Searching items in a tabbed modal window

Question

I have a modal window which lists items and organizes them by category through tabs. I want to implement a typeahead search for the items. My current implementation is to have search as another tab and when the tab is clicked, a text input will fade in to allow users to search for items.

Are there any alternative ways to implement this?

Answer 1

I would not make search another tab because it creates disconnect between search and the categories search is for.

Instead, I would put the search field above the tabs (a global search) so user understands that search is for all the categories.

When user performance a search, you could display a search results tab to show the results.

Answer 2

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I would probably do something along the lines of Option 3 or Option 4, with Option 4 most likely winning out.