyword Options
- Search for single words and phrases together:
"fire engine" red toy
- Combined AND/OR searches! Put OR terms in (parentheses,with,commas). AND terms are separated by spaces. IE:
(refridgerator,refrigerator,fridge) (white,cream,beige)
- You can also include negative keywords prefaced by hyphens:
(refridgerator,refrigerator,fridge) (white,cream,beige) -broken -bar -apartment
- Finally, use an asterix* to end a keyword with a wildcard:
BMW (325*,328*,330*) (1998,1999,2000)
That gives you everything from a 1998 BMW 325i to a 2000 BMW 330, all in one search!
Note: there are some limitations. For reasons discussed in the FAQ, I'm limited in how much I can improve on the functionality provided by craigslist. The main thing is, you can't include multiple-word terms or phrases inside an OR block, like (land cruiser,landcruiser). However, I still think you'll find the advanced options useful. I know I have!
PS: Leave keywords blank to browse an entire category.
- Search for single words and phrases together:
Tips and Tricks
Double-Click to Add
To save time, double-click on list items rather than using the 'add' button.
Search Whole State/Country
To search an entire state, add its heading in the cities box (ie: 'california - all'). If no cities are chosen, this is the default.
Save Search for Later
Your most recent choices will always be remembered for next time. To save multiple searches, just bookmark the results pages in your browser. When you open the bookmark, the latest results for that search will be shown.
To save the results from your search, you should bookmark the craigslist windows themselves. The easiest way to do this is to open the craigslist page in a new tab by middle-clicking on its link.
Browse Category
Leave the Keywords field blank to browse an entire category.
Use Tabs!
When clicking on ads inside the craigslist listings, you may find it handy to open the ads in new tabs. To do so, either middle-click on the ad (click with the mouse-wheel) to open the tab in the background, or hold CTRL and SHIFT while you click to open the tab and automatically switch to it. You can then either close the tab or leave it open and click back on the craigshelper tab to return to the craigslist results list.
You have Options!
Take a look at the Options links at the top of the main page and the results page. You might find something handy!
Selection Box Tips
To select a number of cities or states at once, hold <Ctrl> while clicking on them in the selection box, or click one, hold <Shift>, and click another to select the entire range.
To find an entry in one of the selection boxes easily, click on the box, then type the first letter in the entry's name. Continue pressing the letter to cycle through all entries that begin with that letter. (For example, to easily find California in the States box, click on the box, then press 'C'.)
