Searching a WebHelp System

Searching a WebHelp System

End users have a variety of options for searching a WebHelp or WebHelp Plus system. To learn about the HTML5 system, see Searching an HTML5 System.

Search Experience

A Standard skin (see Skins) provides the user interface for a published WebHelp system. When an end user searches a WebHelp system for information, the results show the topic rank and title. When the user opens a topic, search highlighting reveals the matches.

Features and Capabilities

This table details the search features and capabilities of the WebHelp system. It also describes the options that you have for customizing the user interface:

Feature	Description	Content Developer Options
Search Pane	An accordion-style window pane that reveals the search features.	Enable the search feature using the Skin Editor. See Including Search Bars.
Search Field and Button	Type a search query. Then click the button or press ENTER to initiate a search. Note Asterisk (*) wildcard and boolean search capabilities are available. See Search Methods and Syntax.	Change the tooltip and button. See Controls in Standard Skins.
Filter List	Provides users with the ability to narrow the scope of their search results to categories defined by a search filter set.	Create filter selections by adding a search filter set and associating it with the Flare target. See Creating Search Filters and Associating a Search Filter Set With a Target. Customize the order of the search filters in the output. See Customizing Search Filter Ordering.
Add to Favorites Button	A button that lets users add the current search query to a Favorites list.	Enable the Favorites feature to give users the ability to save search strings to the favorites list. See Specifying Navigation Pane Settings for HTML5 and WebHelp Outputs.
Favorites Pane	An accordion-style window pane that reveals the end user's favorite topics and searches.	Enable the Favorites feature to give users the ability to save search strings to the favorites list. See Specifying Navigation Pane Settings for HTML5 and WebHelp Outputs.
Search Results	Lists search results in ranked order. Note If you are using Pulse, your search results list may include community results. See Searching for Community Results.	If you are using Pulse, you have the option to display community results in search. See Integrating Flare Desktop and Pulse and Integrating Flare Desktop and Pulse.
Search Highlighting	Highlights matching keywords in topics. Note Matches are not highlighted when users perform searches with the asterisk (*) wildcard character.	Define the colors used for search highlighting. See Search Highlighting.
Quick Search Field and Button	Users can search for matches in the active topic by entering terms in the field. Asterisk (*) wildcard and boolean search is not supported.	Enable this field in the toolbar. See Editing Topic Toolbar Settings in a Standard Skin and Web Toolbars in WebHelp Outputs.
Remove Highlighting Button	Users can remove any search highlighting.	Include this button in the toolbar. See Editing Topic Toolbar Settings in a Standard Skin and Web Toolbars in WebHelp Outputs.
Search Non-HTML Files and Faster Search (WebHelp Plus Only)	When end users perform a search in your online output, you can ensure that non-XHTML files (e.g. PDF, DOC, XLS) are included in that search. Search performance is also faster.	Include non-HTML files in search results and enjoy faster search performance when publishing server-based output. See WebHelp Plus Output and Including Non-XHTML Files in WebHelp Plus Search.

How to Search

1. Open the WebHelp or WebHelp Plus system.
2. In the navigation pane, click Search.

3. In the entry field, type the search query. Then press ENTER or click Search.

   Note Searches are not case-sensitive. See Search Methods and Syntax.

   Note The search query can include boolean operators or the asterisk (*) wildcard character. See Search Methods and Syntax.

   Note If a search filter set is added to the project, users can narrow the scope of the search by selecting an item from the Filter list. This limits the scope to search only the topics assigned to the selected filter. See Search Filter Set Example.

4. In the search results list, double-click one of the topics in the search list to open it. Search highlighting reveals the matches in the topic.

   Note The search highlighting colors can be customized by the content developer. See Customizing the Highlight Color for Search Hits.