> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.curator.interworks.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Search

> Enable and configure search functionality to help users discover and locate content across the Curator portal.

The frontend search functionality helps explore your Curator content or access specific content directly without
navigating through the menus.

## Enabling Search

1. Navigate to the backend of the system (e.g. `http://curatorexample.com/backend`) and log in if prompted.
2. Navigate to *Settings > Curator > Portal Settings > Features > Usability*
3. Switch the toggle *Search* on to enable search

*Note:* The search toggle enables the search prompt shown in the menu. You can also
[add a search element directly to a page](#adding-a-search-element-to-a-page) using Page Builder.

### Adding a Search Element to a Page

In addition to the menu search prompt, you can add a dedicated search bar to any page using Page Builder.

1. Navigate to **Content** > **Pages** in the backend of your Curator instance.
2. Click **New Page** or edit an existing page.
3. Add a new row element and/or click the **Edit Content** button (pencil icon) on a row element.
4. In the element popup, select **Search** under the Web Elements tab.
5. Optionally, set the **Element Title** field in the Element Styles section to display a heading above the search bar.
6. Optionally, set the **Search Placeholder Text** field in the Search Settings section to customize the placeholder
   text shown inside the search input.

<Note>
  The search element on a page only works when the global Search toggle is enabled under
  *Settings > Curator > Portal Settings > Features > Usability*. If the toggle is off, the search element will not
  function.
</Note>

### Beta Search

An optional **Beta Search** mode is now available for portals that need faster or more reliable search. To enable it,
follow the steps above to turn on Search, then switch on the *Enable Beta Search* toggle directly beneath it.

Beta Search uses a more powerful search system behind the scenes to deliver quicker and more consistent results than
the default experience. You may want to try it if:

* Your portal has many dashboards, pages, or files and search feels slow
* You need search to scale reliably as your content library grows
* You prefer more precise results that exactly match what you type

<Note>
  Beta Search is less forgiving of typos or vague terms, so queries should closely match titles, descriptions or
  keywords. As this feature is still experimental, behavior may change in future updates.
</Note>

### Content that is searched

The search considers the following components to generate the search results:

1. Titles
2. Descriptions
3. Keywords
4. From version 2023.02.15 onwards: Text content on pages

*Note:* For pages with unrestricted HTML content blocks, only static text present directly in HTML elements is
used for search. Content inside `<style>` and `<script>` tags is excluded. If you want text to be searchable, it must
exist in the HTML markup itself.

*Note:* Search results reflect all permissions set on the BI Platforms or by using [Restrict Access](/site_content_design/menus/restrict_access).
In case you have added dashboards or built content that should not be visible in search results, enable the *Hidden*
toggle. To hide dashboards navigate to the *Misc* tab and then in the *Discovery* section you find the toggle.
To hide other types of content, the toggle is in the details pane.

## Changing Search Result Display

Search results show the following components:

* Thumbnail (default if none was created/ set)
* Title
* Description (if existing)
* Keywords (if existing and matching the search term; max. 2 - more are indicated by an ellipsis)
* If the result content is favorited or not

**From release 2023.02.15 onwards**: The description is only shown for Pages if there is a match in it. Otherwise, Pages
will always show a preview of their content (with or without a match).

All occurrences of your search term within the title, description, and keywords are highlighted in bold using the portal's highlight color.

## Styling Search

Brand your search with the following settings

* Add a custom search icon (Available since 2022.11.30)
* Navigate to *Settings > Curator > Themes > Styles > Logo and Icons* to add your own search icon
* Style the colors of your search results
* Navigate to *Settings > Curator > Themes > Search Options* (in versions until 2022.09.28: *Settings > Curator > Portal
  Settings > Styles > Search Options*) to set the background and text color
* Navigate to *Settings > Curator > Themes > Styles > Miscellaneous > Navigation Highlight Color* (in versions until
  2022.09.28: *Settings > Curator > Portal Settings > Styles > Miscellaneous > Navigation Highlight Color*) to set the
  text color on hover

## Algorithm Details

Our search applies a fuzzy search algorithm, so search results are intentionally loose so as to help users find the
content regardless of minor typos or alternate spellings.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/interworks/3RotvmSfKD9xBISI/assets/images/site_content_design/content_discovery/search_results.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=3RotvmSfKD9xBISI&q=85&s=6ca03a4f356d011ad0b5ac43bc273331" alt="search result example!" width="1536" height="972" data-path="assets/images/site_content_design/content_discovery/search_results.png" />