Performing a Search on a KB Site

To find a document, enter one or more keywords in the Search field. When a user submits a query:

• The KB searches for all documents that contain those specific keywords.
• The Case of keywords is ignored.
• Document keywords are specified by the document owner when the document is created.
• Document titles are also considered keywords and searched during the query process.
• The default sort order for search results is based on its relevance to the Default Search Mode assigned by the KB Admin. Relevance is determined by the similarity between the search term itself and the Default Search Option.

In some cases, you may see search results prefixed with an image of three or four asterisks. This indicates that the document in question was marked for "high" or "top" search priority, respectively.

For more general help with searching, see our KnowledgeBase Search Tips.

The KB Search Results Page and the Additional Search Options

After performing a Search you will see a table with your Search Results. In the image below, we have the Search Results for "Profile" in the KB User's Guide. This image has the Additional Search Features circled in red. We will review each one.

Search Mode Dropdown

The first dropdown above the list of search results allows you to change your search mode. Most sites default to a "Title + Keywords" search. If there are no results, the KB will automatically switch to an increasingly broader search mode until at least one result is found.

You have the option to manually change your search mode if you would like to see more or fewer results than the default search mode provided. You can use this dropdown to choose from any of the following search modes:

• Keywords+Title
• Title
• Keywords
• Fulltext
• Attachments (see note below)
• Title + keywords + attachments
• Fulltext + attachments

Note: The KB indexes text-based attachments, such as Word documents and certain PDFs, if they are actively linked in documents. The attachments themselves will be returned in a search if you are using one of the last three search modes. This will not happen for PDFs that are image-based rather than text-based, for example, a PDF of a scanned paper document.

Sorting Dropdown

This dropdown will initially be set to "Relevance", which is the KB's default sorting mode. "Relevance" includes a combination of factors, such as search priority, recent views, and updated date.

If desired, you can choose from the following alternative sorting options:

• ID
• Title
• Updated date
• Views

Alternative Output Formats

Above the search results list, on the right side, you will see two links that allow you to view the results in XML or JSON format. This is generally intended for cases where you wish to embed the results in a different application or system.

Cross-Site Search

Public Sites

For UW-Madison public sites with cross-site searching enabled, a link reading "UW-Madison Unified KnowledgeBase" will appear below the search results, followed by a predicted number of results. This link allows you to easily re-run your search in the Unified KB, which is helpful if you are not finding the information you need on the site you are currently searching.

This link will also appear for other institutions using the KB, provided they similarly have a Unified KB site configured.

Internal Sites

If you are searching an internal sites with cross-site searching enabled, you may also see links below your search results pointing you to results on other internal sites you have access to. Clicking these links will take you directly to the search results for those sites.

Please note that these links will only appear for sites where you have been granted access as an individual; they will not appear for internal sites where you are getting access via an authorization rule.