Choose the Best Search Options

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Enable snippets and highlighting.
• Understand how snippets are generated.
• Enable auto-complete for title and keyword searches.

Before we start enabling all these cool search features, let’s make sure we’re all using the same set of ingredients. We’re going to use the Knowledge Settings page to cook up something delicious.

From Setup, enter Knowledge Settings in the Quick Find box. Select Knowledge Settings, then click Edit.

That’s it. Simple as making avocado toast, right?

Don’t you hate it when you waste time clicking a search result only to find that it doesn’t apply to you? Or, when you open a page and can’t find your search term? And then you have to use Ctrl-F to find it? C’mon!

Search highlights and snippets prevent all this nonsense by showing matching terms in the context of an excerpt (aka a snippet), right on the search results page. The snippet appears below the title, with the search terms highlighted in bold. Scanning results and determining their relevance is now super easy, which means service reps can close cases quickly, and they’re less likely to create duplicate articles. Cue the service rep happy dance.

To enable snippets with highlighting: From Knowledge Settings, check Highlight relevant article text within search results.

Here are a few important notes before we move on.

• Search highlights and snippets are generated from email, long text area, rich text area, and text area fields.
• Searches with wildcards don’t generate search highlights and snippets.
• If a snippet is not generated, the article’s summary field is shown instead.

If auto-complete is enabled, suggestions appear as users type their queries. Just like a (cough) commonly used Internet search engine. It’s a quick way for users to find a record even before hitting the search results page.

There are two flavors of auto-complete in Knowledge searches: for article or question titles and for keyword searches. Swirled together, they create a delicious way for users to find what they need faster. Users eat it up, and it’s simple to enable. It’s the crowd-pleasing dish you’ve been waiting for.

• Auto-complete for title searches presents users with the record they want and bypasses the search results page, saving valuable time. Search suggests up to three articles with titles matching the search term.
• Auto-complete for keyword searches helps users choose the right search terms when they don’t see the record that they want. Search suggests the three most popular keyword searches performed based on the search term and the channel’s Knowledge search activity. Out-of-order matching is supported. So, whether your users enter vanilla and chocolate swirl or chocolate and vanilla swirl, they get the right results.

To enable auto-complete for both title and keyword searches: From Knowledge Settings, check Auto-complete title search and then check Auto-complete keyword search.

Congrats, you’ve already enabled some top search features to make finding articles easier and faster. Next, you’re going to take it to the next level and customize search for your specific org’s needs. That’s right, it’s time to add promoted search terms, synonym groups, and suggested articles into your repertoire. And you won’t believe how quickly and easily it all comes together.

• Help Topic: Enable Salesforce Knowledge
• Help Topic: Search Snippets and Highlighting