Beginning SharePoint 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007 (Programmer to Programmer)

This book has shown useful methods for adding content to your SharePoint site so you can share information with others. These efforts are wasted if you don’t create a system that makes it easy for users to locate and find this content. After reading this chapter, you should know the different methods for searching for content, including the following:

• You enter keywords and search terms in the basic search box to receive results based on relevance or modified date.

• The Advanced Search interface, the Search Center, and the Scopes drop-down box refine your searches.

• You can create content sources to access data from multiple systems via a single index accessible throughout SharePoint. These systems may include files shares, Exchange folders, and line-of-business applications.

• You can create scopes to add drill-down capabilities in the index so users receive more direct and exact searches based on items such as location, content source, or properties.

• The crawl process recognizes a number of file types and adds them to the content index. You can include additional file types to this list, but these file types require you to install special iFilters to the SharePoint server.

• You can define keywords or terms to help users search for a common resource or sites. These words may relate to specific products you may sell or business activities in which you are involved. You can also give users best bets whenever they search for a specific phrase or synonyms.

Possibly the most important lesson you can take away from this chapter is that to properly configure the SharePoint environment to meet the needs of your users and business, you need their input. Where possible, the system should support existing business processes so that users can focus on their work and not the technology they use to complete their work.