Set up search for third-party tools

There are numerous search options accessible in the search field at the top of your ThoughtFarmer intranet. You can search everywhere (search all information on the intranet and connected cloud drive integrations), or you can limit your search to the People Directory, the Group Directory, or certain content types. Search can also be set up to allow searches of external search engines (eg. Google, Wikipedia, or YouTube) or other third-party applications (eg. HR system, IT support ticket system).

When you type a search term in the search field, it displays several find-as-you-type results in a dropdown menu. If search for third-party tools is enabled, you see an option at the bottom of the dropdown menu to search for the term using those tools. Click on the third-party tool that you want to search to see search results.

You can choose to have third-party search results appear independently in the web browser, or within the intranet framework - with the app toolbar, site logo, search options, and main navigation still showing at the top. Choosing to display the search results within the intranet framework makes it easy to navigate back to pages on the intranet. If you want to keep the intranet framework at the top, select the checkbox Use external link bar when adding or editing an external search engine. Some search engines do not allow their sites to be embedded in other web services; if you select the option to "Use external link bar" for these sites it will not work. Users will not be able to view the site results immediately but will have to click "View full site" to be taken to the site outside of the intranet framework.

You can also choose to have third-party search results appear in a new tab of your browser, while keeping the intranet page you searched from open in the original tab. To have third-party search results open in a new tab, select the checkbox Open in new tab when adding or editing an external search engine or system.

How to set up an external search engine

1. Go to the Admin panel: Search section > External search engines page.
2. Enter the name of the External Search Engine.
3. Enter the Host Name. (To determine the host name: do a sample search on the external search engine, copy the URL for the search results page, and replace your search term with the formula {QUERY}.)
4. Select either of the following options if you wish - both of these options cannot be selected at the same time:
   • Check the box Use external link bar if you wish the search engine pages to display within the framework of the intranet.
   • Check the box Open in new tab if you wish the external search results to open in a new browser tab.
5. Click Add in the Action column to add the search engine to your intranet.

To change the order in which the third-party search engines appear in the search dropdown menu, click on the drag handles to the right of the Action column and drag-and-drop to reorder. To edit the name or options for a third-party search engine, click the gear icon in the Action column beside the search engine, and select Edit from the menu that appears.