Vb/fixes and improvements 1

[vbrodsky]

Description

Minor but important updates as a result of me testing search filters for project list

Fixes # (issue)

Type of change

Please delete options that are not relevant.

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected)
• Document change (fix typo or modifying any markdown files, code comments or anything in the examples folder only)

All Submissions

• Have you followed the guidelines in our Contributing document?
• Have you provided a description?
• Are your changes properly formatted?

New Feature Submissions

• Does your submission pass tests?
• Have you added thorough tests for your new feature?
• Have you commented your code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas?
• Have you added a Docstring?

Changes to Core Features

• Have you written new tests for your core changes, as applicable?
• Have you successfully run tests with your changes locally?
• Have you updated any code comments, as applicable?