Search portlets

Search portlets

Overview

For Portlet Default status
Administrators Manage Search Installed and deployed
End users Search Center Installed and deployed
Search and Browse Installed, but not deployed
Suggested Links Not installed
External Search Results Not installed

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 portlet

Manage Search has three 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

You can use the Manage Search portlet to perform the following administrative tasks:

Manage search services You can use the search services that are provided with portal, or you can add one or more search services to Portal Search. This is required in scenarios where you set up remote search or the 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 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 Limit search results to specific content locations and specific document types. This enables users to target their searches better.
Manage custom links Add custom links with Web link shortcuts to search locations. 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.

You might have to perform other administrative tasks such as preparing security, configuring remote search, configuring search in a portal cluster.

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. This searches through all search collections that are available to the user by the access permission rights. You can allow more focused searches by providing additional search scopes.
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.

Search and Browse portlet
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.
Information for users about how to use this portlet is provided by the portlet help.
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 as described under Configuring the Search and Browse portlet for end 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.
Use the Search and Browse portlet for more advanced searches. Refine searches by restricting to specific document types, or by searching in the document fields. Used to search one search collection.

Create one copy of the portlet for each individual search collection
Deploy it and configure it accordingly

Parent
Portal Search

Related tasks

Administer Portal Search
Manage search scopes and custom links
Enable anonymous users to search public pages of the portal
Customize the Search Center
Configure the Search and Browse portlet
Configure a Suggested Links portlet
Configure the External Search Results portlet
Hints and tips for using Portal Search

+
Search Tips | Advanced Search

For	Portlet	Default status
Administrators	Manage Search	Installed and deployed
End users	Search Center	Installed and deployed
	Search and Browse	Installed, but not deployed
	Suggested Links	Not installed
	External Search Results	Not installed

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

Manage search services	You can use the search services that are provided with portal, or you can add one or more search services to Portal Search. This is required in scenarios where you set up remote search or the 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	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	Limit search results to specific content locations and specific document types. This enables users to target their searches better.
Manage custom links	Add custom links with Web link shortcuts to search locations. 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.