Auto-Suggest

Updated

Auto-Suggest displays suggested search terms as visitors type. Suggestions come from terms you add or from previous searches, depending on your Site Search plan.

Auto-Suggest is an App-level feature.

Watch the Auto-Suggest video for a short demonstration.

How Auto-Suggest Works

Auto-Suggest usually matches the beginning of a word or phrase. For example, typing ret might suggest retirement planning. Typing planning wouldn't normally return that phrase because the phrase begins with retirement.

Auto-Suggest can also suggest similar terms when someone makes a typo. These are called fuzzy matches.

Choose a Suggestion Method

The Suggestion Method setting controls where suggestions come from:

  • Dictionary-Driven: Uses words and phrases you add manually or upload.
  • Data + Dictionary-Driven: Combines your dictionary with suggestions based on previous searches.

Data + Dictionary-Driven requires a plan that includes Analytics. The options available to you depend on your plan.

Note: Auto-Suggest doesn't automatically create suggestions from indexed content, such as page titles or document text.

Set Up Auto-Suggest

Auto-Suggest is turned off by default for new Apps.

  1. In Site Search, go to Optimizations > Auto-Suggest.
  2. If Auto-Suggest is off, check Enable Auto-Suggest and click Publish. For a new App, wait for setup to finish before adding suggestions.
  3. Under Suggestion Method, choose an available method.
  4. Use Display to choose how many suggestions appear per search.
  5. Use Display Suggestions After to choose how many characters visitors must type before suggestions appear.
  6. Click Save Draft, then Publish to apply your changes.
Auto-Suggest configuration showing the Enable Auto-Suggest checkbox.

Your website must also be configured to display suggestions. See the Auto-Suggest API.

If you use Drupal, see Drupal Auto-Suggest.

Manage Dictionary Suggestions

You can add suggestions one at a time or upload a list.

Add a Suggestion

Under Add Word, enter a word or phrase and click the plus (+) button.

Use the capitalization and spacing you want visitors to see. Site Search also preserves special characters, such as parentheses and ampersands.

Add Word input and plus button for adding a dictionary suggestion.

Upload Suggestions

To add several suggestions at once, create a plain-text .txt file with one suggestion per line.

For example:

product catalog
account dashboard
pricing guide
support portal

Don't include a header row or separate entries with commas.

To upload the file:

  1. Under Upload a Dictionary, click Choose File.
  2. Select your .txt file and click Upload.
  3. Review the suggestions.
Dictionary upload field with Choose File and Upload buttons and the 10 MB file-size limit.

The maximum file size is 10 MB. Site Search ignores duplicate suggestions.

Your App's dictionary limit appears under Total Suggestions used. Check this limit before uploading a large file.

After adding or uploading suggestions, click Save Draft, then Publish.

Review or Remove Suggestions

The Suggestions List shows the terms you've added manually or uploaded. It doesn't show suggestions based on previous searches.

You can search or sort the list, select entries to delete, or download your dictionary as a TXT file.

Suggestions List in HelpCenterSB showing row selection, sorting, search, download and delete controls. The displayed capacity is specific to this App.

After removing suggestions, save and publish your changes.

How Suggestions Are Ranked

Auto-Suggest gives each suggestion a weight. Suggestions with higher weights appear first.

Terms you add to your dictionary have a default weight of 100.

For data-driven suggestions, Site Search uses search activity from the last 90 days. To qualify, a query must have led to a click more than 10% of the time. Site Search refreshes these suggestions daily.

When you use Data + Dictionary-Driven, results can include suggestions from both sources.

Note: The order of terms in your Suggestions List might differ from what visitors see. The list only shows dictionary entries. Live results can also include data-driven suggestions.

Troubleshoot Auto-Suggest

If suggestions aren't appearing:

  1. Make sure Auto-Suggest is enabled and published. For a new App, check that setup has finished.
  2. Check your Suggestion Method. If you're using data-driven suggestions, make sure you have enough search activity.
  3. Check Display Suggestions After. Your test query must contain at least that many characters.
  4. Check that your dictionary suggestions have been saved and published.
  5. Make sure your website uses the correct Auto-Suggest API endpoint.

To remove unwanted dictionary suggestions, delete them from the Suggestions List. To block unwanted data-driven suggestions, use Restricted Terms where available.

For more help, see Auto-Suggest Troubleshooting.

If Auto-Suggest repeatedly stops working, contact SearchStax Support. You shouldn't need to republish the configuration regularly to keep it working.

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