Viewing Activity Logs

Activity Logs provide visibility into user actions and system events within the SearchStax Site Search platform. This feature helps you track configuration changes, troubleshoot issues, and maintain audit trails for compliance purposes.

Accessing Activity Logs

To view Activity Logs:

1. Go to the Account menu in the upper right corner of the SearchStax Site Search interface.
2. Select Activity Logs from the dropdown menu.

Role-Based Access

Access to Activity Logs is determined by your user role:

Administrators and Owners

Administrators and Owners can view the complete Activity Log for all users across the account. This provides full visibility into:

• All user actions and configuration changes
• System-level events
• Administrative operations
• Actions performed by any user on the account

Other Users

Users with other roles (Developer, Marketer, Billing Member, Team Member) can view only their own activity log. This allows them to:

• Track their personal actions within the system
• Review configuration changes they've made
• Monitor their own usage patterns

Activity Log Information

The Activity Log displays detailed information about each event:

Event Details

The Activity Logs table shows the high-level category of an event and, when available, a more specific subcategory that shows where the action occurred.

• Timestamp: Date and time when the action occurred
• User: Name and email of the user who performed the action (visible to Admins/Owners)
• Category: The broad feature area where the event happened, such as publishing, search configuration, or user management.
• Subcategory: A more specific location within the category, such as Synonyms, Rules, Search Fields, or another configuration area. It appears between Category and Action Type in the Activity Logs table.
• Action Type: The type of operation performed (e.g., "Configuration Updated", "User Added", "Published")
• Target: What was affected (e.g., specific App, Search Profile, or configuration)
• Associated app(s): For crawler actions, this field lists the associated Apps recorded for that action.
• Details: Additional context about the action

Types of Events Logged

Activity Logs capture a wide range of events, including:

• Configuration Changes
  • Updates to Search Profiles
  • Changes to Search Fields and Results Fields
  • Modifications to Facets, Promotions, Rules
  • Updates to Ranking and Smart Ranking settings
• Publishing Operations
  • Draft saved
  • Configuration published
  • Multi-profile publishing operations
• User Management
  • Users added or removed
  • User roles changed
  • App-level permissions modified
• App Management
  • Apps created or deleted
  • App settings modified
  • Search Profiles added or removed
• Crawler Operations
  • Create Crawler, Edit Crawler, Crawl Now, and Delete Crawler actions include associated App details.
  • For crawler actions, event details include the associated App list recorded for that action.
• System Events
  • Login attempts
  • API key generation
  • Administrative actions

Filtering and Searching Activity Logs

To help you find specific events, the Activity Logs interface provides filtering and search capabilities:

• Date Range Filter: View activities within a specific time period
• User Filter: Filter by specific user (Admins/Owners only)
• Action Type Filter: Show only specific types of actions
• Search: Search for keywords in event details

Common Use Cases

Troubleshooting Configuration Issues

When a configuration isn't working as expected:

1. Open Activity Logs
2. Filter by the relevant App or Search Profile
3. Look for recent configuration changes
4. Identify when the issue might have been introduced
5. Review what changed and who made the change

Audit Trail for Compliance

For compliance and audit requirements:

1. Filter Activity Logs by date range
2. Export log data (if available) for audit documentation
3. Review who made changes and when
4. Verify that changes were made by authorized users

Security Monitoring

To monitor account security:

1. Review login events and user management actions
2. Check for unexpected user additions or role changes
3. Monitor API key generation events
4. Investigate any suspicious activity patterns

Team Coordination

When working with multiple team members:

1. Check Activity Logs to see who is working on what
2. Avoid conflicting changes by reviewing recent activity
3. Track the status of multi-step configuration projects
4. Coordinate publishing schedules

Best Practices

• Regular Review: Periodically review Activity Logs to stay informed about system changes
• Document Changes: For major configuration changes, note them in your internal documentation along with the timestamp from Activity Logs
• Security Monitoring: Regularly review user management events for security purposes
• Troubleshooting First Step: When issues arise, check Activity Logs before diving into configuration
• Compliance Documentation: Keep records of Activity Log exports for audit purposes if required by your organization

Related Information

• Access Management - User roles and permissions
• App-Level Permissions - Granular access control for Apps

FedRamp Compliance

Activity Logs are part of SearchStax Site Search's FedRamp 20X Low Phase 2 compliance initiative, providing the audit trail capabilities required for regulated environments.