Best way to search
Asked by Colm Maguire:

One of the issues in my current company is a complete lack of restriction for who can post what, when, how, and where. The upshot is that a lot of time is wasted in trying to search information that cannot be found. Then people have to take time to explain a process or give on a piece of crucial information that is in our confluence but no one knows where, because the original authour is no longer around.

So how do you build a search engine in Confluence and how do you make the pages that people create findable by the built in search engine. Is there a method of control the creation of a page , for example if a certain searchable field is not there, then the page cannot be created?

Any input on this would be appreciated , it does seem I will have to create a company wide Confluence from scratch and do away with the old one.


Answers:
author: Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
body: I am not sure that "build a search engine" is a useful thing to do.

Confluence already has a search engine in it. Towards the top right of the screen, there is a "search" box which you can type in, and well, search confluence for.

It sounds to me like you have a problem with volume, structure, and consistency of writing, not searching.

The best thing you can do is curate. Do some work on analysing your content. What is useful and what can be killed off? Are spaces structured consistently and logically? Are people maintaining the content correctly? Are things labelled well?

Also, look at training your space owners - they should be elected as content "champions" - they should be curating your content as well.


author: Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_
body: Hello [@Colm Maguire](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4686875)

if you interested on a high qualtiy search solution for Confluence, [iFinder Confluence Search](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1220508/ifinder-confluence-search?hosting=server&tab=overview) is available at Atlassian Marketplace.   
It helps even the confluence user without expert knowledge to search quite intuitively.

This enterprise search solution delivers top results based on linguistic analysis and offers many additional features. These articles may help you:  
? [iFinder Confluence Search](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Marketplace-Apps-Integrations/Enterprise-Search-for-Confluence/ba-p/1584172)  
? [iFinder Search Macro](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Marketplace-Apps-Integrations/iFinder-Search-Macro-for-Confluence/ba-p/1717979)

Let me know, if you need further information or like to get a demo first.

Best

Robby

comments: author: Colm Maguire
body: Thanks [@Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/3075749) Just a question so. Does it search an already existing Confluence set up, or does the documentation have to be tagged in some way so it can be found?


author: Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_
body: Hi [@Colm Maguire](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4686875) ,

Once installed, all Confluence content will be found automatically.

Some more information about this:

The app offers a lot of optional control over what should be indexed and found by the search (userinfo, attachtmentes, bogposts, comments, excl. file extension, white/black list for spaces,...).  
Alternatively, there is also a function that allows the space administrators to decide independently which of their spaces should be indexed.

Please note that this is not only a plugin in Confluence. You also need a server (Linux/Windows) for the AI-based Enterprise Search engine (which is part and price included of iFinder Confluence Search).

Thanks,

Robby


author: Colm Maguire
body: So if I understand correctly. I can create any old page on the Confluence wiki, without any tags, or specific formatting, and I Finder will be able to find it, because of it's subject matter or title? So pages on my wiki that were created 5 years ago, but perhaps no knows where there are, would be found by using IFinder?


author: Robby Holtmann_IntraFind Software AG_
body: exactly, that's right. There are several ways to sort the results list. The default is to sort by "relevance". Here a complex algorithm takes effect, which automatically finds the best search result for the search term. Thus, even "old" knowledge in Confluence is made findable again - by default. You are welcome to contact me also at atlassian@intrafind.com


author: KAGITHALA BABU ANVESH
body: Hello [@Colm Maguire](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4686875)

Did you checked space level restrictions,

1. Pages creation and

2. Restrictions

in space level permissions.

Please check the below link regarding the space restrictions.

<https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/permissions-and-restrictions-139557.html> --\> Server and DC

<https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/add-or-remove-page-restrictions/> --\> Cloud

Thanks,

Kagithala Babu Anvesh


Tags: search