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Enhance your SharePoint experience: custom search functionality on the fly

Enhance your SharePoint experience: custom search functionality on the fly

Oct. 19, 2023 – Martin Lingstuyl – Microsoft 365 Architect

Martin Lingstuyl

Microsoft 365 Architect

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Imagine standing in a crowded library, looking for that one specific book among thousands of others. The standard SharePoint search experience can sometimes feel just as overwhelming. But what if I told you there is a simple way to improve this search experience? In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at customizing the standard SharePoint search feature and its benefits, giving you full control over your search results and seamlessly integrating your SharePoint environment with your business needs.

Why would you want a custom search function?

Before we dive deeper into the process of customizing the search experience in SharePoint: Why should you bother customizing the search experience on your SharePoint site? Let me give you some good reasons:

  • Improved user experience:
    By default, the SharePoint search bar takes you to a standard results page that offers little flexibility. In some cases, you may want to add specific search filters based on company metadata, tailor the search experience to your organization's structure or your team's specific needs, helping you find the right information faster. A custom search page makes this possible.

Standard:

  • Branding:
    You can design the results page to fit seamlessly with your organization's look and branding.
  • Retaining navigation:
    The default results page lacks site navigation, which can hinder users from navigating within the site. A custom page can preserve navigation, making it easier for users to browse the site.
  • Enhanced search functionality:
    You can add additional search functionality, such as differentiating search results between site and organization, which can be useful in complex SharePoint environments.

In short, customizing the search experience in SharePoint provides the opportunity to better tailor search functionality to the needs of your organization and users, which can greatly improve the efficiency of the platform.

How do you create this custom search function?

Now that you understand why you would want a custom search function, let’s look at how you can achieve it. SharePoint by default does not offer Search webparts, but you can use the webparts from the Open Source toolkit “PnP Modern Search. The process is actually quite simple.

  • Create an empty page (for example, "Search.aspx").
  • Use PnP PowerShell to set up the search results page. You can set the search page URL on your created page.
  • Set the temporary text as a placeholder for the search bar such as "Search in project." This is optional, but useful to give users an idea of what to look for.
  • Fill the results page with web parts: After you have created the custom search page, it is time to fill it with web parts. For example, add a vertical web component to distinguish between site and organization results. Experiment with a horizontal filter web component to help users refine their searches. By configuring and personalizing these Web components, you can take the search experience to the next level.

New:

Want more technical details on exactly how to do this? Then read the technical version of this blog, “Quick tip: Customizing the SharePoint site search experience.

Conclusion

Customizing the search experience in SharePoint may be a small adjustment, but depending on your goals, it can make a big difference in the use and acceptance of your SharePoint environment.

Good luck and most of all have fun searching! Do you have questions or want this too but can’t figure it out yourself? If so, please be sure to contact us.

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