Ranking search results in WebHelp?

Hey everyone,
Is the any way I can get RoboHelp to automatically rank
search results for relevance in a WebHelp project? HTML Help does
it automatically and JavaHelp also does it, but I haven't had any
luck doing it in WebHelp. Currently, WebHelp results seem to
organized alphabetically, which is pretty useless, unless end users
don't minding clicking on each result - not likely.
I'm sure if there's a solution it probably involves a
JavaScript. Though I'd like to avoid using a script, I'd also like
to know if it's possible and how to do it.
Thanks,
Jim

Jim -
You've probably gathered that there is no button or option
to provide a ranked search result. It is possible to construct your
own from Javascript - the 'how to' involves a lot of custom
scripting, but it's been done.
Perhaps easier would be to use a third-party search tool.
There are some commercial ones, as well as some open-license
routines that you can incorporate into your help project.

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How do I change color of hyperlink search results in WebHelp Pro?

I'm trying to figure out how to change the color of search result hyperlinks when using WebHelp Pro in RH8. The links currently are vibrant blue and purple after clicked on. I can't find anywhere in the style sheet or in the skin editor options to define this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In your .css file, use something like the following; the "A:" would be your default link, and the "A.topic:" would be a different class of link (we use it for some in-topic navigation links). Note that the order in which the qualifiers appear is important. Follow the LoVeHate method (Link, Visited, Hover).
Feel free to try it and use your own combinations (you might not want the expanded letter-spacing, for example). We also reversed the underline format from the default html (none for link and visited, underline for hover).
A:link,
A:visited {
color: #0000CD;
letter-spacing: 0.25pt;
text-decoration: none;
A:hover {
color: #000080;
letter-spacing: 0.25pt;
text-decoration: underline;
You would add the class=topic qualifier to your links for this class of link (a class=topic href="targettopic.htm")
A.topic:link,
A.topic:visited {
color: #0000CD;
font-size: 8pt;
font-weight: normal;
margin-left: 10px;
margin-top: 0pt;
margin-bottom: 0pt;
letter-spacing: 0.25pt;
text-decoration: none;
A.topic:hover {
color: #000080;
font-size: 8pt;
font-weight: normal;
letter-spacing: 0.25pt;
margin-top: 0pt;
margin-bottom: 0pt;
margin-left: 10px;
text-decoration: underline;
Good luck,
Leon

How to display HTML pages always in first rank in search result?

I have a sharepoint 2010 site where search is configured, but when it is displaying the search result some time it is showing the pdf files in the first order and the html pages in the second order, I need to display html pages always
in the first order.How can I accomplish it?

Alex's link is by far the best one but this is an alternative if you wanted to read a bit more widely
http://sharepointkaos.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/custom-ranking-model/
Steven Andrews
SharePoint Business Analyst: LiveNation Entertainment
Blog: baron72.wordpress.com
Twitter: Follow @backpackerd00d
My Wiki Articles:
CodePlex Corner Series
Please remember to mark your question as "answered" if this solves (or helps) your problem.

Sorting search results by rank

Hi,
Is it possible to sort the search results by rank in RH8 html help ? It works when I click on Title but not when Rank is clicked. What I mean is changing from ascending to descending order.
Thanks,

Which version of content server do you have? In 7.x you can install a custom component named MultiSort, and in 10gR3 this is built in.
Basically you need to use a parameter named SortSpec
example:
http://yourserver/instance/idcplg?<original query>&SortSpec=order%20by%20dDocType%20desc,%20dDocName%20asc
For more information visit: [http://www.corecontentonly.com/2008/08/13/MultiSortWith10gR3SortSpec.aspx|http://www.corecontentonly.com/2008/08/13/MultiSortWith10gR3SortSpec.aspx]

How to enable portal rank high up in Google search results?

Hi friends,
Does anyone have an idea how to enable public portal to rank up higher in google search results?
Thanks & regards,
Manish

If you want to do it honestly, put good content up there, and let google get to you - and they will.
If you want to cheat, there are lots of places on the 'net that will tell you how to 'persuade' the search engines to rank your site higher. The search engines constantly work to ensure that their rankings are valid, so they will try and prevent such 'link farming' from occurring.
You can also pay google for advertising, which will place your ad on pertinent search result lists...I would suggest that this might be a better route for you to take.
Message was edited by: Ken Miller

WebHelp Search results include text from topic

Hello,
Using XP with RH8 and RSC 3.1
Testing the Search tab functions in a Web help project and noticed that the Search Results list includes text from the topic, including from the Header, which have our product name and copyright statement.
Is there a way to turn the display of text off, or at least restrict where it picks up the text from? I like having the ranking column, but the topic title is all I really want in that column if that's possible.
See the attached example.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.
Regards,
Joe

Turn off the context option in the second page of the wizard.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

Inconsistent Webhelp Search Results

Hello,
I have a webhelp generated from Robohelp 10, where I've been running into issues with the search results.
I ran a search for "predicate" (without the quotation marks) via the search pane on the left, and got only 1 result. I noticed that "predicat" instead of "predicate" was highlighted in the search result pages. I ran another search for "predicates" (without the quotation marks) and got 6 results. This time "predicate" was highlighted instead in the search result pages.
I assume that Robohelp dropped the "s" to encompass both singular and plural version of a search term, but I don't know why:
Robohelp drops the "e" in a search term"
Robohelp did not return the additional 5 results for "predicate"
I checked the search options in the Webhelp Single Source Layout but didn't see any options that would affect the issue above. How do I get it so that my search results are consistent at the very least e..g, "predicates" and "predicate" will return the same number of results?

The fact that the "e" is not highlighted is a known bug. Please report it again as the more people who do etc.
Please follow this link.
http://www.Adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform&product=38
It's not clear from your post how many instances of predicate and predicates should be found.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Different Color Text of Topic Titles by Child Project in Search Results List

Does anyone know how I can change the text color to indicate the source project of a topic as displayed in the Search Results list?
I have followed Peter Grainge's directions for setting up a parent project that has several child projects, one of which contains outdated version-specific information. Thanks, Peter!
I would like it to be obvious to the user before they open a topic from the Search Results list that it is from the old legacy project.
I have found where the font is set, (thanks to the RoboWizard), but I am not a Javascript programmer and am uncertain how to code the "if document is from this project, then use this font" logic.
I would also like to put a "caption" below the "Search Results per page" line to explain the purpose of the color change.
I am using RoboHelp HTML 8.0.2. I generate WebHelp output which is then FTP'd to our server.
Thanks in advance!

Hi Leon,
     Let me make sure that I understand your suggestion - I should change the title of each topic in the "legacy" knowledge base so that they each include a short identifier, such as "First Topic - Legacy"? If so, I suppose that would work, but I'd have to change 1,000 topics. The topic titles would no longer match the filenames (I'm trying to freeze changes to the old knowledge base to which there are many links from our user forum), which I suppose is not a big concern at this point. I'll run some tests.
     That has also raised another question in my mind, but I'll post that separately. It's about the way Robohelp selects the text that is shown immediately after the title of the topic in the Search Results list.
     Thanks for taking the time to help!

RoboHelp 9 search results icons and context

I have some formatting issues with the search results. In the image below I want 2 things to change. I would like to remove the extra info and simply have the link. I also want to ditch the little icon. I am pretty new to RoboHelp so ask me any info I may have excluded.
RoboHelp 9

Sorry for the forums issue. I know how those can be!
Apologies in advance if you feel I'm speaking down to you in any way. As you seem unfamiliar with RoboHelp's outputs, I'm guessing you may also be unfamiliar overall with RoboHelp.
Using RoboHelp is a lot like working in a kitchen. You mix "ingredients" that consist of Topics (HTML Pages) Images, Video and whatever else. And RoboHelp assists you in mixing these.
In a kitchen, you prepare a dish for someone to consume. Generally, you prepare the dish based on a recipe. That recipe may exist in the form of a card in a small recipe box. In RoboHelp, there is a pod called the Single Source Layouts pod. This is just like the Recipe Box. And each layout type is just like a recipe card in the box. There are layouts for WebHelp, for Microsoft HTML Help, for AIR Help, etc.
One of these is nominated to be the default. That's just like moving that particular recipe card to the front of the recipe box.
So when you create your output (your recipe) I'm asking what type of output you created. Which layout has "default" beside its name in the Single Source Layouts pod? That's likely to be the one you are using and seeing what you are seeing.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
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Different sequence of search results in different environments with same set of documents

I am using Sharepoint 2013 Foundation version.
I have set up 2 environments (say environment A and environment B) with the same Window baseline and Sharepoint server farm setup. The similar set of documents have been uploaded to both environments. With input of exactly the same search string at the search
field and enter button pressed, the sequences of entries shown on search result page are different in these 2 environments.
In particular, there is a document 'Monthly Newsletter.pdf' uploaded in both environments. When I type 'Monthly Newsletter' in search field and press enter, this document appears as the first entry in the search result in environment A, but this same document
appears as the 8th entry in the search result in environment B.
May I know the reason? Thanks a lot for advice!

There are a lot of factors that go into computing the "relevance" of any one document. One factor is "closeness". So one question would be how identical are the two environments? Same number of site collections? Are the
documents at the same depth? (sites -> subsites -> libraries -> folders) Are the libraries of the same type, using the same content types and the same metadata> In both cases are you searching from
the same site and are the documents at the same depth?
Ranking is also impacted by past searches. The more people who have clicked through to the document, the higher it will be ranked in the future.
If the two environments are identical, and are only being used for testing, Reset the Indexes and do a new Full Crawl and then test.
Mike Smith TechTrainingNotes.blogspot.com
Books:
SharePoint 2007 2010 Customization for the Site Owner,
SharePoint 2010 Security for the Site Owner

How can I configure Robohelp to display search results in DHTML drop-down hotspots?

Hello. We designed our online help using drop-down hotspots (this look is much cleaner to us). Problem is, when a user searches for something and clicks the Search results topic page to find the information, the topic page displays, but does not expand the drop-down hotspot to show the exact location of the searched item. Is there a JavaScript or some other solution to get the DHTML hotspot to expand, showing the information? Thanks.

Step 5: Add the code from the supplied text file to the top whtopic.js.
Do I add the code at the very beginning, before // WebHelp 5.10.005 ?
I'm asking because I followed the steps and it did not work.
FWIW, I am also using the Twisties function in Robohelp (via the drop-down hotspot style file).
Thanks.

Using "Restrict by app" in change query causes issues with Search Results

Hello!
I am hoping some experienced SP admin can help me out. I am having issues with the relevance ranking for my search results web part.
I created a Wiki (OOTB) within a site collection and on the home page of the Wiki I was looking to apply a Search Box and Search Results web part for easy searching. I wanted to ensure the search results were restricted to the scope of the pages within the
wiki. I did the following after adding the 2 web parts:
Entered edit mode for the page
Started to edit the Search Results web part
Under Properties for Search Results clicked on "Change Query"
Navigated to BASICS and clicked "Switch to Quick Mode"
For Select Query, picked "Wiki (System)" option
For Restrict by app, picked "Specify a URL" and input the wiki URL "http://webapp.com/sites/sitecollection/wiki"
Click OK
The web part has 6 automatic results when I hit the page. These are the only 6 pages in my wiki. When I search a word or title of a page, they are not ranked in order or relevance. The ordering is static to what was being shown before the search, but the
keywords I'm searching are bold. With out the taking the steps above, I can easily search these pages and have them ranked appropriately so I'm not too sure what I'm doing wrong.
Other Details
The pages have been crawled and can be searched from anywhere else in SP.
I am only a site collection admin for this specific site collection.
I other than the steps above, I have not made any changes or customization to the search web parts; they are both out of the box SP.
The SP Farm admin we unable to pin point what the root cause is either.

Hi Mikael,
Sorry for the wait, I was unable to post pictures, which i felt would better describe my issue.
Could you output the query template you are ending up with?
If you can tell me how to accomplish this, then I can provide it. Please keep in mind that I am only a site collection admin.
Also, is the ranking/sorting for your webpart set to ranking?
When looking at the web part settings, I didn't see an option to modify the ranking. Unfortunately, some sites in my intranet are down now so I can't even double check. Once it's back up, I will verify this as well.
And how do you know they are ranked incorrectly?
I wanted to display an image showing what I meant by this. As the wiki is down, I'll do my best with words. When I visit the wiki home page, I already have the search and search results web parts there. Without searching anything, the search results
web part displays 6 pages that are available in the wiki. When I search, I expect to see the most relevant result at the top. similar to the following:
*Search result from another section of the intranet site.*
What I receive instead is the same list of wiki pages, in the same order. The most relevant result
is not moved to the top like in the image above, but I can see that the word "rush" is highlighted in bold. I hope this helps.
If you need more of a description, please let me know.
Thank you

User-defined variables in Search Results pane

I am working with user-defined variables for WebHelp output.
I have successfully added the variables to the topic, the displayed
topic title, the TOC, and the Index entries. The problems lies in
getting the search output to display the specified variable text.
For example, the base topic title is "Introduction to XX". I
use a variable to change the XX to YY throughout the project;
however, when I generate the output and then Search for YY, the
search results pane displays "Introduction to XX" even though the
displayed topic is titled, correctly, "Introduction to YY". I am
assuming, because the topic title is not adhering to the variables,
that the search results displays the metadata <title>.
What should I do so the search results title syncs with the
other data?
Carol

Welcome to the forum.
There have been two posts about this recently so do a search
for more information.
Basically the search results show the Topic Title as defined
in Topic Properties. Your variable is in the Topic Heading at the
top of the page. Not the same thing.
I suggest you request a feature change.
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Don't sort search results?

Hm, I guess there is no easy way to tell RH8 to list WebHelp search results in a very simple list and to relinquish the sort function within the search results?
Thanx y'all.
Paul

The topics are sorted by relevance. See the RoboHelp Tour on my site.
Add a screenshot using the camera icon to show us what you don't like with the appearance.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Search Results in RH8

Using TCS2 (RH8) referencing Frame book, generating chm file.
When using the Search tab in my generated chm file, I have two unattractive issues.
Many of the topics displayed in the search panel have words separated by underscores (like their file names). I don't want my users to see underscores.
The results are highlighted in the main window. I don't want them highlighted.
Thanks for your help.

Hi Jim
Sorry, but it would appear there is no optioin we have that governs this.
About the best you can do is to disable the "Show Context in Search Result". But that doesn't remove the ranking.
You may wish to suggest it as an option.
Click here to visit the Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Cheers... Rick
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Ranking search results in WebHelp?

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