Every Higher Logic community site has a primary search field that displays at the top of every community page: the site-wide search. This search scours the entire community site for content that matches your search term.
The location of the site-wide search field differs slightly across community sites. It might display:
- above the navigation bar:
...or in the navigation bar:
NOTE: Regardless of where it displays, the functionality of the site-wide search is identical.
After you run a search via the site-wide search field (on any community page), you are automatically taken to the search-results page.
The sections in this article describe:
- the search-results page (without and with the optional AI functionality),
- the options on the search-results page, and
- the actions that you can take on the page.
AI functionality notes
The appearance of the search-results page (and the options that are available) will vary if:
- the AI functionality has been enabled in your site by an Admin and
- you have the appropriate view permissions for the AI functionality.
Search results page
This section describes the "standard" search-results page experience.
NOTE: The next section, Search results page with AI functionality, describes the page and your options if the AI functionality is enabled and you have the appropriate view permissions.
There are a variety of things that you can do on this page and with the search results.
- Reference the numbers in the image to those in the table to learn what you can do.
- The numbers in the Image Ref. column below align with those in the above image.
| Image Ref. | Section | You can... |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Content Type | Click a content type to have the list display results of that type only. Click All Content to restore the full list of results. |
| 2 | Filters | Click a filter topic to display its options, then make your selections. You can apply multiple filters to refine the list as much as necessary. |
| 3 | Relevance dropdown | Accept the default list-sort order (by Relevance) or click the Sort By dropdown to sort the list chronologically (Most Recent or Least Recent). |
| 4 | Results list | Review the list of search results which include the Content Type. Click an entry to navigate to the source page in the community. The column on the right displays information about the source and additional links (refer to Entry links, below). |
| 5 | Entry links | Click a link to access a related page. For example, in the image above, note the library_entries_widget_example.png entry and how you can easily access its: - host Library Entry page, - main Library page, - Community page. |
TIP: With all of the links in the results, you can use the right-click options (for a new tab or a new window) to access the link while preserving the results page.
Search results page with AI functionality
This section focuses on the AI-based functionality and features that are available when:
- the AI functionality is enabled and
- the user has the appropriate view permissions.
TIP: The information in the previous section is still applicable to interacting with the search results.
AI Assistant notes
- The AI Assistant experience on the search-results page (and across in your community site) is limited to information and content in your community site (e.g., in Discussions, Blogs, Library Entries, etc.). It does not access or return information from the internet or other external sources.
- AI Assistant honors all current community "view" permissions when it presents search results. It will not "serve up" information to a user that the user is otherwise not authorized to access.
Benefits of AI Assistant
The AI functionality enhances your search experience by letting you engage in a two-way chat with your community's AI Search. This enables you to:
- quickly get more information on your search topic,
- easily shift gears to a related topic, if necessary, as your chat evolves, and
- initiate a community Discussion thread to request additional information from community users.
Using AI Assistant
NOTE: Many aspects of the AI experience (e.g., its name, button labels) are customizable by Admins. In your community, these might differ from the "default" settings that are used in this article.
The AI Search experience displays above the standard list of search results:
NOTE: In the right panel, the sources count has the following information popup.
The following image shows the AI Search addition which features the AI Assistant chat functionality.
- Reference the numbers in the image to those in the table to learn what you can do on this page.
- The numbers in the Image Ref. column below align with those in the above image.
| Image Ref. | Element | You can... |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Query term | Your search word or phrase (e.g., "widgets") displays here. |
| 2 | Results summary | AI Assistant's summary of its findings. |
| 3 | Engagement icons | Click these icons to (from left to right): - copy AI Assistant's summary as text to paste elsewhere. - indicate that the results were helpful. - indicate that the results were not helpful. - share your feedback with the team that is working on AI features. |
| 4 | Source count | This counter indicates the number of sources from which AI collected information for the summary. - Click this to display/hide the sources as cards below the summary field; use the left and right arrows to navigate through the sources. |
| 5 | Input field with icons | Click into the field to continue the chat or to start a new chat. - Click the Clear icon to clear the chat history; this enables you to initiate a fresh chat. - Click the Send icon (or press Enter on your keyboard) to continue. |
| 6 | List of sources | AI Assistant automatically lists the sources it used in its summary. |
| 7 | "Request help" button | Click to open a dialog that is populated with "draft" content based on your query; refer to Request help from the Community, below. |
| 8 | Pull tab | Click and drag the two-bar pull tab down to expand the widget; pull up to shorten the widget. |
Request help from the Community
If the summary and sources are not what you expected, or if you want additional information, you can click the "request help" button to initiate a community Discussion thread.
TIP: This is also beneficial if your chat did not yield any results. By starting a Discussion thread, future queries on the same topic will, at a minimum, lead users to the Discussion that you start, where they can see that there was prior interest and which, by then, might have generated at least some information.
NOTE: If you have feedback about your chat experience, use the feedback mechanism (the megaphone icon) that is provided directly below the results summary. This ensures that your feedback is correctly routed to be reviewed.
When you click the button, the Post a Discussion Thread overlay dialog displays with draft content that is based on your chat.
Review AI Assistant's draft content and:
- accept the suggested Community, Subject, and/or Discussion content, or
- replace any (or all) of these suggestions with your preferred content.
To replace any of the suggested content:
- Click the Post to Community dropdown to select a community in which to post.
- Specify an appropriate title for the discussion in the Discussion Subject field.
- Work in the editor field to make changes to any or all of the content.
- Use the options in the toolbar to format (bold, italic, bullets, links, tags, at-mentions) the content.
- Click the ellipsis icon (...) to access more formatting options.
When you're ready, click Post.
Related articles
Community Search Tips explains:
- how search terms are scored and
- how to search more effectively by using operators ("and," "or," and ampersands).