Serving > Front Ends > Related Queries

Use the Serving > Related Queries page to perform the following tasks:

• Adding new related queries
• Editing related queries
• Viewing related queries
• Deleting related queries
• Importing or exporting related queries

You use Related Queries to associate alternative words or phrases with specified search terms. When a user enters the specified search term, the alternative appears as a suggestion. The user can click the suggested alternative to start another search.

For example, if a user searches for "Mark Twain," the search results can suggest "Sam Clemens." Related queries appear on the search page after the words "You could also try," unless you change the text by using the XSLT Stylesheet.

Related queries appear as suggestions on the search results page only when a user searches for the exact search term that you specify. The following table provides examples of search terms and related queries.

A related query does not apply to part of a search term. For example, if you associate the related query "Sam Clemens" with the search term "Mark Twain" and a user searches for "Mark Twain stories," the search results do not suggest "Sam Clemens stories."

Related queries work in only one direction. If you specify that term B is a related query for term A, the results page displays a suggestion to try term B after a user searches for term A. If the user searches for term B, no suggestion appears. To create reciprocal associations, you specify two queries, so that each term is a related query for the other.

Note: If you change or create new search queries, expect a time delay before the configuration is updated.

To use related queries:

1. Click Serving > Front Ends.
2. Click the Edit link next to the collection front end you want to edit.
3. Click the Related Queries tab.
   From this page you can view, edit, create, and import and export related queries.

Before Starting these Tasks

Before you add or work with related queries, identify the front end where you want to use it: If you only use the default_frontend, determine if you want to use related queries in it. If you only want to add related queries for a specific group of end users, you must create a front end for this group of end users. To create a front end, use the Serving > Front Ends page.

Adding New Related Queries

To add new related queries:

1. Click the Add Related Queries link (the default).
2. In the Search Term field, enter a search term.
3. In the Related Query field, enter a suggested related query.
4. Click the Save New Related Queries button. The View Related Queries page is displayed.

Editing Related Queries

To edit related queries:

1. Click the Edit Related Queries link.
2. To search for related queries on this page, enter a complete or partial related query in the search field and click the Search button.
   All related queries containing the search string are displayed.
3. Click the Show All Related Queries link to display all available related queries.
4. To delete a related query, select the box to the left of the related query.
5. When all changes have been made, click the Save Changes button.

Viewing Related Queries

To view related queries:

1. Click the View Related Queries link.
2. To search for related queries on this page, enter a complete or partial related query in the search field and click the Search button.
   All related queries containing the search string are displayed.
3. Click the Show All Related Queries link to display all available related queries

Deleting Related Queries

To delete related queries:

1. Click the Edit Related Queries link.
2. Click the check box for the related query in the Delete column.
3. Click Save Changes.

Importing or Exporting Related Queries

You can import related queries from a URL or from a .csv format file. You can create a .csv file in a spreadsheet editor, such as Google Docs spreadsheets, by typing a search term in the first column and its related query in the second column. Add one related query per row. Because related queries are overwritten when a new related query file is imported, export the current version before making changes.

To import related queries from a URL:

1. Click the Import/Export Related Queries link.
2. Enter the URL in the URL field.
3. Click Import Related Queries Now.

To import related queries from a file:

1. Click the Import/Export Related Queries link.
2. Click Browse.
3. Select the file.
4. Click Open.
5. Click Import Related Queries Now.

To export related queries from this system to a local file:

1. Click Export Related Queries Now.
   The File Download wizard is displayed.
2. Save the file with a .csv extension, which can be opened in Microsoft Excel.

For More Information

For detailed information about related queries, see "Using Related Queries to Suggest Alternative Searches" in "Creating the Search Experience: Best Practices," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.