WSS 3.0 Search

Question

Hi Everybody,

I am using the Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express with WSS 3.0 for searching the wss content as well as LAN contents. I did a kind of POC where I can search the wss content and the contents that are not of wss repository but placed in the LAN. When I do a wss content search let say I have a Document Library named "Documents" where I have uploaded or created some sample documents each of which containing the keyword "Robbins", now I search the keyword "Robbins". Search result matches the Robbins and it displays the result. Now the problem is it searches all the content i.e it even displays the Task, Announcements and everything related to Robbins. Is it possible to define a scope for searching the content i.e it will not search in the unwanted areas like Task or Announcement. I mean is it possible to define a scope of search, If I do the same then it will not show me the unwanted results.

Thanks, Tejas Jagtap

Answer 1

You can create a search scope using contentclass. This allows you to restrict results to certain types of items such as documents, tasks, etc.

Another option is to use the IsDocument managed property. This is a hidden SharePoint property that you can expose to the search engine via a scope as well.

Answer 2

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the reply. I have gone through the article of using content class but I am facing a strange problem that I am not able to create a search page when i navigate to search center it only shows me the Create, Edit Page and Site Settings links.

Answer 3

I think I understand your question, though I'm still a little hazy. If I'm off-the-mark, I apologize in advance.

Could you get by with simply turning off results display for the lists and libraries you don't want shown in the results. If you go to the Advanced Settings of any list or library, the last radio button setting is for Search (e.g., "Allow items from this list to appear in search results?"). Setting it to No removes the list/library contents from search results.

Beyond that, your options for configuring WSS search are exceptionally limited. Unlike the full-blown OSS search engine, Microsoft "black boxes" WSS to fixed scopes, crawl schedules, etc.