Search

Search scopes let you provide your visitors with alternative content groups to search through. By default, your site has one search scope, which is the content of your website.

See the Search scopes documentation for more information.

Display custom results at the top of the search results page when website visitors search for specific terms. When recommended results (or 'recommendations') are displayed, they look like normal search results — with a 'Recommended' tag displayed next to the result title.

search recommendations are displayed at the top of the search results page — above the main list of results

Search recommendations are displayed at the top of the search results page — above the main list of results

How to create a search recommendation

  1. in the Site Settings > Search tab > Search recommendations section, click the 'recommendations' link
  2. on the Configure recommended search results page, click 'Add new search recommendation' to open the configuration options
  3. enter details for the recommended result:
    1. Search terms to trigger the recommendation to display. Enter 1 term per line; maximum of 10 terms. The terms can be single words or contain multiple words. Note that search recommendation are triggered only when a visitor enters one of the search terms exactly — there is no fuzzy logic or wildcard options when setting up search terms. As a result, it's best to keep the terms short.
    2. Search recommendation title. This will display on the search results page as the recommended result's title (it will look as though it is the title of a page listed in the search results)
    3. Search recommendation description (optional). This will display in the search snippet section of the result
    4. Site name for this recommendation (optional). This will display under the recommendation desciption (above), in the section that displays the site title on results shared from other Mosaic sites
    5. Search recommendation URL. This is displayed in full as part of the search result. A fully-qualified URL (including 'https://') needs to be provided. If your site uses a custom primary domain and your recommendation points to an internal URL, make sure you use the custom domain version of the URL (not the .web.ox.ac.uk version). External URLs can also be entered
    each recommended result can display a maximum of 5 pieces of information

    Example search recommendation setup

  4. click 'Add search recommendation'
  5. the recommendation details will be displayed in a table under the 'Add new search recommendation' options. You can Edit or Delete recommendations from the table

Once created, visitors who search for terms that match one/more of a recommendation's trigger terms will see that recommendation at the top of the search results page.

You can use Reusable Content to add widgets above or below the list of results on the search results page.

To add content above or below the search results:

  1. Create a Reusable Content item for the content you want to display
  2. Go to Site Settings > Search > 'Search results page' section
  3. In the appropriate dropdown list (for selecting a reusable content item to appear at the top or bottom of the search results page), select the name of the reusable content item that you want to use
    search results page content selection
  4. Click 'Save settings'
search display options

Options for the display of the search bar in the site's header

  • The 'Standard' search bar style [1 in the example above] displays in the header by default
  • The 'Slim-line' search bar style [2 in the example above] is the only alternative style
  • The 'Show search placeholder text' checkbox [3 in the example above] is unticked by default. When ticked, the text "Search this site" is displayed in the search bar input field. This text cannot be edited

Advanced colour settings for the search bar

  • Go to Advanced Colour Management > Header section to set colours for:
    • Search button
    • Search button (focus state)
    • Placeholder text