In this article, you can learn how to search for content in Happeo.
Happeo's Search is extremely powerful. It searches from:
- Channels
- Posts
- Organization users
- Pages
- Google Drive
- Google Sites
- Google Calendar
- Gmail
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Calendar
- Federated Search Connectors
When you need to find specific information or content, Happeo's Search is a great tool to use!
Admin Settings: Search
When you navigate to your Admin settings and click on Search, you will find the default Happeo apps as well as the Connectors that you have authenticated to see Search Results and Predictions. For more information on how to authenticate Search Connectors, please see this article.
By clicking on the downward pointing arrow next to a Search Connector, you can toggle on or off Search or Predictions.
- Search refers to content being shown from Search Connectors in the full Search Overview
- Predictions refer to content being shown from Search Connectors based on Search Predictions (search bar autocomplete)
For more information about Admin Settings: Search, please see this article.
Beginning the search process
To get started, you can start by clicking the Search Bar at the top center of the platform.
You will first be presented with Quick Filters. Quick Filters help you search faster, showcasing Search Connectors such as:
- Channels
- Posts (Posts, Articles, and Announcements)
- Pages
- People
- Launcher
- Sites
- Hashtags
- Integrations
- Federated Search Connectors
You can click Show more / Show less to adjust your Quick Filter view.
To customize your quick filters, please see the article “Admin Settings: Search.”
You will also be presented with a list of your most recent searches.
If you want to declutter the results for your most recent searches, you can click the X next to one of your searches, or click Clear all at the top of your recent searches.
When you begin to type, Happeo will automatically display Search Predictions. If you wish to manage which Search Connectors yield Search Predictions, you can do so in the Admin Settings > Search.
If you wish to reorder the appearance of the Quick Filters, you can also do so in Admin Settings > Search.
If you are not happy with what you initially typed, you can click Clear at the right of the Search Bar.
Alternatively, if you want to stop the search process, you can click the X at the right of the Search Bar.
Wide Search
To perform a wide search, type something into the Search Bar and press Enter. This will show you the top results.
On the left side of the page, you can find filters, specifically section filters and app filters such as Happeo’s Search Connectors and other Search Connectors (integrated apps) you’ve installed from the App Marketplace.
By default, you will be presented with the All Results filter, but you can click one of the filters to reorganize your search results.
Search Results within Happeo can be found in one unified list on the center-left of the page. These results include Happeo Channels, Pages, People, Posts, and Launcher items.
On the right side of the page, you can find search results for Integrations, Apps, and hashtags. You can click View all to view all results for one of the aforementioned.
By clicking any of the Search Results, you will be taken to the destination to which the Search Result belongs, whether it’s within Happeo or another location such as Google Drive or Slack.
Different Search Sections
Pages
Searches through Happeo Page content that you have access to view. The search will index all content within Widgets on Pages along with any hashtags that have been added to Pages.
The filtering options include:
- Page Group
- Page language
- Date updated
Channels
Searches through all Happeo Channels that you are either a Participant of, can join, or can request to join. From the search, you can go to the Channel, join a Channel, or request to join a Channel.
The filtering options include:
- Visibility
- Open for everyone
- Needs access request
- Restricted
People
Searches through all People and Groups within Happeo.
The filtering options include:
- Department
- Title
- Search for (Users or Groups)
Posts
Searches through all Posts and Comments within Happeo Channels. Search Results are based on the Channels that you are a Participant of.
Filtering options include:
- Search for (Posts or Comments)
- Date published
- Author
- Channel
- Post type (Post or Announcement)
- Post layout (Post or Article)
- Attachments (with or without attachments)
Launcher
Searches through your Launcher items and provides you with results from those items.
Filtering options include:
- All (All apps or Favourites only)
- Sort by (Alphabetical A-Z or Z-A)
How search results are indexed
The score of a search query is determined by its keyword match. We use Elastic search to assign these scores. The weight of each result type is not the same, and are weighted in the following order (Page Groups having the most weight and Posts having the least):
- Page Groups
- Pages
- Channels
- Users / Groups
- Articles
- Posts
Scoring of search queries
Specific results will be boosted depending on where the search query appears. Boosts can be interpreted from a 1-3 scale, with 1 being the lowest boost and 3 being the highest. We use the following boosts:
- 1
- 1.3
- 1.5
- 2
- 3
For instance, if you search for ‘Sales’, Page Groups including the word ‘Sales’ will appear first, whereas Posts will appear last. Below, you can find content elements that affect the content scoring:
- (Boost 3) Content name – The keyword is included in the content title
- (Boost 2) Collection – The keyword is included in a Page Group
- (Boost 3) User name – The keyword is included in the user’s name
- (Boost 2) Channel name – The keyword is included in the Channel’s name
- (Boost 1) Channel description – The keyword is included in the Channel description
- (Boost 1.5) Page Group description – The keyword is included in the Page Group description
- (Boost 1.5) Page description – The keyword is included in the Page description
- (Boost 1) Page hero – The keyword is included in the Page hero title
- (Boost 1) Page Widget – The keyword is included in a Page Widget
- (Boost 1.3) Hashtags – The keyword is included in hashtags (Pages, Channels, Articles, Posts, Comments- anywhere hashtags are used)
How are the results sorted?
In the Elasticsearch cluster, the search query is parsed into terms and then queried to a relevant index, such as Posts.
Documents (in this index, Posts) are given scores by algorithms and sorted based on the scores.
These algorithms take into account:
- Term match in the document
- Term frequency in the document
- Term frequency overall
- Term importance in the document (is it once in a 300-word document, or once in a 10-word document?)
- Partial searches/matches
- Document age (older documents are less relevant) - this is used more heavily in the case of Posts and comments, less in the case of Pages, and not used at all in the case of users and groups)
Partial searches and suggestions
Partial searches
Typing part of a word or sentence correctly will show a correct result. However, misspelling a word or a sentence will show no results.
Suggestions
"Suggestion" means that the search suggests tags that were found by the search term and you can click on one of the suggested tags. In other words, it suggests hashtags related to the search by matching hashtags to the keyword.
Example case
Below, you can find an example using the keyword Sales.
- First, the algorithm will look if there are any Pages, Channels, or Users / Groups that match the keyword Sales. If there is any Page Group using the keyword Sales, that Page Group will appear first due to Page Groups having the most weight
- Then, if multiple Page Groups, Pages, Channels, or Users / Groups have the keyword Sales in their title, the algorithm will look at the description of Channels, Page Groups, and Pages. If any Page or Channel has the keyword Sales in its description, those results will be prioritized over other Pages and Channels without the keyword
- It’s important to note that Pages have a slightly larger weight when it comes to the description, so Pages will likely be prioritized if the keyword Sales appears in both a Channel and Page description
- If multiple Channels and Pages have the keyword Sales in their description, we will look at hashtags to break the tie
- And if hashtags also make a tie (i.e. two Pages have one single hashtag called Sales) then we will look at the content of that Page, Channel, Article, or Post and how many times the keyword is mentioned
- Users and Groups don’t have descriptions or hashtags, so naturally, they will not be prioritized over Pages and Channels if there is a tie between them. This is because Happeo’s Search is intended for content, whereas Happeo’s People Directory can be used to search for people instead
How to promote your content
Based on our search algorithm, the following include the best methods to ensure your content appears highest in the Search Results:
- Include keywords in the:
- Content title
- Content description
- Content hashtags
- For Pages: Page Hero title and Page Widgets
- More keywords include higher visibility. That’s why we recommend that you include a specific keyword multiple times throughout a content’s elements
- Longer descriptions ensure a higher boost, so we recommend that you write a moderate description (e.g. 1-2 sentences)
Q&A
Why are Search Results in “All Results” showing Posts made many years ago?
The reason you might be seeing Posts from many years ago in the "All Results" section of Happeo's Search Results is that the Search Results are sorted based on relevancy rather than recency. This means that there may be cases in which older Posts that are deemed more relevant to your search query will be displayed higher in the results.
If you would like to ensure that specific results appear at the top, you can follow the instructions provided under the "How search results are indexed" section, specifically the guidelines on how to promote your content.
Why are the Search Results showing Posts made by removed users?
The reason you may come across Posts made by removed users in the Search Results is that when a user is removed from Happeo, the Posts and Articles they published are not automatically deleted. Instead, they are retained within the Happeo system. As a result, these Posts can still appear in Search Results even though the user who created them is no longer active or present in the platform.
Why are Posts and Articles being shown in a different order between “All Results” and “Posts?”
The reason for the difference in the order of Posts and Articles between the "All Results" and "Posts" sections is the sorting criteria used for each section. In the "All Results" section, the results are arranged based on relevancy, meaning that the most relevant Posts and Articles to your search query will be displayed at the top, regardless of their recency.
On the other hand, the "Posts" section specifically focuses on recency, prioritizing the most recent Posts and Articles to appear first in the results.