Welcome to SearchStax Studio.

This guide is for new SearchStax Studio customers looking to understand the steps involved to integrate Studio into your site search page.

In general, the Studio integration has four phases:

1. Create a Studio account and Application(s)
2. Upload your data
3. Configure your App(s)
4. Create the Search UI and connect your App(s) to it

The guide outlines the steps in each phase, but it is important to recognize the details of each phase may vary to meet the specifics of your requirements.

Create a Studio Application

In this phase, you are setting the groundwork to build out your search experience. The steps outlined below are fairly standard across all Studio implementations.

Log in to your Studio account

It’s assumed your Studio account has been created with the appropriate amount of Apps for your implementation.

1. Log in to your account at searchstudio.searchstax.com. Navigate to the Account in the top right-hand corner. Check your plan details are correct.
2. Invite your users. Do all your team members have invites to the Studio dashboard? Have they accepted the invite yet or have they expired?

Create a Studio Application

Now we are starting the integration. The first step is to create an App. Follow the guide referenced below to create your first App.

Creating a SearchStax Studio App

Once your App is provisioned, make sure all of your API endpoints and tokens have been generated properly. Go to Settings and run through each tab to ensure you have working endpoints. You can even run CURL commands to ensure you have a live, working App.

App Settings

That’s it! Phase one is complete.

Upload your Data

Now begins the technical integration. If you or your team are unclear on the preferred data ingestion methods, consult Searchstax to discuss options and gain clarity.

Below are options in reference to where your data lives.

Data is on Sitecore

For customers on the Sitecore platform (excluding XM Cloud) the easiest and preferred way to upload data is with the Sitecore module. The module connects to the Indexing Pipeline, so once the integration is set, there is no state management required afterwards. Find all information about the module below.

Sitecore Module

Data is on Drupal

For customers on the Drupal platform, the preferred way to upload data is with the Drupal Search API and SearchStax modules. Use Drupal Search API along with connecter modules to ingest the data. Use the SearchStax module to set configurations within Drupal to use Studio. Find all information regarding Drupal modules below.

Set Up Drupal Module

Data is Elsewhere

If your data is on a DXP/CMS platform we do not have a connect for, behind a login, in a database, or elsewhere, you can use one of the two options below. If you are looking for options for data outside of the DXPs listed above, consult SearchStax on your options.

Web Crawler

SearchStax deploys web crawlers for customers when the connecters above do not suffice. Web crawlers can scrape the data available on any public website your organization owns. The crawlers run every 24 hours picking up any new content and removing deleted content. Consult SearchStax to learn more about how they work.

Ingest API

The Ingest API lets you send data to SearchStax Studio directly in either JSON or XML format. In this situation, it is up to you to format the data such that the API can ingest it and push new content. Learn more about how it works below.

Ingest API

Configure your App

The third phase is relatively easy. At this point, you have created a Studio App with data. Now it is time to generate a search page! The First Search guide below walks you through the entire process on how to do get your search page stood up.

Your First Search

Considerations when Configuring your App

• A Relevance Model is required to return search results. This is where Search Fields must be configured. These fields are the ones Studio looks in for keyword matches. If it has no Search Fields to look for keyword matches, then search results will not appear.
• Once your search page is stood up, make sure to run through all the configurations available to you. It is easy to move on to the next step when you see a working search page. The value in Studio is that you can enhance the Relevance extensively through all the features made available to you. Specifically, check all the options in Search and Recommendations sections.
• Use Search Preview to view the values of all your fields. Often times, you will be inundated with many fields all available as Display, Facet, Sort, and Search fields. It’s best to create many Display fields initially to then use Search Preview to see the values in them. Then, you can decide what fields you need to use.

Create the UI and connect your App(s) to it

You are onto the last step! The search works in Studio, but now you need a user facing search page powered by your Studio Application. The two main options are the UX Accelerators or API build. The UX Accelerator meets most requirements and as the name implies, accelerates the implementation. Sometimes, the UX Accelerator may not meet your requirements in which case an API build will be required.

Options on Sitecore

• The Sitecore module comes with the UX Accelerator built in. As part of the module set up process, you will create a search page using the accelerator. As this point you need to adjust the styling to complete the onboarding process! More details about styling below.
• Build a custom search page as specified in the documentation here – Custom Search Page
• Custom API build. For maximum control, use this option. Skip below to the Custom API Build details.

Options on Drupal

• Use the Drupal Views module. If you already have a Drupal View powered by a Search API index, switching to Studio becomes easy. Once you install the SearchStax module you can redirect searches through Studio.
• Use the UX Accelerator with the SearchStax Drupal module. We have developed a module to drop the UX Accelerator in a Twig template. If this option make sense for you, please reach out to SearchStax for details.
• Custom UX Accelerator integration. Integrate the Vue.js based Accelerator into to your Drupal instance. If you choose this route, we cannot advise. This is only recommended for advanced users.
• Custom API build. For maximum control, use this option. Skip below to the Custom API Build details.

All Other platforms/Custom API Build Details

The API build is only recommended for customers with complex requirements. The following APIs are available.

• Search API (required) – returns search results
• Analytics API (required) – captures user behavior and populates it in Studio dashboard. Two options:
  • Tracking API (REST)
  • Tracking API (Javascript)
• Auto-suggest API (recommended) – displays type ahead suggestions in search bar dropdown.
• Popular Searches API (recommended) – returns popular searches as captured by analytics.
• Related Searches API (recommended) – returns searches related to the query a user just searched.

That’s it! Your Studio Application is integrated with your web App.

Next Steps

Now that you have integrated your search page, you can use the analytics gathered to increase content engagement and decrease content gaps. Use our No Results, Searches without Clicks, Most Popular Searches and other insights provided to understand the needs of your users.

Use the resource below to kearn more about analytics:

1. Analytics documentation: Dashboard
2. Learn how to use Studio: SearchStax Site Search Delivers Advanced, Relevant and Personalized Search Experiences

The post Getting Started appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

The SearchStax Studio Navigation Menu is where you create new Studio Apps and navigate to the screens of the Studio experience. It is normally collapsed to keep its footprint small. Click anywhere to expand it.

Search App

The Search App is a behind-the-scenes database where the Studio stores information about user activity on your search page.

The Studio displays data from only one Search App at a time. From these controls in the Navigation Menu you can:

• Select an App to work with using the droplist.
• Create a new App using the Create button.
• Display the Settings of an App.
• If the App is configured for Multi-Language features, use the language droplist to select which language experience you want to edit.

Analytics

• Dashboard
• Searches
• Items
• Power Search
• Search Feedback

Search

• Search UI
• Results Configuration
• Basic Relevance
• Relevance Modeling
• Search Preview
• Theme Editor

Recommendations

• Auto-Suggest
• Related Searches

Connectors

• Sitecore Module
• Drupal Module

The post Navigation Menu appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

Studio > Analytics > Dashboard > Checkbox Icon

The SearchStax Studio includes a To-Do list of tasks for users who are just getting started with their project. Open the navigation menu to the Analytics Dashboard and click the checkbox icon. (The list will open automatically until you complete three of the tasks. After that, you’ll have to open it manually to continue.)

The Task List consists of five milestones that are vital to a Studio project. Each task has a button that leads you to the screen where the task can be accomplished.

The post Task List appeared first on SearchStax Docs.

This is a procedure for completing your first search with SearchStax Studio:

• Confirm that data has been loaded. Navigate to Search > Results Configuration > Results and Display. Click on the Return Field dropdown. Make sure the dropdown is populated with your fields.
  

• In the Results and Display section select Return Fields. You can map fields in your index to predefined fields in the Results Card. An example is automatically shown on the right of the screen. A mapping is not required to display the fields in the results.
• We suggest creating a Title, Description, and URL field. Through trial and error you will land on the most relevant fields to return to the user. Once done, click Save Draft and then Publish.
• Create a Relevance Model. A Relevance Model is required to run a search and determines what index fields are used to search on and what rules to use for optimal search results. Navigate to Search > Relevance Modeling and click on Create a Model.
  
• On the Search Fields Tab of the Relevance Model, select the Search Fields that queries will match against. From the Available Fields list select fields you want SearchStax Studio to query against. Typically these are consumer-facing fields such as “Page_title”, “Heading_1”, “Description”, etc. When you are done, click Save Draft and then Publish. Without this step, queries will return zero results!
  
• Once the Search Fields are active, you can optionally Rank those fields and add Global Filters, Rules, and Promotions. 
• Test your Relevance Model settings on the Search Preview page. This is the Studio’s internal testing page. Customize Search Preview by selecting the View Style, Sort By and Results Per Page.
  
• Once you are receiving results in Search Preview, you can Add Facets from the Faceting tab under Results Configuration to get search results that meet your business requirements.
• Share your Search Page by enabling a Search UI App. This lets you share a search page with people who cannot log into the SearchStax Studio. Changes in Studio settings are reflected immediately in the Search UI App.
• Customize the look and feel of your search page using the Theme Editor, and UX Accelerators.
• Gain Insights with Search Analytics using Search Feedback, the Dashboard, Searches, Items, and Power Search. These features require an accumulation of user search activity before they become operational.

The post Your First Search appeared first on SearchStax Docs.