The search results page lists the matching items with icons to indicate the type of result. You will know from the icon what the file type is, or if it is a SharePoint portal or Internet site, for example.
In addition to the actual results, the page displays several tools for narrowing your search. These include the contextual information, links, and the sorting tool.
Your search results will show the matching word or phrase in a brief section of text from the document where it was found. You can then better decide from the context whether the item is actually something useful to you.
The actual matching text is highlighted in the result so you can easily see where it appears.
Document properties, such as Authors, Date, and Size also appear in the result:
A link appears below the text with the URL of the item. You can retrieve the item by clicking the URL link.
Note
If you are using Office Web Apps, you will also see a link to View in browser. This allows you to view the document in the browser without launching its full application, such as Word or Excel.
If you have FAST for SharePoint installed, you will also see a thumbnail showing the contents of Microsoft Office files. Clicking on the thumbnail allows you to scroll through the entire file right from within the search results page. You will not have to launch the application, or even open another browser window.
By default, SharePoint lists your search results by relevance. Relevance is determined by a number of factors. A document becomes more relevant the more your search team appears in the document. The more often a document has been opened by others in previous searches, the more relevance it has.
The sort by drop-down menu allows you to choose how to list your search results. The default sort order is Relevance. You also have the option to sort by Date (Newest) or Date (Oldest).
