Most Gnus users use gnus-group-make-nnir-group to search mails. But it's not usable in "Summary Buffer". Its IMAP SEARCH Command is hard to use.

It could be replaced by dianyou-group-make-nnir-group which supports shortcuts. For example, you can input "f John s 1y2w2d" and select "imap" when Gnus asks the question "Imap Search in". It means search mails from John since 1 year, 2 weeks and 2 days ago.