Search Configuration Part 3

Search Scopes

Search scopes define specific areas that users can search in, when performing searches from SharePoint. This gives you the flexibility to limit search results to specific content areas in your SharePoint environment.

Here are the following steps to configure a search scope. I am using a scope called Data Forms as an example, so you can repeat these steps for whatever search scope you wish to configure.

1. Create a content source that corresponds to the search scope you are configuring.
   
2. When you create the new content source, make sure you add the subsite location (or folder) in the Start Addresses that correspond to the area you want the search scope to crawl content for. Also select Custom – specify page depth and server hops options under Crawl Settings, with an unlimited page depth, so the crawler crawls all content under the start address you specify. Depending on how your content is structured, you may find it more appropriate to select one of the other crawl settings options. Press OK when finished.
   
3. You need to create a crawl rule to include the address that corresponds to your search scope, so the crawler knows to include the content. Click on Manage Crawl Rule, under the Crawling section (on the left hand side links) to navigate to the page to create crawl rules.
   
4. Click on New Crawl Rule, and enter the appropriate URL in the Path entry area. Select Include all items in this path, under the Crawl Configuration area. Selecting Exclude all items in this path will exclude the content in this rule. The three checkboxes are not necessary, unless you have specific data that has special crawling considerations. Press OK when finished.
   
5. The next step is to create the actual search scope. Click on the Scopes link under Queries and Resultssection (in the left hand links area). This will display a page that lists all the search scopes in the system.
   
6. Clicking on New Scope will display a page that allows you to create a new search scope. Give the new search scope a title. You can leave the Target Results Page selection to the default results page (unless you have a custom search results page created). Click OK when finished.
   
7. You now need to add a couple of rules to the search scope, so right mouse click the newly-created search scope, and select Edit Properties and Rules.
   
8. The Scope Properties and Rules page will display. This screen allows you to create rules that determine what content is included or excluded for this search scope.
   
9. Click on New Rule to create another new rule for this search scope. For our rule, we are including all the content from the appropriate URL that corresponds to the subsite for the search scope. Select Web Addressfrom the Scope Rule Type section, and select the Folder option from the Web Address section, and enter the appropriate URL. Under the Behavior section, select the Include option. Press OK when finished.
   
10. As a last step, make sure you run full crawls on the entire site. This should update the crawled content, and you should be able to perform searches in your SharePoint environment.

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