Chapter 13. Search
Search is often an afterthought in an Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Web Content Management (WCM) project. While the out-of-the-box (OOTB) features provided by SharePoint are a significant improvement over no search at all, understanding and planning the end user search experience will result in a search site that help users find not only what they are looking for but what site owners want them to find.
The decision to add search to a site should be considered carefully. Search is not a crutch to compensate for a poorly architected site. Proper planning of the site's hierarchy is vital to the user experience. A site that is hard to navigate by browsing will inevitably be a challenge to search. Conversely, a site that is well thought out and logically structured may not even need search. Consider that implementing search badly is worse than not providing search at all.
Properly implemented search is an opportunity for advertising and intelligence gathering. Think of search as a site's personal greeter, the nice person standing at the door saying, "Hi! What can I help you find today?" Visitors to the site will enter terms in the search box for things they want from the site whether it is provided or not! On an Internet site, this may present a competitive advantage and feature ideas; on an intranet it provides site managers with insight into what employees are looking for and thinking. For example, an employee who is searching for information about medical ...
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