PnP Search - Notes

Overview: I have spent considerable time figuring out how to use the PnP Search Web parts again.  I do this every few years, as I forget.  This post outlines how to set up filters for the PnP search using my own columns.

Four items to get Filtering working

Tip: Filterable Managed Properties must have a "refinable" search property.  You can't create these in SPO, so use the OOTB Refinable Managed Properties setup for this purpose.

Step 1. Upload content such as .docx and .pdf files, and add custom metadata.  I added two documents, and there is a text column for Technology

Step 2. Ensure content is being crawled and available through Managed properties

You need to be a Site Collection Admin > Go to Site Settings for the Site Collection.

Navigate to Search > Manage Search Schema > Find an existing "Refinable.." Managed Property and use it to point to the new Crawled Property.

Tip: Force a crawl on the list; it will take an hour or two, since the trigger is fired periodically. Depending on the crawl's size, it will take some time.  If it's not showing up after 3-4 hours, you are definitely doing something wrong.

Step 3.

Add Selected properties (this is the Managed Property name or Alias) - paste and move out of the input box - weird.

Customise the Layout Slots with the Layout Slot name.

Step 4. Add the PnPSearch Filter Web Part to the page containing the PnP results web part page

Add the Search Filter PnP web part to the search page.

Go to the PnPSearch Results web part properties, and set the "Connect to a filters Web Part" to Enabled and set the Filter web part.

Go back to the PnPSearch Filter web part, select "Configure" and on the Use data from these Web Parts - select the PnPSearch Results web part.

"Edit" the filters.

Tip: The PnP Search Results is the good place to ensure your data is working.  When you have the control down, go to page to and figure out what data is being returned:

Adding Additional Search Crawl database to a SP2013 Search farm

Problem: By adhereing to Microsoft recommendations for search farms, a threshold that is passed fairly quickly is that the Search Crawl database should not exceed 20 million items per database.  I have a 12 server search farm with four partitions (recommendation 10 million items per index partion).  I need to add a second Crawler DB.

Initial Hypothesis: Figure out your current crawl databases.

Add additional Search Crawl databases

 Review the existing crawl search databases

I proved this on a test system by resetting my index and recrawling, the results after adding 3 content db's are shown below.

Resolution:  Add more crawl database to the search service application.

$SSA = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication$searchCrawlDBName = "SP_Search_CrawlStore2"
$searchCrawlDBServer = "SP2013-SQL3" # SQL Aliase could be the Conn str
$crawlDatabase = New-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlDatabase -SearchApplication $SSA -DatabaseName $searchCrawlDBName -DatabaseServer $searchCrawlDBServer
$crawlStoresManager = new-Object Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.CrawlStorePartitionManager($SSA)
$crawlStoresManager.BeginCrawlStoreRebalancing()

Powershell to see what is going on:

cls
$SSA = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication
$crawlStoresManager = new-Object Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.CrawlStorePartitionManager($SSA)
Write-Host "CrawlStoresAreUnbalanced:" $crawlStoresManager.CrawlStoresAreUnbalanced()
Write-Host "CrawlStoreImbalanceThreshold:" $ssa.GetProperty("CrawlStoreImbalanceThreshold")
Write-Host "CrawlStoresAreUnbalanced:" $crawlStoresManager.CrawlStoresAreUnbalanced()
Write-Host "CrawlPartitionSplitThreshold:" $ssa.GetProperty("CrawlPartitionSplitThreshold")
$crawlLog = New-Object Microsoft.Office.Server.Search.Administration.CrawlLog $SSA
$dbInfo= $crawlLog.GetCrawlDatabaseInfo()
Write-Host "Number of Crawl Databases:"
$dbInfo.Count$dbInfo.Values

More Info:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepoint_strategery/archive/2013/01/28/powershell-to-rebalance-crawl-store-dbs-in-sp2013.aspx