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Social Connect > People Search Deprecated

Use the Social Connect > People Search page to perform the following tasks:

After you configure people search, show the people search results sidebar element on the results page by enabling the sidebar element in a front end.

People search helps your users find people in your organization. When a user searches using a term, the search appliance searches any collection that you specify and displays people search profile information in a sidebar element next to ranked search results. People search results appear only on the first page of results.

People search profile information can include:

  • Images--Such as photos of members of your organization
  • Text--Such as a member's name, job title, manager, office location, and phone number
  • Links--Both images and text can be linked to web pages

People search is based on the Google Search Appliance's OneBox Modules feature. When you save a people search configuration, the search appliance creates an internal OneBox module called gsa_peoplesearch_onebox. This module appears in the list of OneBox modules on the Serving > OneBox Modules page.

If you are using the default people search template, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 6.0 or 7.0 might cause display issues with people search results. To fix this problem, update to IE 8.0.

Before Starting this Task

Before configuring people search, you must complete the tasks listed in the following table.

Task Method
Populate the search index with content and metadata for people search. This metadata can be added to the index through crawling documents or databases, indexing feeds, or with connectors, such as the LDAP connector. Use the Crawl and Index > Crawl URLs page, the Crawl and Index > Databases page, the Crawl and Index > Feeds page, or the Connector Administration pages.
Create a people search source collection. Use the Crawl and Index > Collections page.

About the LDAP Connector

Many organizations use LDAP for storing employee profile information. The Google Search Appliance provides an LDAP connector that enables you to add LDAP information to the search index. After you have added LDAP information in the index, you can easily configure a source collection that contains the LDAP profile information. For information about the LDAP connector, see the connector documentation, which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.

About Metadata Attributes and Profile Information

The profile information that appears in people search results is derived from metadata attributes found in the HTML of the documents in the search index, or metadata from databases, feeds, or connectors, including the LDAP connector. If the profile information for a single person is drawn from multiple sources, then this information must be merged into a single document before it is sent to the search appliance.

By using these metadata attributes, you can configure the attribute profile information that you want to appear in search results. For example, suppose your people database includes the following metadata attribute value pairs for each member of your organization:

<meta name="cn" content="Angela Ling"/>
<meta name="uid" content="aling"/>
<meta name="title" content="Technical Program Manager"/>
<meta name="location" content="303D"/>
<meta name="telephoneNumber" content="+1 (555) 876-1649"/>
<meta name="manager" content="felton"/>

By configuring people search using this metadata, you can enable the search appliance to return people search profiles such as:

People Search

Angela Ling(aling)
Technical Program Manager
Office location: 303D
Telephone number: +1 (555) 876-1649
Manager: Felton

A search that returns people search results can include terms that are indexed, but not displayed in the profiles. For example, a user might search on "skills," and get relevant people search results although skills are not displayed in the profiles.

Using Attribute Substitution Patterns

When you specify an attribute name by using the options on the Social Connect > People Search page, use the following attribute substitution pattern:

{$attribute_name$}

For example, to specify the attribute name cn, which stands for common name, use the following substitution pattern:

{$cn$}

The search appliance uses substitution patterns such as this one to match attributes in the search index. All people search options that use this pattern are substituted with attribute values from the metadata in the source collection before they are displayed in people search profiles.

For example, suppose that you want names to appear in people search profiles and the meta tag for name is

<meta name="cn" content="Angela Ling"/>

To include names in people search profiles, you would specify the substitution pattern {$cn$} as a Display Value. For more details about using attribute substitution patterns, see the examples in Configuring People Search by Using Page Options.

Configuring People Search

There are two different methods that you can use to configure people search profiles:

Configuring People Search by Using Page Options

Configuring people search by using the options on the Social Connect > People Search page enables you to make changes easily by choosing selections and entering information in boxes. Changes that you make by using page options are written to the underlying XSLT stylesheet.

The Social Connect > People Search page provides the following options for customizing people search profiles:

The Example on the Social Connect > People Search page displays a sample layout of a people search profile.

The following sections describe each of the page options.

Source Collection

A people search source collection is a segment of the search index that contains profile information. The source collection must contain one document for each person.

The Source Collection menu lists all the collections that have been created for the search appliance. To choose a people search source collection, select a collection from the Source Collection pull-down menu.

You can create a people search source collection by using the Crawl and Index > Collections page in the Admin Console. For information about creating a collection, click Help Center > Crawl and Index > Collections.

Because it is unlikely that you want the same content in both the people search profiles and the regular search results, exclude the content in the people search source collection from the search collection, which is the collection indicated by the site parameter in the search URL. For information about the site parameter, see "Search Protocol Reference," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.

To exclude the content in the people search source collection from the search collection:

  1. Click Crawl and Index > Collections.
  2. Click the Edit link next to the search collection.
  3. Under Do Not Include Content Matching the Following Patterns, enter the URL patterns for the people search collection documents.
  4. Click Save Collection Definition.

If a document is in both the people search source collection and the search collection, the matched document is displayed in search results, but not in people search profiles.

Maximum Results

You can specify the maximum number of people search profiles that appear in the sidebar element on the search results page.

The default maximum results value is 50. To specify a different number, enter it in the Maximum Results box. The range of valid values for maximum results is 1-500. Take note that more results might have an impact on search appliance performance.

Title

On the search results page, the people search results sidebar element can have a title.

The default title is "People." To specify a different title, enter a text string in the Title box.

Sidebar Height

The Sidebar Height controls the height of the panel that contains the people search profiles.

The default sidebar height is 170 pixels. To specify a different height for the sidebar element, enter the number of pixels in the Sidebar Height box. The range of valid values for sidebar height is 50-1000.

Image Source URL

People search can display an image with each profile.

To enable the search appliance to display images with people search profiles, enter the URL of the location of profile images in the Image Source URL box.

You can construct an image source URL that matches your organization's file structure by using attribute substitution patterns. For example, suppose that all your profile images are jpeg files located in a single directory named people_images, and that the format for the name of each jpeg file is equivalent to the user's ID (represented by the attribute uid), as shown in the following example: 

people_images/uid.jpg

The URL pattern for this image source would be:

http://www.comp.com/people_images/{$uid$}.jpg

This URL pattern would cause the image associated with a user's ID (uid) to be substituted when the people search profile is displayed.

Image Link URL

You can turn a profile image into a link to a page by providing the link URL in the Image Link URL box.

For example, suppose that each member of your organization has a resume in the member_cv directory, and that the format for the name of each file contains the user's ID, as shown in the following example: 

member_cv/resume_uid.html

The URL pattern for this image link would be: 

http://www.comp.com/member_cv/resume_{$uid$}.html

Image Height and Image Width

You can specify the height and width of the profile images by entering the number of pixels in the following boxes:

  • Image Height--The specified height of the image in pixels. If only image height is specified, the image is scaled to the specified height. The range of valid values for image height is 0-500.
  • Image Width--The specified width of the image in pixels. If only image width is specified, the image is scaled to the specified width. The range of valid values for image width is 0-500.

If both image height and image width are specified, the image is scaled to the largest possible size that does not exceed either the specified height or width. All image scaling preserves the original aspect ratio of the image.

If both image height and image width are left blank, the image is displayed in its original size. A value of 0 is equivalent to an empty field.

Sort Fields

By default, people search results are sorted by relevance. However, you can use the Sort Fields box to sort the results by one or more attributes. For example, to sort people search results by common name, enter the following substitution pattern:

{$cn$}

To sort people search results by more than one attribute, enter multiple substitution patterns. If the Sort Fields box contains multiple substitution patterns, results are sorted by attributes from left-to-right. For example, to sort first by name and then by job title, enter the following substitution patterns:

{$cn$}{$title$}

To use the default sorting, leave the Sort Fields box blank.

Label, Display Value, and Link URL

Textual information in people search profiles is created from values in the following options on the Social Connect > People Search page:

You can create a maximum of 16 rows of label, display value, and link URLs in a people search configuration. All fields are optional, so you can leave a row blank for future use.

Label

Entries in the Label box control whether a label for the attribute value appears in the people search profiles. You can also control the formatting of the label. Valid entries in the Label box are text strings, attribute substitution patterns, XSL markup tags, and HTML markup tags.

In the following example, the entries in the Label box include one text string and HTML boldface formatting tags:

<b>Office location</b>

For this entry, the following label appears in a people search profile:

Office location: 303D

You can also control spacing and line breaks by entering valid HTML and XSL markup. For example, you can enter a space by entering the following XSL for a non-breaking space in the Label box: 

<xsl:text disable-output-escaping="yes">&amp;nbsp;</xsl:text>

You can also force a line break before an attribute value by entering the following markup:

<br />
Display Value

Entries in the Display Value box control the attribute values that appear in the people search profiles, as well as the formatting of the values. Valid entries in the Display Value box are attribute substitution patterns, XSL markup tags, and HTML markup tags.

In the following example, the Display Value box contains two attribute substitution patterns, as well as boldface formatting tags:

 <b>{$cn$} ({$uid$})</b>

In the people search profiles, the values of these attributes are substituted for the patterns and bolded:

Angela Ling (aling)

Link URL

An entry in the Link URL box turns a display value into a link.

For example, suppose the Display Value box contains the following attribute substitution patterns:

{$cn$} ({$uid$})

And the Link URL box contains a URL, such as:

http://comp.com/{$uid$}

In the people search profile, the information appears as a single link, as shown in the following example:

Angela Ling (aling)

Configuring People Search by Editing Page Options

For basic configuration, edit page options. To configure people search results:

  1. Select a collection for people search from the Source Collection pull-down menu.
  2. To change the number of profiles that appear in the people search sidebar, enter a number in the Maximum Results box.
  3. To change the title of the people search results sidebar element, enter text in the Title box.
  4. To change the size of the people search sidebar element, enter the number of pixels in the Sidebar Height box.
  5. To specify a URL for profile images, enter it in the Image Source URL box.
  6. To make the profile image a link, enter a URL in the Image Link URL box.
  7. To change the scale of the profile image, enter the number of pixels in the Image Height and Image Width boxes.
  8. To change the sort order of the people search results, enter one or more attribute substitution patterns in the Sort Fields box.
  9. Specify a row of information in each people search profile:
    1. To specify a label for the display value, enter a text string in the Label box. To specify formatting of the label, enter HTML and/or XSL tags.
    2. To specify the content of a people search results row, enter one or more attribute substitution patterns in the Display Value box. To specify formatting of the attribute value, enter HTML and/or XSL tags.
    3. To make the display value a link, enter a URL in the Link URL box.
  10. To specify another row, go to step 7.
    You can specify a maximum of 16 rows.
  11. Click Save.

Configuring People Search by Editing the XSLT Stylesheet

For advanced configuration, directly edit the people search XSLT stylesheet. If you have entered configuration information by using page options, the XSLT stylesheet includes this configuration information.

After you edit the people search XSLT stylesheet, you cannot make additional edits by using the page options. However, you can delete your stylesheet edits and switch to using page options by clicking Restore Default XSL.

For information about the XSL variables used in the XSLT stylesheet to control the people search configuration, see "Creating the Search Experience," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.

The Social Connect > People Search  page provides the following options for working with the people search XSLT stylesheet:

It is helpful to see the XML returned by people search before you edit your XSLT. You can view the XML by removing the proxystylesheet parameter from a search query that gets people search results. The following example shows XML from a people search that uses results from a database.

<OBRES module_name="gsa_people-search_onebox">
   <provider>people</provider>
   <title>
        <urlText>people</urlText>
        <urlLink>search?q=test&amp;site=people&amp;proxystylesheet=default_frontend&amp;skip=o&amp;output=xml_no_dtd&amp;client=default_frontend&amp;access=p</urlLink>
   </title>
<MODULE_RESULT>
   <U>googledb://db.mycompany.com/db_feed/azE9NCwx</U>
   <Title><b>Angela Ling</b></Title>
   <Field name="person_id">1</Field>
   <Field name="name">Angela Ling</Field>
</MODULE_RESULT>
</OBRES>

Editing the XSLT Stylesheet

The XSLT Stylesheet Editor appears on the Social Connect > People Search  page after you click Edit XSL.

To edit the people search XSLT stylesheet:

  1. Select a collection for people search from the Source Collection pull-down menu.
  2. To change the number of results that appear in the people search sidebar element, enter a number in the Maximum Results box.
  3. Click Edit XSL.
  4. Enter any changes to the stylesheet.
  5. When finished, click Save.

Restoring the XSLT Stylesheet

To restore the people search XSLT stylesheet to the state before it was edited, click Restore Default XSL.

Importing an XSLT Stylesheet

If you develop an XSLT stylesheet outside the search appliance, or have a back-up version of the XSLT stylesheet, you can import it to the Google Search Appliance.

To import an edited people search XSLT stylesheet:

  1. Enter the filename of the edited people search XSLT stylesheet in the Import Stylesheet box, or browse for the file.
  2. Click Import.
  3. When finished, click Save.

Enabling the People Search Results Sidebar Element in a Front End

After configuring people search, you can show the people search sidebar element with search results in a specific front end.

To show the people search sidebar element in a front end:

  1. Click Serving > Front Ends and click Edit for a particular front end.
  2. In the Page Layout Helper box on the Output Format tab, select the Search Results section.
  3. Under Sidebar Elements, click People Search results.
  4. Click Save Page Layout Code.

If you check People Search results before you configure people search, the checkbox is silently unchecked when you click Save Page Layout Code.

Disabling and Re-enabling People Search

After you enable people search for a front end and create a people search configuration, you might want to disable it.

To disable people search:

  1. Click Serving > Front Ends and click Edit for the front end where the people search configuration was enabled.
  2. In the Page Layout Helper box on the Output Format tab, select the Search Results section.
  3. Under Sidebar Elements, clear the People Search results checkbox and click Save Page Layout Code.
  4. Click the OneBox Modules tab on the Serving > Front Ends page.
  5. Select gsa_peoplesearch_onebox in the Selected Modules list, move it to the Available Modules list, and click Save Settings.

You can re-enable a disabled people search configuration by performing the following steps:

  1. Click Serving > Front Ends and click Edit for the front end where you want to re-enable the people search configuration.
  2. In the Page Layout Helper box on the Output Format tab, select the Search Results section.
  3. Under Sidebar Elements, click the People Search results checkbox and click Save Page Layout Code.
    The onebox is automatically added to the frontend.

Viewing People Search Configuration Changes in a Browser

You can iteratively configure the people search feature so you can control the information and desired format of each displayed profile. During this process, you may want to view your saved changes in a browser window.

People Search Queries and Timeouts

There might be instances when people search results do not appear for a search query. This situation occurs when the people search query exceeds the response timeout, which is how long the search appliance should wait for a response. Reasons for a slow query response include too many people search results or a large volume of metadata in documents in the people search source collection.

The people search OneBox module, gsa_peoplesearch_onebox, observes the Response Timeout setting for all OneBox modules. The default value for the Response Timeout is 1000 milliseconds. The timeout value must be at least 1 millisecond. There is no upper limit on the timeout value.

The number of results that the search appliance attempts to serve is determined by the Maximum Results setting on the Social Connect > People Search page.

To prevent the search appliance from timing out before serving people search results, you can make the following adjustments:

  • Increasing the number of milliseconds for the Response Timeout by using the Serving > OneBox Modules page
  • Decreasing the number of Maximum Results by using the Social Connect > People Search page

For information about the Serving > OneBox Modules page, click Help Center > Serving > OneBox Modules.

Feature Limitations

In the current search appliance release, people search is a preview feature and has the following limitations:

  • The search appliance does not collapse multiple profiles into one profile. That is, multiple profiles might be returned for one person.
  • Ordering of profiles is based on search appliance ranking. Sorting on a specific metadata field is not supported.

For More Information

For more information about people search, see "Creating the Search Experience: Best Practices," which is linked to the Google Search Appliance help center.

 
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