Search results ordering

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jack16
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Joined: Fri Mar 10, 2017 7:42 am

Search results ordering

Post by jack16 »

We're publishing HTML5 help. When a search term matches a topic title exactly, the topic often appears halfway down the list of results. If we type the title in the Topic Title field of the Properties dialog, same result. Same thing if we add a description, inlcude or exclude importance on the Target dialog, etc., etc. Any advice? Any setting(s) we may be missing? Thanks.
Last edited by jack16 on Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
doc_guy
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Re: Search results ordering doesn't compute

Post by doc_guy »

I saw a presentation on HTML5 search at MadWorld several years ago, so my memory is kind of spotty on this one, but I believe that the following issues affect search. I don't remember their exact importance ranking, though if we can get that info from MadCap, it would make a very useful MadCap KB article. Anyway, on to the list:
  • Text in headings gets prominence in search results over text in paragraphs
  • Number of times the search term is in the entire topic is important. The more times the search term is in a topic, the higher the ranking
  • Index entries can be used to improve the prominence of a search result
  • Incoming links to a topic (Importance). This can be disabled in the Target on the Search tab.
  • Topic Description/Meta Description. This is the text that will show in the search results instead of the in-context text. You can use it to optimize search results.
Here is a topic you might find helpful from the MadCap help:

https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... ontent.htm

Hope this helps a bit!
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jack16
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Re: Search results ordering doesn't compute

Post by jack16 »

What prompted me to post the question was your first bullet. In many cases, an H1/topic title search term doesn't display the topic of the same name at the top of the list. We've tried your fourth and fifth bullets but hadn't thought of the second and third. We'll give them a test. Really appreciate it.
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