Search Results Page Type

The Search Results Page Type displays search results from Pages, Comments, Submitted Forms & Views, Products, Calendars & Events, and even content from within Files linked or attached to website pages.

There are two types of Site Search: Simple and Advanced. Each have their benefits. Here is a chart that compares each Site Search Type. You can select the method best for you in your Site Settings. Simple Site Search is enabled by default.

Simple Site Search Advanced Site Search
Search results are filtered based on the access rights the Visitor or User searching has permissions for. Search results are filtered based on the access rights the Visitor or User searching has permissions for.
Search is not case-sensitive. Search is not case-sensitive.
Only searches Pages with 'Include in Site Search' checked and Pages that are not Archived. Only searches Pages with 'Include in Site Search' checked and Pages that are not Archived.
If there is a Short Link for a Page then that will be used for URL for search item. If there are multiple Short Links then most recently modified is used. If there is a Short Link for a Page then that will be used for URL for search item. If there are multiple Short Links then most recently modified is used.
If a Page does not have a Title, then the Page Name is used for the Title. If a Page does not have a Title, then the Page Name is used for the Title.
There is no limit to the number of results displayed. Only the top 100 general results, based on relevancy, will be shown, however featured results and Product/Product Group results are not limited. If the number of general results reaches the 100 limit, then a message is displayed to the Visitor to indicate that (e.g. "Showing 100 of the most relevant results for: example").
Searches Products in real-time. Searches Products in real-time.
You can set 'Promote on Keyword' in the Page's Properties to move the Page to the top of the search results. You can set 'Promote on Keyword' in the Page's Properties to move the Page to the top of the search results.
Searches the whole site, so only one Search Results Page Type Page is necessary for the website. Searches only the index within the scope of the Search Folder that is selected. Allows multiple Search Results Page Type Pages per site, each with it's own scope.
Does not store an index. Stores plain text version of Page. Does not include html head, attributes, classes, and etc. However, link URLs from HTML are included in index.
Searches Page content in real-time. Does not search Pages in real-time. You have to update the search index after content has changed in order to display updated results.
Searches for a single keyword. Searches for one or more keywords and/or phrases.

To search for a single keyword use: mykeyword
To search for a single phrase use: "my phrase"
To search for one AND the other use: +"my phrase" +mykeyword
To search for one OR the other use: "my phrase" mykeyword
To search for one WITHOUT the other use: +"my phrase" -mykeyword
To search for a file by name use: filename.xlsx

NOTE: When plus (+) and quotes ("") search operators are not used for all terms in the search, the minus (-) operator is ignored.
Only the Page's Page Regions and Title, Description, and Keyword Page Properties are searchable. The entire Page content searchable, including any Common Regions, Ad Regions, Menu Region, Comments, linked Files and File Attachments, etc., and including the Page's Page Regions and Title, Description, and Keyword Page Properties.
Dynamic items are not searchable. Dynamic items (i.e. Calendar Events on Calendar Event Views and Submitted Form data on Form List/Item Views) are searchable.

NOTE: To include Submitted Form Data in search results,both the Form List and Form Item View Pages must have their Page Property 'Included in Site Search' selected. Likewise, to include Events in search results,both the Calendar and Calendar Item View Pages must have their Page Property 'Included in Site Search' selected.
The Page's Title property is used as the link to the resulting Page. The Product Short Description property is used to link to the resulting Catalog Page. The Page's Title property is used as the link to the resulting Page. The Product Short Description property is used to link to the resulting Catalog Page.

However, if the Page is a Form List/Item View, then the RSS/Search Title field(s) within the Submitted Form Data (see Custom Form Fields) will be used as the link to the resulting Page. Multiple Title fields are supported.
The Page's Description property is used as the search results description. The Page's Description property is used as the search results description.

However, if the Page is a Form List/Item View, then the RSS/Search Description fieldwithin the Submitted Form Data (see Custom Form Fields) will be used as the link to the resulting Page.
Files are not searchable. No additional software is required. Files must be linked within a Page that is included in the index in order for them to be searchable. They also must not be Design Files and must not be in an Archive Folder. If comments are enabled for any included Page, any File Attachments found will also be indexed.

All types of files are included in the index, however the system only indexes the content of the following types of files: doc, docx, pdf, ppt, pptx, txt, xls, and xlsx. This means that even though zip file content is not stored in the index, someone can still search for a zip file by name and find it.

PDF is the only type of file that requires an external library to be installed. It requires pdftotext. Please ask your Server Administrator to install it for you if you need to index PDF files.

For MS Office documents, it is recommended that you use the "x" format, because the system will be able to extract text for those more accurately. For example, use docx instead of doc, pptx instead of ppt, and xlsx instead of xls.

The Description value from an uploaded File (see Files Tab) is used for the search results description. If that is blank, then the first part of the content of the File is used for the description.
Does not require manual update or scheduled task. Requires manual update or scheduled task (cron job). Scheduled task option is available with a Pro or Elite hosting plan or a software subscription.
The results are not sorted by Relevancy. The results are ordered by Relevancy. Relevancy is determined by various factors, including the number of times that the search phrase appears. Also, the relevancy is determined by where the search term appears. For example, if the search term appears in the title or description of a result, and not just the content, then that result is given a higher score.
All results are returned. No search term operators are required or supported.

Stop words are not ignored.

No short words or stop words are ignored.
When plus (+) and quotes ("") search operators are not used, then words that appear in 50% or more of results are ignored.

Stop words are ignored. Your Server Administrator can disable stop words using ft_stopword_file MySQL setting.

Short words are ignored. The default minimum length is 4 characters. Your Server Administrator can change this using ft_min_word_len MySQL setting.

 

Page Properties

Here are the Search Results Page Type Page Properties available:

   
Search Folder: If Advanced Site Search Type (see Site Settings) is enabled, select the parent Folder that will contain the scope of all search results that will be displayed on this Search Results Page. All (non-archived and searchable) Pages in this Folder and it's Sub Folders will be included in the results and filtered based on the person's access to the Folder and Sub Folders.

NOTE: This setting will not be displayed if Simple Site Search Type is selected in the Site Settings. In this case, the scope of all search results for this Site Search Results Page will be ALL (non-archived and searchable) website Pages and filtered based on the person's access to the Folder and Sub Folders.
Search Products: If this is selected (and Commerce is enabled in the Site Settings) then all Product Groups and Products within the "In Product Group" selection (below) will be included in the search results.

If this is deselected, no Product Group or Product content will be included in the search results displayed on this page.
In Product Group: The scope of the search results is limited to all Product Groups and Products within this Product Group. This allows you to keep some Product Groups and Products that may not be in your production catalogs hidden from the search results.

NOTE: The Search Keywords for all of the Products and Product Groups inside of the Product Group that is selected will be added to the Tag Cloud.
Catalog Detail Page: This is the Catalog Detail Page that will be used to view the Product Groups and Products that appear in the search results. If a Page is not selected, then the Product Groups and Products appearing in the search results will not be linked to their details.