Working with Search Functions

The Search portlet allows you to search for information available in the communities Main Database or Discussions, or both. The search results are displayed as links.

You can edit the search preferences to select the number of hits to be displayed per page, and select basic search or advanced search as the default search option.

The Search portlet allows you to do the following:

ProcedureTo Edit Search Options

You can edit the search preferences to allow you to browse categories. If documents are indexed into categories, you can browse those categories for documents. You can also select the default search option.

Steps
  1. Select Edit Options.


    Note - Edit options is displayed as a link in communities using the left navigation template, and as an option from the pull-down menu in communities using the two-column template.


  2. Select the value from Hits Per Page.

    Limits the number of search results that are returned per page. To view search results that exceed the number you have specified, click Next to view more search results. The default limit is 8 results per page.

  3. Select the Default Search Mode.

    The available search options are Basic Search and Advanced Search. The default search mode is Basic Search. Basic search allows a simple keyword search. With advanced search, you can use operators for more accurate and complex searches.

ProcedureTo Perform a Basic Search for Documents or Discussions

Steps
  1. Enter a keyword or keywords in the Search text field.

    You can perform a basic keyword search for a discussion or document from the Search portlet. If you are searching for a discussion, ensure to select the Discussions checkbox. If you are searching for documents, then ensure to select the Main Database checkbox.


    Note - Main Database checkbox is selected by default.


  2. Click Search.

    The results are displayed as links. If searching for a discussion, you will see a short description of the discussion topic below the link.

ProcedureTo Perform an Advanced Search for Documents or Discussions

Steps
  1. From the Search portlet, click Advanced Search.

    The Advanced Search options and fields appear.

  2. Type keywords in the text fields and select operator choices.

    The following options are available:

    Find

    Performs a keyword search for available discussions.

    • All of the words -- Specifies that the search result contains all of the keywords similar to the Boolean AND operator.

    • Any of the words -- Specifies that the search result contains any of the keywords specified similar to the Boolean OR operator.

    • The exact phrase -- Specifies that the search result contains the exact text string similar to using quotation marks.

    • Passage search -- Specifies that the search result contains a combination of words in the order in which they are typed in the text field similar to the Boolean AND and OR operators.

    Include

    Specifies where to search for keywords. You can choose to search for keywords in Main Database, Discussions, or both.

    Title

    Specifies a search for a word or words in the title of the document.

    • Contains -- Limits the search result to names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.

    • Not contains -- Limits the search result by omitting names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.

    Author

    Specifies a search for the name of the person who originally created the document.

    • Contains -- Limits the search result to names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.

    • Not contains -- Limits the search result by omitting names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.

    URL

    Specifies a search by the web address of the document.

    • Contains -- Limits the search result to names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.

    • Not contains -- Limits the search result by omitting names that contain the words that you typed in the text field.


    Note - The slash (/) at the end of a URL is significant. For example, searching for http://www.sun.com/soft/ searches all documents at that URL and all of its subdirectories. If you omit the slash and specify only http://www.sun.com/soft, you search the documents at that URL and all sites that start with soft, for example www.sun.com/software, www.sun.com/softest, and so on.


    Rated at least as

    Specifies the discussion document rating. Allows you to limit your search to documents rated at the level specified or higher. Default is Irrelevant.

    Posted within the

    Specifies the time period when the document was modified. Allows you to limit the search to within a certain time period.

    Show results as

    Specifies the amount of information that is included with your search results.

  3. Click Search.

    The results are displayed as links. If searching for a discussion, you will see a short description of the discussion topic below the link.

ProcedureTo Save Search Results

Steps
  1. Perform the search.

  2. Click the Save this Search link that appears next to Results.

    If you searched for a discussion, click Save this Discussion Search.

    The Subscriptions Edit Options page is displayed.

    Status

    Checkbox indicates if the subscription is active. Check the box to make the subscription active, leave it unchecked to make the subscription inactive

    Name

    Indicates the name of the subscription. For example, discussion on Java could be named Java Talk.

    Query

    Contains the query string used for the search. The user is alerted when a new document or discussion matches the query string.

    Since

    Specifies the time period when the document was created or modified. Allows you to limit the subscription to within a certain time period.

    Rating

    A menu that specifies the document rating and allows you to limit your subscription to documents rated at that level specified or higher.

  3. Click Finished.