Overview:
Search features in the IT self-service site make it easier to find what you need in the Knowledge Base and Service Catalog.
The knowledgebase and service catalog can be searched easily by accessing the search box in the upper right-hand corner of any page on this site.
The tips below will help you maximize your searches.
Know your search options:
The global search in the top-right corner will search all of the services in the Service Catalog AND all of the articles in the Knowledge Base.
Alternatively, you can use the search option located under the Services or Knowledge Base tab. This will limit the results to only the Service Catalog OR the Knowledge Base. For more information, view the Search the IT Support Center Site article.
So which option is best? It depends. If you are searching by a specific tag (see below), both options will produce similar results. If you are not, you may have a better chance of finding what you need by narrowing your search to either the Service Catalog or the Knowledge Base.
Note: The Knowledge Base search will return a maximum of 300 results.
Use a hashtag:
Using a hashtag (#) in a search box will allow you to search for services or articles by their tags. For example, searching for #vpn will return the services and articles that have the vpn tag.
You will notice that while you type a tag, options appear. This shows you the existing tags and can help you choose the right tag if there are multiple ways a tag could appear. For example, if you need an article about printing and you're unsure if these articles are tagged with print, printer, or printing, you can type in print to see the available tags.
To refine your search, you can search by the tag followed by a space and then another keyword. For example, if you want to search for information about printing presentations, you can search #printing presentation. This will return every article that has the tag printing AND has the word presentation.
This option works especially well if you need to find information about a specific application, such as Excel or CANVAS. For example, searching #excel error returns articles that have information about errors in Excel. If you simply searched excel error, you would see all articles that have the word excel OR the word error. Using the combination of tag + keyword can take your results from over 300 to 15.
Note: You can also use two hashtags separated by a space. This type of search will return all articles and services that have both tags. For example, searching #faculty #falconnet will return all articles and services that have the tag faculty AND the tag falconnet. If you are unable to find what you need using two hashtags, then we recommend trying the hashtag + keyword format.
Try multiple keywords:
If you cannot find the information you need, try adjusting the tags or keywords you are using in your search.