4. 4 Levels of Search in a SharePoint Solution

Have you ever struggled to find a document you wrote last month, but can’t remember where it is or even what it was called…?!

Believe it or not, you are not alone!

We have all been there at least once or twice.

Below we have listed four ways to execute a search within your SharePoint Environment and some best practices when it comes to naming conventions.

There are four levels of Search within a SharePoint Environment, this includes:

• Level 1: Library Search – If the document that you are searching for is located in a specific Library, simply use the library’s search bar to filter its content.

• Level 2: Site Search – Executing a Site Search entails looking through multiple document libraries to discover where your document might be located.
  
  

• Level 3: Hub Search – If the above two searches were not successful than your next steps would be to complete a Hub Search. This type of search crawls through all associated sites to the main hub.

• Level 4: SharePoint Start Page Search - If you haven’t found your document through one of the last three methods… we’re sorry to say, it’s not looking promising! Your last point of call would be to complete a SharePoint Start Page Search, this entails going through the whole SharePoint Environment to see whether or not this document exists.

To ensure that you can easily find your documents, consider the below suggested best practices.

• Keep file names consistent, short and relevant.
• Add the version in your file name.
• Avoid special characters.

As a leading SharePoint Solutions provider, we work with you to understand the unique aspects of your business processes to deliver solutions that are tailored to your business requirements.

If there is one thing that we love more than coffee, it is talking to you about a SharePoint Solutions Strategy that is suited to your business requirements.