Defining menu element search properties

Specify the search criteria to be used when generating the menu element. You can limit the search according to the properties of content items including authoring templates, site areas, categories, and keywords.

About this task

Between different criteria, menu searches are "and" searches, but within each search criteria, menu searches are "or" searches. For example, a menu element that searches for two different categories and an authoring template will display content items profiled with at least one of each profile type. Content that matches only one profile type are not displayed.

Menus will not display search results if you select a search criteria but do not enter any search parameters. For example, if the menu is configured to display results based on categories, but no categories are specified in the menu form, then no matches are displayed.

Procedure

  1. Select the search criteria types you would like to use in this search query, and then enter the following details.
  2. To exclude the currently displayed content item if returned in the search results, select Exclude current content item from results.
  3. To search for content items that are based on specific authoring templates:
    1. Click Select Authoring Templates to search for content items that use the selected authoring templates.
    2. Use the following options to dynamically create search criteria:
      • To include authoring templates that are defined in a rendering portlet configuration in the search, select User-specified rendering portlet configuration.
      • To include the authoring template used by the currently displayed content item, select Current authoring template.
      • Enter query string parameter to search for. For example, if you entered myquery in this field, a menu displayed on a page whose URL contained a search query ?myquery=library1/shoes would display content that used an authoring template called shoes from the library called library1. If no library is specified in the original URL, the default library specified in the WCM WCMConfigService service is used.
      • Select Merge selected authoring templates with included authoring templates to add authoring templates selected in the Further Options section to the selected authoring templates.
      • Select Replace selected authoring templates with included authoring templates to replace the selected authoring templates with authoring templates selected in the Further Options section. If no authoring templates are found using the criteria entered in the Further Options section, then the selected authoring templates are used.
  4. To search for content items that are stored in specific libraries:
    1. Click Location and then Libraries.
    2. Use the following options to dynamically create search criteria:
      • To include libraries that are defined in a rendering portlet configuration in the search, select User-specified rendering portlet configuration.
      • To include the library the currently displayed content item is located under in the search, select Current Library.
      • Select Enter a Query string parameter to search for libraries using a query string. For example, if you entered myquery in this field, a menu displayed on a page whose URL contained a search query ?myquery=library1 will search for all content items under the library named library1.
      • Select Merge selected libraries with included libraries to add libraries selected in the Further Options section to the selected libraries.
      • Select Replace selected libraries with included libraries to replace the selected libraries with libraries selected in the Further Options section. If no libraries are found using the criteria entered in the Further Options section, then the selected libraries are used.
  5. To search for content items that are located within specific site areas:
    1. Click Location and then Site Areas.
    2. To include all ancestors of the selected site areas in the search, select Include Ancestors.
    3. To include all descendants of the selected site areas in the search, select Include Descendants.
    4. Click Select Site Areas and to search for content items located within the selected site areas.
    5. Use the following options to dynamically create search criteria:
      • To include site areas that are defined in a rendering portlet configuration in the search, select User-specified rendering portlet configuration.
      • To include the site area the currently displayed content item is located under in the search, select Current content.
      • Select the site areas you would like restrict the search to. Only the selected site areas that also are found in the portlet-defined or content-defined site areas are used in the search.
      • Enter a query string parameter to search for. For example, if you entered myquery in this field, a menu displayed on a page whose URL contained a search query ?myquery=library1/shoes would display content located under a site area called shoes from the library called library1. If no library is specified in the original URL, the default library specified in the WCM WCMConfigService service is used.
      • Select Merge selected site areas with included site areas to add site areas selected in the Further Options section to the selected site areas.
      • Select Replace selected site areas with included site areas to replace the selected site areas with site areas selected in the Further Options section. If no site areas are found using the criteria entered in the Further Options section, then the selected site areas are used.
  6. To search for content items that are profiled using specific categories:
    1. To include all ancestors of the selected categories in the search, select Include Ancestors.
    2. To include all descendants of the selected categories in the search, select Include Descendants.
    3. To only return content items profiled with all selected categories, select Results must match All Categories.
    4. Click Select Category to search for content items that are profiled with the selected categories.
    5. Use the following options to dynamically create search criteria:
      • To include categories that are defined in a rendering portlet configuration in the search, select User-specified rendering portlet configuration.
      • To include the categories the currently displayed content item is profiled with in the search, select Current content.
      • To include the categories the current user is profiled with in the search, select Current user.
      • Select the categories you would like restrict the search to. Only the selected categories that also are found in the portlet-defined, user-defined or content-defined categories are used in the search.
      • Enter a query string parameter to search for. For example, if you entered myquery in this field, a menu displayed on a page whose URL contained a search query ?myquery=library1/shoes would display content profiled with a category called shoes from the library called library1. If no library is specified in the original URL the library of the current content item is used, and if that cannot be resolved the default library specified in the WCM WCMConfigService service is used.
        Note: If a category exists in more than one taxonomy, only the first found category is used by the search query. You cannot specify a taxonomy name in the search query. Rename one of the categories to ensure that the search query uses the correct category.
      • Select Merge selected categories with included categories to add categories selected in the Further Options section to the selected categories.
      • Select Replace selected categories with included categories to replace the selected categories with categories selected in the Further Options section. If no categories are found using the criteria entered in the Further Options section, then the selected categories are used.
  7. To search for content items that are profiled using specific keywords, enter keywords to search for in the Matching Content Keywords field separated by commas. Keyword searches are case sensitive.
    1. Use the following options to dynamically create search criteria:
      • To include the keywords the currently displayed content item is profiled with in the search, select Current content.
      • To include the keywords the current user is profiled with in the search, select Current user.
      • Enter a query string parameter to search for. For example, if you entered myquery in this field, a menu displayed on a page whose URL contained a search query ?myquery=shoes would display content profiled with a keyword called shoes. No library is specified when using query strings with keywords.