Book Image

Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013

By : Johnny Tordgeman
Book Image

Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013

By: Johnny Tordgeman

Overview of this book

SharePoint 2013 feels like a of fresh air, offering many new features and changes over older versions. Among these new features is a completely revamped search engine. "Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013" is a quick-start guide to creating search-driven applications using the new and exciting features that have revolutionized the SharePoint enterprise search experience. "Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013" is a fast-paced, practical, hands-on guide to the world of enterprise search in SharePoint 2013. With step-by-step tutorials and real-world examples, this book will give you a head start creating fresh and exciting search-driven applications using SharePoint 2013's new search engine. "Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013" is an accelerated way to create search-driven applications for SharePoint 2013. By covering the basics first and gradually covering all search related topics, this book will be your guide through the world of SharePoint's enterprise search. Furthermore, you will learn how to use the powerful feature of Query Rules to create smart conditions that help respond to user's search queries intelligently. We will also discuss how to style search results and make them stand out, how to index external content so it will be searchable using SharePoint's powerful search engine, and how to use the new client side search APIs, which will allow us to take advantage of search in Apps, the new development model for SharePoint 2013. After reading Learning Search-driven Application Development with SharePoint 2013, you will understand what it takes to create applications that use search as a content provider. Using applications that are based on real world examples and step-by-step tutorials, you'll get hands-on experience in developing search driven applications.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

Result types and design templates


Both result types and design templates are new concepts introduced in SharePoint 2013. Kate Dramstad, a program manager from the SharePoint search team at Microsoft, describes both concepts in a single, easy-to-remember formula: result types + design templates = rich search experience.

When we perform a search we get back results. Some results are documents, others are pictures, SharePoint items, or just about anything else. Up until SharePoint 2010, all results, no matter which type they were, looked quite the same. Take a look at the following screenshot showing a results page from FAST for SharePoint 2010:

The results are dull looking, can't be told apart, and in order to find what you are looking for, you have to scan the results up and down with your eyes and zero in on your desired result.

Now let's look at how results are displayed in SharePoint 2013:

What a difference! The page looks much more alive and vibrant, with easy distinguishing of different...