Inside Activate Search

activate search indexes a practical guide to how activate builds, updates, ranks, and secures search results—plus tips for diagnosing and improving relevance overview storage indexes are generated on the web server and stored on the filesystem data source indexes are built only from cached data in sql the indexer does not query active directory directly ensure the background cache refresh tasks are healthy refresh cadence full rebuilds on first install or via nightly maintenance incremental updates approximately every 15 minutes while the web app is running security model the index stores no acls up to 500 raw matches are fetched, then security is applied and only items the user can access are shown keep the cache current if cache tasks are stopped, the index won’t reflect recent directory changes indexed objects the following object types are included in the index roles services assets folders cloud folders distribution lists security groups tasks users contacts articles teams shared mailboxes pam accounts computers version notes object tags supported in v7+ alternativename supported for services and tasks in 8 1+ indexed fields unless specified otherwise, each object contributes these fields name description displayname (parameter) keywords (parameter; string or html) object tags alternativename (services & tasks, 8 1+; creates an alias) additional fields by type users & contacts email address (primary; mail) employeenumber (users only; axemployeenumber) domain name (users only; domain\username) folders unc path (e g , \\\server\share\folder1\folder2) update types full updates performed when no index exists (e g , first install) and during nightly maintenance triggered by the maintenance task tasks / system tasks / background / maintenancescript rebuilds the entire index and removes deleted objects incremental updates runs every 15 minutes while the iis application is active captures changes since the last update does not remove deleted objects; these disappear on the next full rebuild if the iis app pool is stopped or times out, updates resume after restart ranking object weights each indexed item becomes a document with a base weight by object type higher weights appear earlier, all else equal boosting a specific item add a searchboost integer parameter to increase a document’s effective weight example a task (25) with searchboost = 75 will rank like a service/article ( 100) ranking field weights matches in certain fields count more than others prefix matches are especially strong make sure name, displayname, and keywords carry the most distinctive, user friendly terms how search terms are parsed stop words are removed (e g , “and”, “the”) each remaining word is searched the entire original string is also used as a prefix match against the object name advanced operators use +term to require a word use term to exclude a word net effect typing the start of the name usually produces the strongest hits due to prefix weighting security & result shaping the search index is security agnostic it returns the top 500 raw matches activate then filters those by the current user’s access rights it’s possible to see no results if all 500 matches are items the user can’t access stop words common english stop words are ignored to improve relevance for example, the query “accounting and finance” is processed as “accounting finance ” testing & diagnostics use activate desktop studio / administrator → search test tool to see which items matched and their calculated weights compare how object and field weights influenced the ranking click explain results for a breakdown of scoring example searching for new user may show a service and an article at the top if they have higher base weights or boosts optimising relevance (quick wins) favour prefixes ensure the most natural, user typed beginnings are in name / displayname consider alternativename (services/tasks, 8 1+) for common synonyms or abbreviations seed keywords & tags add likely search phrases to keywords and object tags boost critical items use docid\ y5racyahcdmht0mfyqebz to elevate key services/tasks to 100 effective weight; test and adjust keep the cache fresh verify background tasks that populate sql caches are running successfully plan full rebuilds if deleted objects linger in results, schedule/trigger a full index refresh troubleshooting checklist background cache jobs running and healthy iis app pool not idling out during business hours recent changes present in sql cache full rebuild completed after large structural changes or deletions keywords/tags/displayname populated for hard‑to‑find items apply searchboost for business‑critical items confirm user permissions explain any “no results” scenarios admin notes nightly full maintenance task path tasks / system tasks / background / maintenancescript incremental update cadence 15 minutes while the web app is active index location filesystem of the web server (ensure adequate disk and backup as per ops standards)