Portlets for working with Search
Overview
Portal by default installs, but not necessarily deploys, the following portlets related to Search...
Manage Search Search administration. Installed and deployed Search Center Search by end users. Installed and deployed Search and Browse Search by end users. Installed but not deployed
Portal Search portlets are not compatible with WSRP
The Portal Search portlets cannot be provided as WSRP services, as some additional and more advanced WebSphere Portal concepts and features are not reflected by the current WSRP standard yet. This includes the Portal Search portlets Manage Search, Search and Browse, and the Search Center portlets.
Manage Search
Manage Search is the Portal Search administration portlet. It has three main sections:
Search Services Manage search services. Search Collections Manage search collections and their content sources. Search Scopes Manage search scopes and custom links to Web search locations.
Use the Manage Search portlet to perform the following administrative tasks:
- Manage search services.
Use the search services that are provided with portal, or you can add one or more search services to Portal Search. For example, this is required in scenarios where you set up remote search or your portal is set up in a cluster.
- Manage search collections.
You can define one or more search collections for a search service.
- Manage the content sources of search collections.
You can combine content sources of different types in one search collection.
- Perform administrative tasks required as preparatory steps for the search feature, such as indexing.
- Manage search scopes.
You can define search scopes to limit search results to specific content locations and specific document types. This enables users to target their searches better.
- Manage custom links.
You can add custom links with Web link shortcuts to search locations. This enables users to do direct searches to popular Web search engines, such as Google or Yahoo!
- Search and browse a search collection.
Manage Search provides a user interface just like the Search and Browse portlet for search by end users, but with administrative tasks added. For example, you can edit documents, or you can select documents that you do not want to make available to users for search and delete them.
Search Center portlet
The Search Center portlet provides a central starting point to all searchable content sources made available to the Portal. Users can use the Search Center to search documents and content. The default search scope is All Sources, which searches through all search collections that are available to the user. You can allow more focused searches by providing additional search scopes. Refer to Search scopes for more information.
The Search Center portlet is installed as part of the default portal installation. Note that it is deployed and placed on a hidden portal page. The portal takes users to the Search Center when they enter a search using the portal Search Box.
By default both the Search Center portlet and the Search box are available only to authenticated users, that is for users who have logged on with a user ID and password. Anonymous users, that is users who access the portal without logging in, cannot use the Search Center or the search box.
For information about how to use the search portlets on anonymous pages refer to Enabling anonymous users to search public pages of your portal.
Search and Browse
Portal users can use the Search and Browse portlet for more advanced searches. Each separate search collection requires a separate copy of the Search and Browse portlet. For users to be able to use this portlet, you have to make it available in the portal.
Before portal users can use the Search and Browse portlet, perform the following tasks for preparation:
- Prepare search collections as desired. To do this, use the Manage Search portlet.
- Copy and deploy the Search and Browse portlet for users
Search Center vs. Search and Browse
The Search Center portlet provides the starting point for basic search by users. Users can access it by the Search box. You can configure it to cover multiple search collections and to have scopes for more focused searches. When using the Search Center portlet, users can select scopes to focus their searches.
Users can use the Search and Browse portlet for more advanced searches. For example, they can refine their search by restricting it to specific document types, or by searching in the document fields. The Search and Browse portlet is used to search one search collection. You need to create one copy of the portlet for each individual search collection and then deploy it and configure it accordingly.
Parent topic
Portal Search
Related concepts
Portal Search
Related tasks
Administering Portal Search
Manage search scopes and custom links
Enabling anonymous users to search public pages of your portal
Configure the Search and Browse portlet for end users
Related reference
Hints and tips for using Portal Search