There are lots of new features in the search functionality. This brief overview can get you familiar with the changes. More details are in the remaining articles.
Modularized Search Functionality
In prior versions, all the search functionality was in one place: the Search portlet. Now each separate feature is available in a separate portlet, and you can drag and drop search widgets onto a page, creating a perfectly customized search page. The search configurations that existed in the previous version are still available, but the setting you’re looking for might be in a slightly different location due to the modularization of search in Liferay DXP 7.1. The articles here help familiarize you with the new look.
Figure 1: The search functionality is now distributed across several widgets.
Elasticsearch 6
Support for Elasticsearch 6 was added as an opt-in feature for Liferay DXP version 7.0. In the current version, Elasticsearch 6 is the default, embedded search engine. See the article on Installing Elasticsearch to learn how to install a remote Elasticsearch server for a production environment.
Figure 2: Elasticsearch 6 is the default search engine.
Search Administration
Carry out search administration tasks (like reindexing the search indexes) in the Search administration application in the Control Panel (Control Panel → Configuration → Search).
Figure 3: Reindexing content now happens in the Search administration application.
Default/Customizable Search Pages
Use a pre-configured search page template to get a sensible default search page up and running.
Figure 4: Use the search page template to create your site's dedicated search page.
Advanced Search Syntax
Use Elasticsearch’s Query String syntax to create advanced search queries (if using Elasticsearch as your Search Engine). The actual query syntax and further processing are dependent on the search engine’s implementation details. Consult your search provider’s documentation for more information.
Figure 5: Use Elastic's Query String syntax to construct advanced search queries.
Multiple Facet Term Selection
Narrow search results using Facets. Continue refining results by selecting as many facets terms as necessary. Previously, only one facet term could be used at a time per each facet.
Figure 6: Facets and their terms can be selected in multiples to refine search results.
Search System Settings
Configure system wide search behavior from the Search System Settings category found in Control Panel → Configuration → System Settings → Search. The Search Web entry reverts the default search experience from using the new Search Widgets to the classic Search Portlet that was standard in past releases.
Figure 7: Use the Search Web entry in System Settings to enable the classic, monolithic Search widget.
Custom Facets
Configure a custom facet to create a new result aggregation on any non-analyzed keyword field.
Figure 8: Configure a custom facet on the Class Type ID field.
Search Options
Configure page scoped search behavior by adding the Search Options widget from the Add Widget menu.
Figure 9: The Search Options widget configures the search experience for the page it's deployed on.
Search Facet Friendly URLs
Using the new Search widgets, filter some search results by applying a facet term. The URL is now friendly:
http://localhost:8080/web/guest/search?q=test&modified=past-hour
Code Changes and Improvements
See the developer guide
to learn about the new,deprecated, and removed APIs and extension points for search infrastructure.
Solr 7.x Support
The Solr Connector application was updated to support Solr 7.x.
Read here for more information.
Legacy Search
We’re cheating with this one. It isn’t a new feature, but the old way of doing search, inside one standalone application, is still just one checkbox away (located in Control Panel → Configuration → System Settings → Search → Search Web). This causes the embedded search application to revert to the old-style search portlet. The legacy search application can also be added to any page from the Add Widget menu (it’s under the Tools category).
To learn more about using and configuring these new features, see the remaining documentation in this section.