diff --git a/app/search/routes.py b/app/search/routes.py
index 660a47b8..15f96a3d 100644
--- a/app/search/routes.py
+++ b/app/search/routes.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from flask import request, flash, json, url_for, current_app, redirect, g
 from flask_login import login_required, current_user
 from flask_babel import _
-from sqlalchemy import or_
+from sqlalchemy import or_, desc
 
 from app.models import Post, Language, Community
 from app.search import bp
@@ -22,14 +22,16 @@ def run_search():
     else:
         banned_from = []
 
-    if request.args.get('q') is not None:
-        q = request.args.get('q')
-        page = request.args.get('page', 1, type=int)
-        community_id = request.args.get('community', 0, type=int)
-        language_id = request.args.get('language', 0, type=int)
-        low_bandwidth = request.cookies.get('low_bandwidth', '0') == '1'
+    page = request.args.get('page', 1, type=int)
+    community_id = request.args.get('community', 0, type=int)
+    language_id = request.args.get('language', 0, type=int)
+    type = request.args.get('type', 0, type=int)
+    low_bandwidth = request.cookies.get('low_bandwidth', '0') == '1'
+    q = request.args.get('q')
+    sort_by = request.args.get('sort_by', '')
 
-        posts = Post.query.search(q)
+    if q is not None or type != 0 or language_id != 0 or community_id != 0:
+        posts = Post.query
         if current_user.is_authenticated:
             if current_user.ignore_bots == 1:
                 posts = posts.filter(Post.from_bot == False)
@@ -58,10 +60,18 @@ def run_search():
             posts = posts.filter(Post.nsfw == False)
 
         posts = posts.filter(Post.indexable == True)
+        if q is not None:
+            posts = posts.search(q, sort=True if sort_by == '' else False)
+        if type != 0:
+            posts = posts.filter(Post.type == type)
         if community_id:
             posts = posts.filter(Post.community_id == community_id)
         if language_id:
             posts = posts.filter(Post.language_id == language_id)
+        if sort_by == 'date':
+            posts = posts.order_by(desc(Post.posted_at))
+        elif sort_by == 'top':
+            posts = posts.order_by(desc(Post.up_votes - Post.down_votes))
 
         posts = posts.paginate(page=page, per_page=100 if current_user.is_authenticated and not low_bandwidth else 50,
                                error_out=False)
diff --git a/app/templates/search/start.html b/app/templates/search/start.html
index 1699b26a..e4d5ff93 100644
--- a/app/templates/search/start.html
+++ b/app/templates/search/start.html
@@ -12,25 +12,42 @@
                     <div class="card-body p-6">
                         <div class="card-title">{{ _('Search for posts') }}</div>
                         <form action="" method="get" class="form" role="form">
-                            <div class="form-group required"><label class="form-control-label" for="search_term" aria-label="Search here">{{ _('Keyword') }}</label>
-                                <input autofocus="" class="form-control" id="search_term" name="q" required="" type="search" value="">
+                            <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="search_term" aria-label="Search here">{{ _('Keyword') }} ({{ _('optional') }})</label>
+                                <input autofocus="" class="form-control" id="search_term" name="q" type="search" value="">
                             </div>
-                            <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="community" aria-label="Restrict results by language">{{ _('Community') }}</label>
-                                <select class="form-control" id="community" name="community">
+                            <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="community" aria-label="Restrict results by community">{{ _('Community') }}</label>
+                                <select class="form-control form-select" id="community" name="community">
                                     <option value="0">{{ _('All') }}</option>
                                     {% for community in communities %}
                                         <option value="{{ community.id }}">{{ community.display_name() }}</option>
                                     {% endfor %}
                                 </select>
                             </div>
+                            <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="type" aria-label="Restrict results by type">{{ _('Type') }}</label>
+                                <select class="form-control form-select" id="type" name="type">
+                                    <option value="0">{{ _('All') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="{{ POST_TYPE_ARTICLE }}">{{ _('Discussion') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="{{ POST_TYPE_LINK }}">{{ _('Link') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="{{ POST_TYPE_IMAGE }}">{{ _('Image') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="{{ POST_TYPE_VIDEO }}">{{ _('Video') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="{{ POST_TYPE_POLL }}">{{ _('Poll') }}</option>
+                                </select>
+                            </div>
                             <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="language" aria-label="Restrict results by language">{{ _('Language') }}</label>
-                                <select class="form-control" id="language" name="language">
+                                <select class="form-control form-select" id="language" name="language">
                                     <option value="0">{{ _('All') }}</option>
                                     {% for language in languages %}
                                         <option value="{{ language.id }}">{{ language.name }}</option>
                                     {% endfor %}
                                 </select>
                             </div>
+                            <div class="form-group"><label class="form-control-label" for="type" aria-label="Sort results">{{ _('Sort by') }}</label>
+                                <select class="form-control form-select" id="sort_by" name="sort_by">
+                                    <option value="">{{ _('Relevance') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="date">{{ _('Recent first') }}</option>
+                                    <option value="top">{{ _('Top') }}</option>
+                                </select>
+                            </div>
                             <input class="btn btn-primary btn-md" id="submit" name="submit" type="submit" value="Search">
                         </form>
                         <h6 class="mt-5">{{ _('Example searches:') }} </h6>