Configure a Content Search Web Part in SharePoint 2013

Display content by configuring a simple query in a Content Search Web Part

If the query that you want the Content Search Web Part (CSWP) to issue is simple, for example, if you want to limit search results to a result source or to a specific tag, then you’ll probably only need to use the configuration options on the BASICS tab.

1. Make sure that you’re a member of the Designers SharePoint group on the site that contains the CSWP.
2. Go to the page that contains the CSWP that you want to edit.
3. From Settings , select Edit Page.
4. In the Web Part, select the Content Search Web Part Menu arrow > Edit Web Part.
5. In the Web Part tool pane, in the Properties section, in the Search Criteria section, select Change query.
   A dialog box as shown in the image above opens. Here, you can configure the query as described in the following table.

Select a query	Select a result source to specify which content should be searched.
Restrict results by app	Select an option from the list to restrict results to a specific site, library, list, or URL.
Restrict by tag	You can limit results to content that is tagged with a term. Select one of the following: Don’t restrict by any tag Search results aren’t limited by a term. Restrict by navigation term of current page Search results are limited to content that’s tagged with the navigation term of the current page. The navigation term is displayed as the last part of the friendly URL. This option is only meaningful for sites that use managed navigation. Restrict bycurrent and child navigation Search results are limited to content that is tagged with the navigation term of the current page (displayed as the last part of the friendly URL), and content that is tagged with sub-terms of the current navigation term. This option is only meaningful for sites that use managed navigation. NOTE    In a cross-site publishing scenario, this selection will work only when the result source that you selected from the Select a query menu is the catalog result source that was created when you connected your publishing site to a catalog. Restrict on this tag Search results are limited to content that is tagged with the tag that you type inside the box.

Display content by configuring an advanced query in a Content Search Web Part

If the query that you want the CSWP to issue is advanced, for example you want to use Keyword Query Language (KQL) Syntax Reference, you’ll need to use the configuration options that are available in Advanced Mode on theBASICS tab.

When you configure the query in Advanced Mode, you can also use query variables. Query variables are placeholders that are replaced with values when a query is run. Examples of query variables are {User.Name}, which is a placeholder for the name of the user who is viewing the page, or {URLToken.1}, which is a placeholder for the first value in the URL as counted from right to left.

1. Make sure that you’re a member of the Designers SharePoint group on the site that contains the CSWP.
2. Go to the page that contains the CSWP that you want to edit.
3. From Settings , select Edit Page.
4. In the Web Part tool pane, in the Properties section, in the Search Criteria section, select Change query.
5. In the dialog box that opens, select Switch to Advanced Mode.
6. Configure your query as described in the following tables:

If the query that you want the CSWP to issue is advanced, for example you want to use Keyword Query Language (KQL) Syntax Reference, you’ll need to use the configuration options that are available in Advanced Mode on theBASICS tab.

When you configure the query in Advanced Mode, you can also use query variables. Query variables are placeholders that are replaced with values when a query is run. Examples of query variables are {User.Name}, which is a placeholder for the name of the user who is viewing the page, or {URLToken.1}, which is a placeholder for the first value in the URL as counted from right to left.

1. Make sure that you’re a member of the Designers SharePoint group on the site that contains the CSWP.
2. Go to the page that contains the CSWP that you want to edit.
3. From Settings , select Edit Page.
4. In the Web Part tool pane, in the Properties section, in the Search Criteria section, select Change query.
5. In the dialog box that opens, select Switch to Advanced Mode.
6. Configure your query as described in the following tables:

BASICStab
Select a query	Select a result source to specify which content should be searched.
Keyword filter	You can use keyword filters to add query variables to your query. For a list of available query variables, see Query variables in SharePoint Server 2013. You can select predefined query variables from the drop-down list, and then add them to the query by selecting Add keyword filter.
Property filter	You can use property filters to query the content of managed properties that are set to queryable in the search schema. You can select managed properties from the Property filter drop-down list. Select Add property filter to add the filter to the query.
Query text	Type your query by using Keyword Query Language (KQL), or use the Keyword filter and Property filter lists to build the query. The keyword query can consist of free-text keywords, property filters, or operators. Use braces to enclose query variables. Query variables are replaced with an actual value when the query is run. Keyword queries have a maximum length of 2,048 characters.

REFINERS tab

Use this tab if you want your search results to be limited to items that have one or more refiner values. The managed properties that are enabled as refiners in the search schema are listed in the Choose your refinerssection. Select a refiner value in the list, and then select Add to add it to the query. If you want search results to display as a group on one or more managed properties, select Show more. This is useful to display several variants for a given item, and want to group them under a single result.

SORTING tab

In this tab, you can specify how you want your search results to be sorted. The managed properties that are set as sortable in the search schema are listed in the Sort by drop-down list. From this list, select a managed property, and then select Descending or Ascending. To add more sorting levels, select Add sort level. If you selected Rank from the Sort by list, you can select which ranking model to use for sorting in the Ranking Model list. You can also add more rules and conditions by selecting Add dynamic ordering rule.

SETTINGStab
Query rules	Select if to use query rules.
URL Rewriting	Select if you want the URL rewrite to the item details page to be relative for each catalog item as defined when you connected your publishing site to a catalog. If you select Don’t rewrite URLs, the URLs for catalog items will point directly to the library item of the connected catalog.
Loading behavior	Select when you want the search results returned by the CSWP to appear on the web page. If you use the default option, Sync option: Issue query from the server, queries are issued from the server, and the search results are included in the page response that SharePoint returns. If you selectAsync option: Issue query from the browser, the queries are issued from the user’s browser after the complete page is received. You can use this option for content such as Recommendations or Popular Items.
Priority	Select the priority for content that’s displayed by this Web Part in relation to other Search Web Parts. If SharePoint is running under a heavy load, the queries will be run according to their priority.
Caching	Select one Active Directory security group if you want search results to be cached for users in the group. By caching search results for a security group, you can reduce page load time. NOTE    You should only select a security group where search results are identical for all users in the group. For more information, see this article.

TEST tab
In this tab, you can preview query details sent by the CSWP.
Query text	Shows the query that will be run by the CSWP.
Select Show more to display additional information.
Query template	Shows the content of the query template that is applied to the query.
Refined by	Shows the refiners applied to the query as defined on theREFINERS tab.
Grouped by	Shows search results that are grouped by managed property as defined in the REFINERS tab.
Applied query rules	Shows which query rules are applied to the query.
Query template variables	Shows the query variables that are applied to the query, and the values of these variables as they apply to the current page. To preview the results, select Test Query.
To test how the query works for different user segment terms, select Add user segment term. To preview the results, select Test Query.
Query text	Shows the query that will be issued by the CSWP.

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Control how content is displayed in a Content Search Web Part

To control how content is displayed in a CSWP, you have to customize display templates.

Here are some examples of how content looks before and after applying a customized display template to a CSWP.

Before	After

To learn how to create a custom display template, see SharePoint 2013 Design Manager display templates.

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Add a Content Search Web Part

1. Make sure that you’re a member of the Designers SharePoint group on the site where you want to add the Web Part.
2. Go to the page where you want to add the Web Part.
3. From Settings , select Edit page.
4. In the Zone where you want to add the Web Part, select Add a Web Part.
5. In the Categories list, select Content Rollup.
6. In the Parts list, select Content Search > Add.

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About the Content Search Web Part

When visitors browse to a page that contains a CSWP, the Web Part automatically issues a query. The search results are displayed within the CSWP. In most cases, visitors won't even know that search technology is being used to display the content they're viewing. To them, it'll look and feel like any other webpage.

By configuring a query in a CSWP, you can define which content visitors will see when they browse to a page that contains a CSWP. By default, the query in the CSWP is configured to show the three most recently changed items on the site. By configuring the query, you can change the number of items that are shown in the CSWP and which content is shown. For example, you can configure the query so that the CSWP will show nine list items from a particular list, or the last six documents the visitor created in a document library.

Get team site lists and templates in SharePoint 2013 publishing site

Team site lists and templates like, survey list, announcement list, task list, promoted links list won’t be available by default for a SharePoint 2013 publishing Site. To enable these list templates and functionalities in SharePoint 2013 publishing site, navigate to site settings, and select Manage Site Features available under "Site Actions" category. Locate the “Team Collaboration Lists” feature is the list of available features and activate it. This will include all the list templates related to team site to a SharePoint Site.

Configure profile synchronization by using SharePoint Active Directory Import in SharePoint Server 2013

SharePoint 2013

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  Applies to: SharePoint Server 2013
Topic Last Modified: 2015-03-02
Summary: Learn how to import user profiles from Active Directory to SharePoint Server 2013 by using the Active Directory import tool for SharePoint Server 2013.
You can use the SharePoint Active Directory import option (AD import) as an alternative to using SharePoint profile synchronization to import user profile data from Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in your domain. This option to configure profile synchronization (also known as profile sync) involves three steps:

• Selecting the option
• Creating or editing a connection
• Mapping user profile properties

The Active Directory import tool works only with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and does not work with other directory services.

Note:
This article assumes that you have already provisioned the User Profile service, have created the User Profile service application, and that you have gathered the required information about your environment. For more information, see Synchronize user and group profiles in SharePoint Server 2013.

In this article:

• Before you begin
• Configure SharePoint active directory import by using Central Administration

Before you begin

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Before you begin the tasks in this article, review the following information about prerequisites:

• You must be a member of the Farm Administrators group.
• You must know the credentials of the domain controller that has synchronization permissions.
  For more information about required permissions, see the “Plan account permissions” section of Plan profile synchronization for SharePoint Server 2013.

Consider the following situations and note what the AD import option does not support when you determine whether to use this option:

• Import operations that use this option are significantly faster than the same operations that use SharePoint profile synchronization.
• The AD import option does not perform bidirectional synchronization. That means changes made to SharePoint user profiles will not be synchronized back to the domain controller.
• Referential integrity among users and groups is only maintained within a single Active Directory forest.
• The AD import option lets you configure and use only a single, farm-wide property mapping.
• The AD import option does not automatically synchronize photos from Active Directory to SharePoint Server 2013. If you need to import photos you must use profile synchronization. For more information, see Synchronize user and group profiles in SharePoint Server 2013.
• The AD import option does not support generic (non-AD) LDAP sources.
• The AD import option does not support Source Schema Discovery.
• The AD import option does not support multi-Forest scenarios such as:
  
  • If you have a trust between two forests, the trusted forest objects will not be imported.
  • If you need to import users from multiple domain, you must create multiple synchronization connections. If you have multiple domains to manage, using Profile Synchronization or FIM may be a better option.
• The AD import option does not support Contact objects (also known as cross-object pointers).
• The AD import option does not support custom object classes besides User and Group.
• The AD import option does not filter user interface to create complex Boolean expressions.
• The AD import option does not provide object filtering based on object property values (you must use simple LDAP filters).
• The AD import option does not provide Logon and Resource Forest support. That is, custom joins of data from multiple sources.
• The AD import option does not support Business Connectivity Services Import.
• The AD import option does not support property mappings for complex types like pictures and special AD types.
• The AD import option does not support exporting data from SharePoint to Directory Sources.
• The AD import option does not support Upgrading/Translating FIM based connections or synchronizing configuration to AD import (or in reverse order).
• The AD import option does not ensure single-master of each object property (currently, the last writer wins).
• The AD import option does not perform per-tenant property mapping.

Note:

Because SharePoint 2013 runs as websites in Internet Information Services (IIS), administrators and users depend on the accessibility features that browsers provide. SharePoint 2013 supports the accessibility features of supported browsers. For more information, see the following resources: Plan browser support Accessibility for SharePoint 2013 Accessibility features in SharePoint 2013 Keyboard shortcuts Touch

Configure SharePoint Active Directory Import by using Central Administration

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You perform three procedures in Central Administration to configure AD import.
In the first procedure, you select the SharePoint Active Directory Import (AD Import) option to import user profile data from AD DS. This AD import option improves the performance of the import process and is simpler to use, although it is not as flexible as the SharePoint profile synchronization method.
In the second procedure, you create a connection to a directory service. The connection identifies the items to synchronize and contains the credentials that are used to interact with the directory service. The information that you enter comes from the Connection Planning worksheet.
In the third procedure, you determine how the properties of user profiles in SharePoint Server 2013 map to the user information that is retrieved from Active Directory Domain Services. You should have identified how you will map user profile properties on the User profile properties data sheet in the User Profile Properties worksheet.
To import profiles, you must have at least one synchronization connection to AD DS. You may have connections to multiple AD DS servers. During this phase, you create a synchronization connection to each AD DS server from which you want to import profiles. You can synchronize after you create each connection, or you can synchronize one time, after you have created all of the connections. Although synchronizing after each connection takes longer, doing this makes it easier to troubleshoot any problems that you might encounter.
To select SharePoint Active Directory import

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.
2. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
3. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the name of the User Profile service application.
4. On the Manage Profile Service page, in the Synchronization section, click Configure Synchronization Settings.
5. On the Configure Synchronization Settings page, in the Synchronization Options section, select the Use SharePoint Active Directory Import option, and then click OK.

To create a connection to a directory service for import

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.
2. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
3. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the name of the User Profile service application.
4. On the Manage Profile Service page, in the Synchronization section, click Configure Synchronization Connections.
5. On the Synchronizations Connections page, click Create New Connection.
6. On the Add new synchronization connection page, type the synchronization connection name in the Connection Name box.
7. From the Type list, select Active Directory Import.
8. Fill in the Connection Settings section by completing the following steps:
   
   1. In the Fully Qualified Domain Name box, type the fully-qualified domain name of the domain.
   2. In the Authentication Provider Type box, select the type of authentication provider.
   3. If you select Forms Authentication or Trusted Claims Provider Authentication, select an authentication provider from the Authentication Provider Instance box.
      The Authentication Provider Instance box lists only the authentication providers that are currently used by a web application.
      

      Tip:
      You may have to select Trusted Claims Provider Authentication and then select Forms authentication in the Authentication Provider Type box before the list of authentication providers idisplays.

   4. In the Account name box, type the name of the account you want the AD import tool to use to perform the synchronization in the form <DOMAIN>\<UserName>. The synchronization account must have Replicate Directory permissions or higher on the root OU of Active Directory.
   5. In the Password box, type the password for the account you want the AD import tool to use to perform the synchronization.
   6. In the Confirm password box, type the password again.
   7. In the Port box, type the connection port you want the AD import tool to use to connect to AD DS when it performs the synchronization.
   8. If a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection is required to connect to the directory service, select Use SSL-secured connection.
      

      Important:
      If you use an SSL connection, you must export the certificate of the domain controller from the AD DS server and import the certificate into the synchronization server.

   9. If you want to filter the objects that you import from the directory service, in the Filter in LDAP syntax for Active Directory Import box, type a standard LDAP query expression to define the filter.
9. In the Containers section, click Populate Containers, and then select the containers from the directory service that you want to synchronize. All organizational units (OUs) that you select will be synchronized with their child OUs. There is currently no utility that allows you to select a parent OU while excluding any of its child OUs from synchronization.
10. Click OK.
    The newly created connection is listed on the Synchronization Connections page.
    

    Tip:
    On the Synchronization Connections page, you can right-click the name of a synchronization connection, and then click Edit or Delete to edit or delete the connection.

To map user profile properties

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.
2. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
3. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the User Profile service application name.
4. On the Manage Profile Service page, in the People section, click Manage User Properties.
5. On the Manage User Properties page, right-click the name of the property that you want to map to a directory service attribute, and then click Edit.
6. To remove an existing mapping, in the Property Mapping for Synchronization section, select the mapping that you want to remove, and then click Remove.
7. To add a new mapping, do the following:
   
   1. In the Add New Mapping section, in the Source Data Connection list, select the data connection that represents the directory service to which you want to map the user profile property.
   2. In the Attribute box, type the name of the directory service attribute to which you want to map the property.
   3. Click Add.
      

      Note:
      You cannot add multiple mappings or edit a mapping. To change mapping settings for a property, you must first remove the existing mapping, and then create a new mapping.

8. Click OK.
9. Repeat steps 5 through 8 to map additional properties.

To start profile synchronization

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.
2. On the SharePoint Central Administration website, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.
3. On the Manage Service Applications page, click name of the User Profile service application.
4. On the Manage Profile Service page, in the Synchronization section, click Start Profile Synchronization.
5. On the Start Profile Synchronization page, select Start Full Synchronization if this is the first time that you are synchronizing or if you have added or modified any synchronization connections since the last time that you synchronized. Select Start Incremental Synchronization to synchronize only information that has changed since the last time that you synchronized.
6. Click OK.
   The Manage Profile Service page is displayed, showing the profile synchronization status in the right pane.

Sharepoint Design Manager

Introduction

The Design Manager is a new tool in SharePoint 2013. It’s available when you use the Publishing Portal site template or activate the Publishing Infrastructure feature at the site collection level. The Design Manager is a new option in the Look and Feel section of the Site Settings.

SharePoint Site Collection Feature

SharePoint Web Collection Feature

Why Design manager?

1. SharePoint Designer 2013 is no longer the preferred tool. There is no longer a “Design” view for pages. It is only available in CODE View.
2. With Design Manager, you can convert an.html file into a SharePoint 2013 master page, a .master file. After the conversion, the HTML file and master page are associated, so that when you edit and save the HTML file, the changes are synced to the associated master page.
3. This tool’s purpose is to give users a new and easy way to brand SharePoint. The goal was to allow designers to create the look and feel for a SharePoint site using the tools they are most comfortable with like Dreamweaver or Visual Studio.
4. In SharePoint 2013, Design Manager can help web developers and designers build and export the visual design of a SharePoint site collection as a package. This package can easily be distributed to customers, or other designated groups, for installation on their site collections. This new feature reduces the complexity of transporting designs, and makes it easier for customers to outsource the visual design of their sites.
5. Device Channels that are part of the Design Manager now. The ability to have multiple designs based on browsers or devices. Ensure a consistent visual experience across all device platforms in your organization.

Device Manger Options

Design Manager

This Feature available in the Publishing site Portal or the site having both infrastructures publishing feature activated at Site and web level. The Design Manager is a new option in the Look and Feel section of the Site Settings.

Welcome

The Welcome page gives you a quick intro message and some links to learn more information, import a finished design package or pick one of the new looks provided out of the box.

Design Manager: Welcome Page

There are two options:

• Import the complete design Package: This page will redirect to this “http ://<SiteCollection>/_layouts/15/DesignPackageInstall.aspx” Page. You will import the already created design to your SharePoint Portal.

Site Settings: Import Design Package

• Pick a pre-Installed Look: You can choose the SharePoint 2013 OOB design template. The template located at this “http://<SiteCollection>/_layouts/15/DesignGallery.aspx” URL.

Site Settings->Change the Look & Feel

Manage Device Channels

A new concept in SharePoint 2013, the Device Channels allows you to target areas of content on your pages for specific devices. By using something called the user agent, SharePoint know what device you are using and can use that information to perform different tasks. In this case it will use that information to show areas of content you have targeted towards a specific device. An example could be that you know one device allows for Flash content, but others don’t. Put that content in a Device Channel so that it only renders on the device where it will work. This page allows you to create new or edit existing channels.

Device Manager Channels

Upload Design Files

This page is pretty straight forward. There is some info letting you know that you can map a network drive to the master page gallery and use it through Windows Explorer. WebDAV is now enabled for the master page gallery as a new feature, which makes this possible, unlike in previous versions.

Upload Design Files

Edit Master Page

This is the page you will use the most. After you have uploaded your source files you will come here to convert the HTML page to your new master page through the conversion wizard. By clicking on the “Convert an HTML file to a SharePoint master page link” you will be prompted with a series of screen that allow you to select the HTML file you want to convert. After the conversion is done you can perform other actions like publishing a major version from the list. If there were any issues with the conversion the status will indicate that you need to review your file. The ellipses have replaced the down arrow icon used in previous versions of SharePoint. Click on it to see other options available with your file.

Edit Master Page

The ability to create a master page from scratch has also gotten easier with SharePoint 2013. By clicking on the “Create a minimal master page” link, you can create a bare-bones master page. This is also a good way to see what you should be doing in your html files to create place holders for the SharePoint specific elements like the navigation bar and main content area.

Edit Page Template

Display templates are new in SharePoint 2013 and are a huge topic for discussion. For this article I will just say that they are used for formatting search related web parts and search results. From this page you can copy an existing one and modify it to suit your needs. We’ll dive into this deeper in another post.

Edit Display Template

Edit Page Layout

Page layouts are still around in SharePoint 2013. The new feature provided by the Design Manager is that you can use an HTML page like you did with the master page. There are some SharePoint specific lines of code that you need to have you page render correctly. We’ll cover that later. The quickest way to see that code is to use the “Create a page layout” link. Give your new page a name, pick a master page to associate it with and click Create. Once the new file is created you can click on the ellipse and download a copy to your local drive. When you open up the file to edit you will see all of the code that was added to your page layout file to correctly render it in SharePoint 2013.

If you already have your page layouts created you can upload or save them directly to the master page gallery and SharePoint will convert them. Once it converted they will appear on this page. Be sure to put your page layouts in the same folder as your master page so that you can easily find them later.

Edit Page Layouts

Publish and Apply Design

From the publish and apply design page you are given a link to go and finally apply the brand you have created. Then hope everyone likes it.

Design Manager: Publish & Apply Design

Create Design Package

The ability to move your design between environments is made easier with the create design package page. Simply enter a package name and whether to include search configuration with it and click Create. The create process will take all of your files and package them up nicely in a wsp file. Once it is ready you are provided with a link to download the file. Notice that the file is also saved into the solutions store at the site collection level. This makes it easy to move it to Office 365.

Create Design Package