SharePoint 2010 - Search Introduction

One of the highlights of SharePoint 2010 is the various improvements made to the default search. SharePoint 2010 Search helps people to find the information they need to get their jobs done. It provides intranet search, people search, and a platform to build search-driven applications. SharePoint 2010 Search is its combination of relevance, refinement, and people.

SharePoint 2010 search is able to index all types of content including structured and unstructured content and linked and hosted content. In addition, Microsoft's vision was not only to be able to crawl all types of content, but also to offer great results for every query. This new approach to search provides an experience that is highly personalized, efficient, and effective.

Security is a key factor in the use of any business systems, SharePoint search honours both SharePoint security (for content within SharePoint) and file security (for files on network drives). This process is known as security trimming; this means that when a user performs a search the result set only shows the user content that they have access to, keeping sensitive information safe. This also prevents the frustrating situation that we find on many web sites where you search for a page, the page that you need shows in the search results but when you click a link to open the page you are told that you don't have access.

Search results are carefully selected using a ranking system; the ranking system uses a complex algorithm to calculate which content is most likely to be the information you need. If for example you search for the word "news" there might be 10,000 results that match, the algorithm will take in to account many factors such as when each document was last modified, how many times the word appears in the document and the type of document and then place the most likely matches at the top of your search results

Simple search

1.       Use the drop down arrow to specify the Search Scope.

2.       Enter the word or phrase you wish to search for.

3.       Start the search by clicking on the magnifying glass 

People Search

1.       In the Search Scope drop down menu, select People.

2.       Enter the name of the person you wish to find.

3.       Click the magnifying glass to start the search.

Search results

The image below shows the Search Results page.

Running a search query can return a list of many results that match the search criteria. For each item returned on the list, the following information is displayed:

• Title
• Description
• Authors
• Modified Date
• Size
• Hyperlink point to the physical location of the item

The items returned from a search query can include documents, people, document libraries, lists and sites. The type of items returned can be identified by the icon to the left of the title. The hyperlinks at the top of the results page allow a user to sort the results by either relevance or modified date.

Descriptions are made easier to read as noise words have been removed and the terms that you search for are emphasised within the results.

If during the search process multiple identical documents are found that are stored in more than one location, a View duplicates link will appear below the specified result. When this link is clicked, it opens a page that displays any duplicate content, along with its description, location, size, and author.

Search features and tips

Here are some of the useful features of search

Best Bets

A Best Bet is content that has been selected as the best recommendation for a particular key word that has been configured manually by a site owner, content manager, or administrator. This means that Best Bets are similar to advertised links that are displayed on Internet search sites. As shown below, Best Bets for a keyword are displayed at the top of search results here the user has searched for SharePoint and the first result is a best bet in the form of a heading and brief description that acts as a link to a help document about SharePoint 2010 created by the IT department.

Open Documents from the Search List

Users can browse through the list of results returned by a search query by using the Previous and Next navigation links at the bottom and top of the Web page. A document returned in the results list can be opened by clicking on the document title. A file download dialog box appears that asks the user to select whether to Open the document, Save the document for later review, or Cancel the action.

Connect to Windows Search

If your using the Windows 7 operating system you can now search SharePoint content from the comfort of your desktop, this is possible thanks to a new option to add SharePoint sites to your list of favourite search locations.

Setup a Search Alert

Setup an alert to receive a notification when the results change for the current search criteria.

Refine Search Results

SharePoint 2010 introduces a system of Refinements that gives you the chance to reduce the amount of content that is shown in the result set after the initial search has been completed.

Related Searches

The Related Searches web part shows words and phrases that other users have been searching for recently that is related to your search. Related queries are not refiners so they don't narrow down your existing result set instead your original search results are closed and you receive a new set of results which can then be refined.

People Matches

The people matches web part identifies users that are related to the word or phrase you searched for.

Listed below are some suggestions and examples of how you can improve the chance of finding the information for which you are searching.

Check Spelling

SharePoint passes search words through a stemmer to expand the search terms. A misspelled word can result in an inappropriate result set of documents.

Use words, phrases, and sentences

For best results, it is important to choose the search words wisely. Try the obvious first use words that are likely to appear on a site. Whenever possible, use phrases or a continuous string of words enclosed with quotation marks (e.g., "induction pack").

When SharePoint compiles the result set, it includes an implicit "AND" between words that a reader uses in a search query. This means that only documents that contain all the keywords are returned in the search results.

Use similar words

If the required information is not in the result set, choose other keywords that are synonyms or similar to the word you first entered. For example, rather than just search for "computer", try to also search for "PC", "laptop" etc if you do not find what you are looking for at first.

Use more words

The general rule is that the more words used in a search, the more accurate the results. Composing a question is one method of increasing the number of words. Since SharePoint disregards "noise" words such as "and", "or", "the", these words can be omitted.  Up to 255 characters can be used in each search.

Use precise words

Use specific words to make your search results more precise.  For example a more relevant set of results could be obtained by using the word "dog" instead of "animal".

Use Quotation Marks

Use of quotation marks forces SharePoint to find the phrase as you present it in between quotation marks. This will make the search look for exactly what you type to narrow down the search.

Use Advanced Search

Choosing the Advanced search option can narrow a search result based on properties of the content to be searched. For example, advanced search options often allow you to include additional search criteria such as searching for any of the words (OR), or excluding certain words. You can also specify the language or specific document properties to search for.

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