Content Access from the Dashboard Site

The dashboard site offers a centralized access point for finding and managing information. Through the dashboard site, users with appropriate permissions can search for and share documents, regardless of location or format.

Enhancing Search Results

To improve the quality of search results on the dashboard site, you can customize and use the following features.

Create Document Profiles

Document profiles help organize folders and documents and enhance searching on the dashboard site.

You can create document profiles by using the Add Document Profile Wizard in the Document Profiles folder, which is located in the top-level Management folder.

Users can assign document profiles to their documents by using the Profiles tab on the Properties page of each document, or, for documents stored in an enhanced folder, by selecting a document profile on the check in form. Users can also modify and assign document profiles from the dashboard site.

Identify Content Sources

Content sources serve as starting places from which dashboard site users can search for and view documents that are stored outside the workspace in sources such as Web sites, file shares, and databases. Figure 4.2 illustrates the variety of possible content sources.

Figure 4.2. Possible content sources

You use the Add Content Source Wizard to create and store content sources in the Content Sources folder, which is located in the Management folder.

Use Categories to Organize Documents

Categories provide an easy way to locate documents on the dashboard site and organize documents into a hierarchy of topics and subtopics. Categories serve two purposes. First, they provide a centralized structure for information browsing. Categories direct readers to the information they seek through an organized hierarchy of topics. Second, they provide a consistent, controlled set of values that you can add as document metadata. Categories provide a flexible way both to describe and to find documents.

You can create categories to use in the workspace by using the New Category command in the Categories folder. You can categorize large numbers of documents by using the Category Assistant. You train and start the Category Assistant from the Properties page of the Categories folder in the workspace.

Identify Best Bets

Best Bets enhance search efficiency and provide guidance to users by directing them to documents considered particularly relevant to their search. A Best Bet is a document selected as the best recommendation for a category or specific keyword. SharePoint Portal Server displays Best Bets at the top of a search results list.

Figure 4.3. Best Bets

Keyword Best Bets

A Keyword Best Bet is highly relevant to a keyword. It appears in search results when a user enters that keyword in a query. For example, a coordinator might select the Manufacturing home page as a Best Bet for the keyword "inventory." If someone then searched for "inventory," the search results page would display a link to the Manufacturing home page at the top of the search results.

Category Best Bets

A Category Best Bet is a document that is highly relevant to a particular category. For example, the Marketing category for competitor case studies might have a product analysis of Clocktower Sporting Goods as a Category Best Bet. SharePoint Portal Server prominently displays category Best Bets in category listings on the dashboard site, just as SharePoint Portal Server prominently displays Keyword Best Bets in search results.

You can select a document as a Best Bet for more than one category or keyword. You can also select multiple documents as Best Bets for the same category or keyword. You can select a document as a Best Bet only if you have coordinator privileges for the folder in which the document is stored.

You can include an external document in categories or identify it as a Best Bet by creating a shortcut to the document within the Documents folder. When you add the shortcut to the Documents folder, SharePoint Portal Server prompts you with a profile form. Depending on the document profile you choose, you can add keywords and category information. This allows SharePoint Portal Server to include the external document in categories or as a Best Bet.

Customizing Search Results

In addition to providing default search scopes, SharePoint Portal Server allows you to create custom search scopes for use on the dashboard site. You can also affect search results by modifying the thesaurus.

For more information about customizing search results, see Appendix B.

Create Custom Search Queries

You can create custom search queries by using your preferred application programming interface (API) and programming application.

You can create an Active Server Pages (ASP) page, a Web Part for the digital dashboard, or a Microsoft Visual Basic^® or Microsoft Visual C++^® application containing a specific search query tailored to the needs of your organization. The dashboard site included with SharePoint Portal Server is a collection of digital dashboards that communicates with the Web Storage System by using the Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV) protocol with the XMLHTTPRequest object. SharePoint Portal Server displays results in XML. You can use ADO to access the OLEDB Provider for Internet Publishing to create custom search queries.

Use the Thesaurus to Expand a Search Query

You can use the thesaurus included with SharePoint Portal Server to adjust search results for the benefit of your users. To improve search results on the dashboard site, you can edit the thesaurus to expand queries. This means that a user can enter one word in a search query and receive search results for a similar word. For example, the user can search for "IE" and receive matches to "Internet Explorer" in the search results.

Sharing Information as an Author

SharePoint Portal Server offers a number of features to help streamline document development. Once the coordinator prepares the workspace and makes information accessible, you can perform most tasks directly from the dashboard site by using your Web browser:

• Adding and Removing Documents
• Check-in and Check-out
• Publishing
• Approving and Rejecting Documents

For more information about how to perform these tasks, see Appendix B.

Finding Information as a Reader

SharePoint Portal Server provides a flexible solution for users to find information. As a reader, you can use the dashboard site for the following:

• Conducting Search Queries
• Accessing Content Sources
• Performing Full-Text Search Queries
• Finding Information Based on Document Profiles
• Browsing Categories
• Browsing the Document Library
• Using Best Bets
• Creating Subscriptions

These features allow you to direct your users to the most appropriate method for finding information based on their knowledge and skill level.