Searching Help
Use the Search field at the top of the Help system to search using keywords. The Search engine uses specific rules to locate topics containing keywords and determine the display order of topics in the results.
Search Syntax Tips
Use the following tips for better search results.
- Entering a single word returns all forms of the word. For example, Agent returns both Agent and Agents.
- Entering two words separated by a space is the equivalent of using AND. For example, Proxy Server returns topics with both Proxy and Server. Topics containing both words are displayed first in the results, followed by topics with either word.
- Using NOT excludes some topics from the results. For example, Service NOT Cloud returns Service topics that do not discuss the Cloud Service.
- Using a minimum of four characters for partial word searches returns topics with words containing those characters. For example, nect returns topics containing Connect, Connection, or Connector.
- Using less than four characters is not supported.
- Using wild cards is not supported.
- Using quotation marks around exact phrases is not supported.
Sort Order
The Search engine ranks topics returned by a search based on where keywords appear in a topic, how often they appear, and how many links there are to the topic. Location rankings are as follows:
- Title tags
- Heading 1
- Heading 2 OR abstract text, such as meta description
- Heading 3
- Heading 4 OR index keywords
- Heading 5
- Body text
The Search engine looks at how many times the keyword appears in each location, heading versus body text. Topics with frequent keywords are ranked higher than topics with fewer keywords. However, topics with more frequent keywords never outrank a topic with a higher weight, such as a keyword in Heading 1.
Topics with many inbound links are ranked higher than topics with fewer links. However, topics with many links never outrank a topic with a higher weight, such as a keyword in Heading 1.
Examples
Keyword Frequency
Assume there are two topics that are almost identical. The search keyword appears in a Heading 2 three times in Topic A, and only two times in Topic B. Topic A appears above Topic B because the keyword appears three times in Topic A.
Keyword Rank
Assume you have two topics. Topic A has many keywords all in Heading 4s. Topic B has one keyword in a Heading 3. Topic B appears above Topic A because keywords in a Heading 3 have a higher weight than keywords in a Heading 4.
Inbound Topic Links
Assume you have two topics that each have a keyword in Heading 1. In this case they are equal in rank. Topic A has been linked to five times and Topic B has been linked to seven times. Topic B appears before Topic A because it is referenced more times by other topics.
