How to Use Smart Search

Smart Search in QorusDocs helps you find relevant content using natural language queries instead of exact keyword matches. 

1. What is Smart Search
2. Enabling Smart Search
3. Accessing Smart Search
4. How to use Smart Search in the Hub
5. How to use Smart Search in the Add-Ins for MS Office
6. Understanding Your Smart Search Results
7. Smart Search Best Practices

What is Smart Search?

Smart Search is an advanced search functionality designed to find content across multiple Content Sources in QorusDocs. Instead of relying on exact keywords, Smart Search utilizes natural language queries, like commands or complex RFP questions, to retrieve the most relevant results.

Unlike the Keyword Search, which is capable of searching multiple places at once, but only lets you see the results for one content source at a time (after you have clicked on that source to see the results) - Smart Search consolidates results from multiple sources in a single view and ranks them based on relevance so that the most relevant results are always on top. This is especially useful when searching large repositories like RFP databases, Q&A libraries, and SharePoint content. 

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Enabling Smart Search

Before you can use Smart Search with one or more content sources, it needs to be enabled by a person belonging to the QorusDocs Admin role in your organization.

If you’re an Admin and need to set up Smart Search, click here to learn how.

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Accessing Smart Search

You can access Smart Search from Hub Central in your web browser, or while working in a document in the QorusDocs Add-Ins for Microsoft Office. 

In Hub Central using your web browser

In any of the QorusDocs Add-ins for Microsoft Office

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How to use Smart Search in the Hub

For this guide, we'll be using the QorusDocs Hub to run searches. Whether you're working on a proposal, an RFP, or any other document, Smart Search helps you quickly find the most relevant content.

To search from the Hub:

• 1. Click on 'Search' in the left nav.
  2. Open the Smart Search tab.
  3. Type a question or natural language query (e.g., Does QorusDocs support single sign-on?).
  4. Select your content sources (all the content sources where Smart Search has been enabled are selected by default).
  5. Click on the Search icon (magnifying glass) to find the most relevant results.

Smart Search will return a consolidated list of results ranked by relevance from all the content sources you selected, making it easy to find the answers you need.

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How to use Smart Search in the Add-ins for MS Office

When working on a document in Microsoft Office, you can use Smart Search in the QorusDocs Add-ins to find relevant content without interrupting your workflow. Instead of manually typing a question, you can simply highlight it, and Smart Search will auto-populate the search box for you. This is especially useful for responding to RFPs or when you need specific re-usable content for a pitch or proposal. 

To search directly from your document:

1. Highlight a question or phrase in the document.
2. Navigate to the Smart Search tab (your highlighted text will auto-fill the search box).
3. Click the Search icon (the magnifying glass) to retrieve relevant responses.
4. Review the results.
5. Insert the best response into your document.

This approach saves time by pulling in the most relevant content while keeping your focus on the document at hand.

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Understanding Your Smart Search Results

Smart Search organizes your results in a single, consolidated view, so you don’t have to search each content source individually.

• Results are ranked based on relevance.
• Each result clearly shows the Content Source name in which it was found. 
• A maximum of 50 results are displayed per search to keep performance optimal.

Smart Search makes it faster and easier to find the right content without needing perfect keywords. Just ask a question, browse the results, and insert the best match—it’s that simple.

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Smart Search Best Practices

• When using Smart Search, it’s best to enter full questions rather than just keywords.
• Keep search phrases short and to the point, single questions or phrases work best.
• While traditional keyword searches often require symbols like quotation marks ("") to refine results, Smart Search works differently and does not require such formatting.

We know users may be accustomed to keyword-based searches, it’s important to learn and make a shift towards a more natural language approach. A good example for change - instead of searching "security compliance", a more effective query would be "What security compliance standards does our company follow?" This approach helps Smart Search return the most relevant and comprehensive results.

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