How do you filter for photos with develop adjustments?

Question

I wanted to put this information out there, because it was difficult for me to find an answer to the question of "how do you quickly filter for photos that have develop adjustments?"
Some earlier posts in this forum observe that a smart collection has the ability to filter files wherein "has adjustments" is "true." Yes, it can do that. And it can also add in a "date" parameter for more specific targeting. But it cannot simply say, "in the current folder," or "in the selected folder." And frankly, that's the exact situation when I need to filter down to the files I want: I'm in a folder—typically the current folder that I've just imported—and I've done a smattering of develop adjustments. Now, I want to quickly select just those images for export. Can't be done, not with a Smart Collection, anyway.
But Lightroom is nothing if not deep, and if you approach the problem from a filtering standpoint, it will eventually get you there—but the solution is very non-obvious. Expose the filter bar, with your favorite preset: camera info, default columns... it doesn't really matter. Hover over the header bar and to the far right will become visible the "add column" widget. Add a column. From the pop-up menu on the name will come a long list of options, the second-to-last of which is "develop preset." Once that's in place, click on "custom." Save your current settings as a new preset and give it a descriptive name like "adjusted images."
Now, when you're in your current—or any—folder, just click on "metadata" in the filter bar, and your custom preset will be in effect: any images that you've worked on will be selected. It's a fast, one-click selection.
If there's another way of doing this (keep in mind it's for the selected or current folder only), let me know. It's such a seemingly desirable action that I'm kind of astounded there's no built-in or easy or obvious way to do it... or that no photographer has requested it.

Answer 1

I am honored to have a response from Rikk "MVP" Flohr, and I do readily agree that your approach is one way to approach the issue. It puts the relevant images in a discrete area that is easy to access. However (this is where I look a gift horse in the mouth) I find "sorts" a bit underwhelming in comparison to "filtering." Two problems: first, the sort still does not 'clear your deck' of unwanted images. You still have to squint at the badges and carefully select the range at the top (or bottom). Mistakes can be made (and I would be the first to make them). Second, the sort command is "sticky," meaning that folder will always have that sort unless you undo it. In general, I think most photographers want to see a folder's images sorted by capture time, so they can easily glance to the beginning, middle, and end of the shoot. With my method, once you click out of the folder, the filter is taken away and you're back to normal.
I do understand that Lightroom wants me to flag my images with rankings or stars or colors or dancing beavers or what-have-you. But in this particular situation, that's an extra step. If I've applied development adjustments, it's already done. Why shouldn't I be able to choose "Select Developed Photos" from the Edit menu, right under "Select Flagged Photos"?