Tips - Main contents

When you have set-up the Monitor according to your personal preferences you can save that set-up. There are two methods to do so:

• 1) 

  Make the current set-up your default set-up. Click on the

  

  icon located at the right side of your columns and then click on the

  

  icon on the right top position. When you log in or refresh your Monitor this will be the set-up that will load.

• 2) 

  Save your current set-up as a dashboard, and tick the default box for that dashboard. Please consult the FAQ on dashboards for further information.

For more information on how to change the configuration of columns in the Monitor please consult this FAQ.

For more information on how to filter the content of your columns by means of keywords please peruse our FAQ on Boolean search operators.

The search field can be used in two ways:

• 1) 

  For uses of filtering all columns at once. After entering a query click on the search field and select "columns". The queries will be applied to all displayed columns.

For more information on filtering and options for creating profiles and alerts please consult this FAQ.

• 2) 

  Queries pertaining to documents, dossiers numbers or keywords will browse all available collections of documents and dossiers within the Monitor. Please note that this search field is not based on Boolean logic.

After returning the initial results of your query, the general search field can used for further queries and - on the right hand side - will give provide for additional search paramaters such as delineation on date or whether to search titles or titles and text.

By means of the calender icon, columns in the EU Monitor are filtered based on the date specified.

• - 

  A date in the past will make this date the starting date of all columns. As the Monitor displays all items in reverse chronological order this means setting the Monitor on an earlier date will show you all items from that date and earlier. More recent items then the selected date will not show.

• - 

  A date in the future will only have an impact on Agenda columns as none of the other columns (news, dossiers and documents) publish future items.

• 1. 

  Open column navigation by clicking the

  

  icon in the upper right angle of the respective column

• 2. 

  Click the

  

  icon before 'Add column after this column', 'Add column part below this column part' or 'Change column contents'

• 3. 

  Pick the column of your choice from the list.

• 4. 

  The column of your choice will be added.

Note: You may remove columns by clicking 'Remove column' in column navigation.

This may be due to several causes:

• 1. 

  The keyword profile is too broad. A term like "trade" will yield results related to trade between countries, but also to trading in stocks and bonds, learning a trade, etc.. Consider using more specific terms or a combination of terms, such as "external trade" or "trade AND export".

Keyword profiles that encompass multiple topics are especially susceptible to this problem. One solution may be to create seperate keyword profiles for each topic.

• 2. 

  The syntax of your keyword profile is generating unwanted results*. The most common problems are:

• - 

  the '*' extension includes too many irrelevant topics. "Trad*" will not only yield results on trade and trading, but also on any variation of "tradition" or "traditional". Consider a more restrictive approach or use the NOT operator to exclude certain terms from the results

• - 

  delineation by means of () for combinations of words or sets of combinations is off. For instance, a filter that wants everything on trade in combination with imports and exports, plus sanctions requires the use of () to create combinations of terms.The filter "(trade AND (import OR export) OR sanctions" misses a closing ) so it will now return results with any item containing trade, import, export and sanctions. The correct syntax is "(trade AND (import OR export)) OR sanctions". A simple check is to see if the number of "(" equals the number of ")" brackets, as these should be equal. With especially complex sets of combinations consider splitting such sets up into smaller, seperate combinations.

• * 

  For more information on how to build queries please consult our FAQ on Boolean operators.

• 3. 

  There is no keyword filter. Your keyword profile has a name, but this does not automatically mean it is incorporated as a keyword in your filter. Without any keyword the entirity of the columns you have selected fall in the range of your profile and thus will generate a large amount of items for your alerts.

• 4. 

  There are many items fulfilling the criteria of your filter. Your profile might cover a topic that has seen a sudden surge in (legislative) activity or is, generally speaking, a field subject to much debate and attention and as such will yield a substantial set of results. There is nothing wrong with your filter.

This may be due to several causes:

• 1. 

  The applied filter is too strict. Specific keywords might rarely be used in favor of more broad terms, such as "plastics" rather then "hard plastics". Combinations of keywords using the AND operator can lead to possible relevant results being excluded, such as "plastic AND waste AND recycling" excluding anything that does not feature all three words. Try broadening the scope of your profile.

• 2. 

  The syntax of your keyword profile* has limited the scope of your keyword profile in unforeseen ways. The most common problems are:

• - 

  The NOT operator is excluding many possible matches. Take into account that "bank* NOT banker" will exclude any result that has banker in it, even if any other variant on bank is included in the text.

• - 

  A combination of terms is accidentally set much wider as closing brackets ")" are missing. As combinations of terms generally are more restrictive then individual terms, relevant results may have been excluded as a result thereof. Keyword profiles that make use of complex combinations involving strings of 2 or more "()" sets are prone to such mistakes. Checking whether the number of "(" equals the number of ")" used in a profile may help.

• - 

  A spelling error in an operator will influence results, as will the lack of capital letters when using an operator. "bank Or banker" will only return results that have the term "bank or banker" whereas "bank OR banker" return results for any item that has either "bank" or "banker".

• * 

  For more information on how Boolean operators function please peruse our FAQ.

• 3. 

  Terminology and jargon are subject to change. For example: 'climate adaptation' as term began to replace the concept of 'combatting climate chance' in many policy documents. In monetary politics in the eighties and early nineties ECU was everywhere, to be replaced when the 'Euro' was first coined as term late nineties. Funds may have their names and accompanying abbreviations changed when a new budgetary cycle starts. Make sure your profile incorporates the latest developments and changes in terminology.

• 4. 

  There are little or no items fulfilling the criteria of your profile. In some cases it may well be possible there have not been any recent developments within the scope of your profile. In general, a profile returning little or no results in the Monitor does not necessarily mean your profile is non-functional or defective. An absence of results can also be interpreted as a result in itself: regarding the subject of your choice there might well be very little (legislative) activity.