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Using Intelligent Search

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Experience Builder provides the Intelligent Search feature for your experiences to enable users to quickly find articles and other resources using indexes. 

Indexes are created manually in either a .CSV or .JSON file, through an XML sitemap containing a list of HTML URLs, or with the help of third-party search engine connectors provided by Service Now (SNOW) and Coveo. Third-party connectors such as SNOW and Coveo allow you to leverage their search engine APIs and search content in an efficient manner.

To create an index for the Intelligent Search feature, perform the following steps:

  1. In the Admin portal, select AI Services > Intelligent Search.

    is_admin.png      is_index.png
    The Indexes list opens. 

    Note: AI must be enabled on the tenant ID.

  2. Click the ADD INDEX button (add_index_button.png).

    The Create Index dialog box opens.

    create_index_1.png

  3. Fill in the Index name, which is a required field and the identifier used by the Experience Builder. 

    Note: The Index name can have a maximum of 50 characters excluding / and \.

  4. Select the search engine and the source for the search engine.

    The Source options varies depending on the selected search engine.

    Select search engine Source
    Intelligent search Uploading index file
    XML Sitemap
    Connected search engine ServiceNow (SNOW)
    Coveo search engine

    The default selection of the Select search engine field is Intelligent search and of the Source field is XML Sitemap. 

    Depending on the selected search engine and the source, you can create indexes in the following ways:

Manual Indexing

You can manually create indexes using .CSV or .JSON index files that contain the index entries or articles. 

  1. Select Intelligent search for the Select search engine field and Uploading index file for the Source field.
  2. Select the Language of the index file, which by default is the portal language.
  3. Select the Search type.
    • Mixed search: This is the default selection and refers to search that uses keyword as well as semantics.
    • Keyword search: This option searches using only keywords.
  4. Click the NEXT button.

    The Upload file page opens to allow you to select and upload a .CSV or .JSON file having the search content for the index. You can either drag-and-drop the file from your local system or click the CHOOSE FILE button to browse and select the file.

    create_index_manual_2.png

  5. Click the CREATE INDEX button.

    The index creation may take a few minutes, which when completed is displayed in the Indexes list. The manual index has the manual_icon.png icon.

    manual_index.png

    Tip: If the Articles column is blank after the index is created, click the index to open it and then go back to the Indexes list. The Articles column now displays the total number of articles.

In the Indexes list, the three dots menu on the right of the index allows you to rename, edit, and delete the index.

index_3_dot_menu.png

When you open the index from the Indexes list, the Articles tab is open by default. This tab allows you to create articles, export the index as .CSV or .JSON file, and search for articles with or without filters.

Using Search Filters

Each article contains a title and the content. Articles may also have associated attributes or tags that can be used as search filters in the index to filter specific sets of articles. Note that if attributes are used to filter, then only keyword search results are listed.

Open the index from the Indexes list. In the Articles tab, click the filter icon (filter_icon.png). The filter attributes and options are then displayed. In the following index, the link attribute is available and is set to Include three links. You can choose to exclude the selected links from the index by toggling the Exclude button.

index_search_filter.png
Editing Article and Adding Attributes to Articles

You can edit an article in the index or add attributes to the article.

  1. Click the pencil icon (pencil_icon.png) next to the article.
  2. To edit the title or the content, use the Text content tab.

    index_filter_article_edit.png

  3. Select the Attributes tab.

    index_filter_attr_edit.png

  4. Click the ADD ATTRIBUTE button.
  5. Enter the Attribute Name.
  6. Click the ADD VALUE button.

    The Add Value dialog box opens.

  7. Enter a value for the attribute and click the ADD button in the Add Value dialog box.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for as many values you want to associate with the attribute.
  9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 to add additional attributes.
  10. Click the SAVE button.

Tip: You can toggle the UNLOCKED button to LOCKED so that the article is locked for any edits. You can also delete the article using the DELETE button.

Using Thesaurus

Indexes may also have a thesaurus that improve the search results. The Thesaurus tab in the index allows you to import a thesaurus, which is a .CSV file containing a glossary of synonymous words and terminologies. Using a thesaurus is more suitable for keyword searches.

Note: Importing rewrites the entire content of the thesaurus.

 

XML Sitemap

With the Intelligent search engine, you can also use an XML sitemap as the source for indexing.

  1. Select Intelligent search for the Select search engine field and XML Sitemap for the Source field.
  2. Select the Language of the index, which by default is the portal language.
  3. Select the Search type.
    • Mixed search: This is the default selection and refers to search that uses keyword as well as semantics.
    • Keyword search: This option searches using only keywords.
  4. Click the NEXT button.

    The XML Sitemap page opens to allow you to specify the URL of the XML sitemap and optionally any pattern filters for the index. 

    create_index_xml_2.png

  5. Enter the XML sitemap URL and any Filters for the content in the sitemap.

    An automatic validation is performed on the XML sitemap to check if the sitemap URL is correct and if the sitemap can be parsed and not blocked.

    You can specify the filters using simple wildcard characters such as * and /.  If no filters are specified, then the entire XML sitemap content (the HTML links to the articles) is parsed and indexed.

    In case of sitemaps with large content, it is recommended to add filters to create indexes only for a subset of the HTML links.

  6. Click NEXT.

    The Mapping of content page opens that allows you to map the content using CSS elements to identify and recognize the structure of the articles pointed by the HTML links in the sitemap. This helps in correctly extracting and indexing the article content.

    create_index_xml_3.png

    • Title field of articles: Indicates the title of the article. By default, it is set to the title element in the article.
    • Content field: Indicates the content of the article, which by default is the div element. In certain articles, the content is indicated by the p element.
    • Article id: Is set to the reserved word $source_link that returns the URL of the article.
    • Attribute link: Is set to the reserved word $source_link that returns the URL of the article.
    • Attribute summary: Is set to the reserved word $meta_description that returns the metadata from the article URL.

      Note: Reserved words are used in XML sitemaps and are available as values for attributes.

  7. Click the SWITCH TO PREVIEW link located near the top of the dialog box.

    The dialog box shows the Preview section along with the Parameters and Content preview panes to help validate the content mapping by previewing the extracted article content.

    1. Under Preview, select a category from the Select categories drop-down list and click APPLY.
    2. Select an article from the URL drop-down list.

      The Content preview pane is populated with the extracted content from the article corresponding to the parameters on the left.

  8. Click NEXT.

    The Autoupdate page opens with the option to allow autoupdate of the index and articles.

    No update is the default selection indicating that the index is static after it is created.

    You can choose to autoupdate the articles in the index on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

    With the autoupdate schedule enabled, Intelligent Search looks up the XML sitemap for the filtered section (if applied) and recreate the index with the updated content. Any new articles in the sitemap are added to the index and any articles removed from the sitemap are deleted from the index.

    create_index_xml_4.png

  9. Click the CREATE INDEX button.

    The index appears in the Indexes list with the status as Indexing and has the xml_icon.png icon.

    create_index_xml_indexing.png

    Tip: If the Articles column is blank after the index is created, click the index to open it and then go back to the Indexes list. The Articles column now displays the total number of articles.
    When you click the index in the list, the index opens displaying the status as Ready.

    create_index_xml_ready.png

The three dots menu on the right of an autoupdate XML index in the Indexes list has an additional option Update to immediately update the index and its articles.

 

Service Now (SNOW) Search Engine

Experience Builder Intelligent Search can also make use of the third-party Service Now (SNOW) search engine connectors to create indexes using SNOW content. 

  1. Select Connected search engine for the Select search engine field and ServiceNow for the Source field.

    create_index_snow_1.png

  2. Click the NEXT button.

    The ServiceNow page opens displaying fields to enter the instance name and credentials for the SNOW account.

  3. Enter the SNOW Instance name, Login id, and Password.

    Note: SNOW instance name is part of the SNOW URL.

  4. Click the NEXT button.

    The Mapping of content page opens for matching the structure of the articles returned in the SNOW API response and the article structure in the Intelligent Search response structure.

    create_index_snow_2.png

    • Title field of articles: Indicates the title of the article in the SNOW API response. By default, it is set to result.articles.title.
    • Content field: Indicates the article content in the SNOW API response, which by default is result.articles.fields.text.value.

    You can add attributes and specify their values as returned by the SNOW API response.

  5. Click the NEXT button.

    The Index filtering page opens to allow you to include the SNOW search results that belong to a particular knowledgebase ID. If no knowledgebase ID is entered, then the search includes all the knowledgebases in the SNOW account.

    create_index_snow_3.png

  6. Enter a knowledgebase ID in the Index filtering page.
  7. Click the CREATE INDEX button.

    The index is created and listed under Indexes and is indicated by the snow_icon.png icon.

    index_snow.png

    Tip: If the Articles column is blank after the index is created, click the index to open it and then go back to the Indexes list. The Articles column now displays the total number of articles.

 

Coveo Search Engine

Intelligent Search also has the option to use the third-party Coveo search engine connectors to create indexes using Coveo content.

  1. Select Connected search engine for the Select search engine field and Coveo search engine for the Source field.

    create_index_coveo_1.png

  2. Click the NEXT button.

    The Coveo search engine page opens displaying fields to enter the organization id and the API key.

  3. Enter the Coveo Organization id and API key.
  4. Click the NEXT button.

    The Mapping of content page opens for matching the structure of the articles returned in the Coveo response and the article structure in the Intelligent Search response structure.

    create_index_coveo_2.png

    • Title field of articles: Indicates the title of the article in the Coveo response. By default, it is set to result.raw.title.
    • Content field: Indicates the article content in the Coveo response, which by default is result.raw.publiccontent.

    You can add attributes and specify their values as returned by the Coveo response.

  5. Click the NEXT button.

    The Index filtering page opens allowing you to specify the search hub and filters for the Coveo search request. The filters are applied to every search request in the index.

    create_index_coveo_3.png

  6. Enter the Search Hub and optionally the Filters.
  7. Click the CREATE INDEX button.

    The Coveo index appears in the Indexes list and has the cse_icon.png icon.

    index_coveo.png

    Tip: If the Articles column is blank after the index is created, click the index to open it and then go back to the Indexes list. The Articles column now displays the total number of articles.

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