Search vertical configuration

The following section will describe how to configure a search vertical as well as the different configuration sections involved. In order to configure or create a new vertical a Syntphony admin may browse to Syntphony settings > This tenant > Search Configuration > Verticals.

Vertical configuration fields

When creating a new vertical, the following information will be needed:

• Name: Name for the vertical. It accepts different languages by the multilanguage selector.

• Type: Type of the vertical. Available types are:

  • All: It includes a mixture of results from all available content types.
  • Content type: It includes results from the specific content types.
  • People: It includes people results.
  • External: It includes results from external connections configured in Microsoft 365 admin center.

• Scope: Allows selecting between two search scopes:

  • Syntphony: Includes content types configured in Syntphony, people, and external content.
  • Microsoft 365: Includes all contents from the “Syntphony” scope and also Microsoft 365 contents configured in the search.

• Content type: Allows selecting the Syntphony content types that will be displayed in the vertical. This option will only appear if the vertical type is “Content type”.

• Layout: Layout selector to display the results. Available values are List or Card. This option is not available for the “All” vertical type.

• Design: Design to display the results. Designs are configurable by browsing to Syntphony settings > This tenant > Search Configuration > Search results > Designs.

• Include expired content: Indicates whether to include expired content in the search results.

• Allow to change scope in the filter: Indicates whether to show the search scope in the filter on the search results page.

• Display external results: Indicates whether to show results from external connections in the vertical.

• External connections: Allows selecting the external connections configured in the Microsoft 365 admin center that will be displayed in the vertical.

• Display people results: Indicates whether to show people results in the vertical.

• Display promoted content: Indicates whether to show promoted content in the vertical.

• Url to see more results: URL to which the user will be redirected when clicking on the “See more” button in the search suggestions.

• Elements per page: Number of elements for pagination purposes.

• Select a default sort order for content: Defines the default sorting criteria for search results in the vertical. This setting determines how results are ordered when users first view them. Available options include:

  • Rank: Sorts by relevance score based on Microsoft Search ranking algorithm.
  • Publishing date: Orders results by their original publication date, showing newest first.
  • Latest update: Displays results based on their last modification date, prioritizing recently updated content.
  • Custom sorting: Uses a custom SharePoint managed property defined in the “Custom sorting” field below.

• Custom sorting: Specifies a SharePoint managed property to enable custom sorting criteria. Once configured, this custom option becomes available in the “Select a default sort order for content” dropdown, allowing you to sort results based on specific metadata fields (e.g., LastModifiedTime, Department, Location). The property must be sortable and refinable in the SharePoint search schema. Note: For external content, the property only needs to be refinable.

• Default filter: Default SharePoint KQL query to apply.

• Filters: SharePoint managed properties that can be applied to refine the search results.

• Search properties: SharePoint crawled or managed properties used to retrieve extra information within the search results.

• Suggested content: Displays recommended results organized by verticals to enhance the search experience with relevant and varied content. This option is only available for the “All” vertical type and includes the following configuration fields:

  • Number of results: Specifies the number of cards to display in each suggested content section. Accepts values between 1 and 12.
  • Search verticals: Select one or more search verticals to display as suggested content. For each vertical, you can customize the display name and the design template used for result cards. Examples of suggested content designs can be found here.

• Apply audience targeting: If enabled, the vertical will only be shown to users that match the specified audience.