Professional SharePoint® 2007 Web Content Management Development: Building Publishing Sites with Office SharePoint Server 2007

13.1. Planning for Search

Planning a search site may be as simple as testing the OOTB site and deciding to use it as is or as detailed as gathering user requirements and developing an enterprise search strategy. This section covers the issues and questions that should be considered before embarking on a search implementation.

13.1.1. Issues

SharePoint is usually implemented by IT and then released to the corporation. Little thought is given to search. In some cases the planning for search starts with the question "What do we index?" Because SharePoint enables organizations to index SharePoint sites, file shares, Exchange Public Folders, and Lotus Notes databases, the most common answer is "everything!" The challenge for the user trying to find a specific document is that quantity of search results does not equal quality of search results.

Consider what users are looking for. This question drives the analysis of content sources and content types. One of the most powerful features of SharePoint search is the capability to filter a search result by metadata properties. Consider the different approaches of two searchers: the salesperson and the technical developer. The salesperson wants documents to help support a sale, whereas the developer seeks technical documentation. If users are offered an interface tailored for their particular role, they will be far more effective, and their search results will be far more relevant.

13.1.2. Questions to Ask

When planning for search, the ...