This document provides a summary of how to plan and implement search in SharePoint at different maturity levels from basic to advanced. It outlines how search can be improved through iterative processes that involve metadata, tuning, testing scenarios, and gaining user feedback to continuously enhance the search experience. The key is to start simple and build search capabilities over time through a dedicated focus on improvement.

1. SharePoint Search Planning
101
the Cliffs Notes
As told by Mikael Svenson
2011-09-21
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2. SHAREPOINT MATURITY MODEL V2
Sadalit Van Buren
http://pzl.no/nalinQ
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3. DEFINITIONS
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4. SEARCH
o 100
• OOB – One or two sources
o 200
• Custom scopes + ifilters
o 300
• Analyze search results, best bets, custom metadata fields are used,
more sources
o 400
• Leverage content types and custom properties in advanced search.
Customized search results, and actionable results
o 500
• Users are tagging to improve search, fancy functions
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5. THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT
THE LEVEL 100 WAY
o Install SharePoint
o Create the SSA
o Crawl
o You have achieved BLISS!
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6. THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT
THE LEVEL 100 WAY
o Install SharePoint
o Create the SSA
o Crawl
o You have achieved BLISS!
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7. THIS IS HOW THE EXPERTS DO IT
THE LEVEL 4-500 WAY
o Numerous reports out there
• Each information workes searches Z minutes a week
• You can save gazillions on implementing search!
o We’ll implement the best search you can get
• 1,000h project
• Reports, analysis and the works
o Google like search in the Enterprise at your fingertips!
o Search all content from one place – Out of the box!
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8. THIS IS HOW THE EXPERTS DO IT
THE LEVEL 4-500 WAY
o Numerous reports out there
• Each information workes searches Z minutes a week
• You can save gazillions on implementing search!
o We’ll implement the best search you can get
• 1,000h project
• Reports, analysis and the works
o Google like search in the Enterprise at your fingertips!
o Search all content from one place – Out of the box!
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9. o Let’s cut through the
crap and do it the
cheap cheating way!
o …or get to the
essence
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10. HOW TO ACT LEVEL400 WHEN YOU
REALLY ARE LEVEL 100
OR HOW TO MAKE
SEARCH LESS SUCKY!
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11. HOW DO YOU LEVEL UP?
o Unfortunately you cannot call the Chinese to
level up your character
o You cannot easily tap into the collaborative
Google model
o Use your SharePoint skills also for search
o Use common sense
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12. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU NEED
SEARCH?
o Find at least one scenario which is
solved by search, and execute on it
o Either do all, or just one source
o Talk to at least one person about
what information access pain they
have which is not solved by «payday
beer»
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13. FORGET ABOUT REQUIREMENTS LIKE…
o Instant access to…
o Faster search
o Better search
o Google like search
o Wildcard search (why?)
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14. LOVE REQUIREMENTS LIKE…
o <Persona> performs<function> to achieve <value>
o Ironman has to find skilled members to staff
the new Avengers team
o Bob the builder needs the latest blueprints for
the building he’s about to put up
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15. HOW META IS YOUR METADATA?
o Don’t do metadata? Keep your file server. It’s
cheaper.
o Oh, you do do metadata; leverage it.
This is a sentence
This is a laptop
This is a word
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16. HOW META IS YOUR METADATA?
o Drop the huge taxonomy, go with what
you have and build over time
o Tap into the mental navigation model
• Even source as a refiner is better than oob
• Department, product, project, customer
o Same metadata on two sources?
Consolidate and you win bigtime!
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17. IF YOU CONSIDER SEARCH A ONE-
OFF, YOU ARE ALREADY ASSIMILATED
o Content is not fire and forget
o Treat search like your content (see above)
o Check zero-hit log, usage
(It is really really hard to get
back out once assimilated)
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18. TUNE IT
o Configure the UI
o Configure sources
o Configure properties
o Configure ranking
o Configure refiners
o Configure scopes
o Configure best bets
o NO CODING REQUIRED!
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19. HOW TO TURN YOUR OSTRICH FARM*
INTO CROWS
o Tell them what’s there
o Tell them what isn’t
o Make intuitive navigational choices
• Refiners, tabs, buttons, bells and whistles
o How-to videos
*Ostrich Farm = Users
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20. MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS
o Unit test your scenarios
• Assert.True( scenario – slide 14 )
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21. MATURITY AND ITERATIONS
o Improving search is a cyclic operation which
never ends
o Dedicate time to follow up and improve
o Make someone responsible / system owner
• Experience says this is hard, and it should be a
process owner, not IT
o Engage your users
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22. AS YOU LEVEL UP YOU WILL
o Involve IA
o Involve UX
o Involve users
o Unsuck search
o Game your way up
there with the PRO’s
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23. SEARCH EXAMPLE
Managed
metadata
People search on
20 lines of code, huge benefit expertise
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24. QUESTIONS?
W… did he
just talk
about?
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25. THANKS TO
o Michal Pisarek
• Letting me borrow from «Why Your SharePoint
Search Sucks»
o 4subsea for the sample screen shot
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