Manage search scopes (SharePoint Server 2010)
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010
Summary: Learn how to create a search scope and add scope rules in a Search service application to help users find important content quickly.
A search scope defines a subset of information in the search index. Users can select a search scope when performing a search to restrict search results to the subset of information that they want. Typically, search scopes encompass specific topics and content sources that are important and common to users in the organization. For example, you can create a search scope for all items related to a specific project or for all items related to a specific group in the organization, such as finance or marketing. You can also create a search scope that encompasses several other scopes.
You can set search scopes at both the Search service application level and at the site administration level. Search scopes set at the service application level are available to all sites and site collections within the service application. These scopes cannot be modified or deleted at the site administration level. This topic describes how to create or edit a search scope and how to add or edit a scope rule at the service application level.
To create or edit a search scope at the service application level
Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a service application administrator for the Search service application.
In Central Administration, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
On the Manage Service Applications page, in the list of service applications, click Search Service Application.
On the Search Administration page, in the Quick Launch, under Queries and Results, click Scopes. The View Scopes page appears.
To create a new scope, click New Scope. The Create Scope page appears. To edit an existing scope, in the list of scopes, point to the name of the scope that you want to edit, click the arrow that appears, and then click Edit Properties and Rules. On the Scope Properties and Rules page, in the Scope Settings section, click Change scope settings. The Edit Scope page appears.
In the Title and Description section, configure the following options:
In the Title box, type a title for the scope.
In the Description box, type a description for the search scope that informs administrators of the purpose of the scope.
The Last modified by box shows your user name and is not configurable.
In the Target Results Page section, select one of the following options:
Use the default Search Results Page. Select this option if you want search results from this search scope to be presented by using the standard Search Results page (Searchresults.aspx).
Specify a different page for searching this scope. Select this option if you want search results from this search scope to be presented on a custom Web page. If you select this option, in the Target results page box, type the URL for the custom search results page.
Click OK to create the scope and return to the View Scopes page.
To add or edit a scope rule at the service application level
Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a service application administrator for the Search service application.
In Central Administration, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
On the Manage Service Applications page, in the list of service applications, click Search Service Application.
On the Search Administration page, in the Quick Launch, under Queries and Results, click Scopes. The View Scopes page appears.
On the View Scopes page, in the list of scopes, point to the name of the scope that you want to edit, click the arrow that appears, and then click Edit Properties and Rules.
To add a new rule, on the Scope Properties and Rules page, in the Rules section, click New Rule. The Add Scope Rule page appears. To edit an existing rule, on the Scope Properties and Rules page, in the Rules section, click the rule that you want to edit. The Edit Scope Rule page appears.
In the Scope Rule Type section, select one of the following options:
Web Address. Select this option if you want the scope to include or exclude content from any resource in the search index that can be identified either by a URL (such as Web sites, file shares, and Microsoft Exchange Server public folders) or by a host name, domain name, or subdomain name.
Property Query. Select this option if you want the scope to include or exclude content that has a managed property with a particular value. For example, Author="John Doe".
Content Source. Select this option if you want the scope to include or exclude content that was crawled by using a particular content source.
All Content. Select this option if the rule should not restrict the scope (the scope will include or exclude all content in the index).
In the Behavior section, select an option to specify how this rule combines with other rules to define the scope:
Include – Any item that matches this rule will be included, unless the item is excluded by another rule. Use this option to apply an “OR” rule.
Require – Every item in the scope must match this rule. Use this option to apply an “AND” rule.
Exclude – Items matching this rule will be excluded from the scope. Use this option to apply an “AND NOT” rule.
For example, if you apply include rules named I1 and I2, require rules named R1 and R2, and exclude rules named E1 and E2, the resulting scope equals the following:
(I1 OR I2) AND R1 AND R2 AND (NOT E1) and (NOT E2)
Click OK.