Results Ranking Documentation

Introduction

The Results Ranking feature provides a powerful way to customize and improve the relevance of search results within the platform. It allows administrators and authorized users to adjust how search results are prioritized, hide irrelevant content, and fine-tune the search experience. By optimizing result rankings, you can ensure that users find the most valuable information quickly and efficiently when using the ACE Search functionality.

Table of Contents

• Results Ranking Documentation
  • Introduction
  • Table of Contents
  • Accessing Results Ranking
  • Understanding Results Ranking
    • Key Concepts
    • Relevance Scoring System
  • Using the Results Ranking Interface
    • Conducting a Test Search
    • Viewing Search Results
  • Adjusting Result Rankings
    • Increasing Relevance
    • Decreasing Relevance
    • Hiding Results
    • Managing Hidden Results
  • Advanced Ranking Features
    • Applying Ranking Rules to Similar Queries
    • Creating Permanent Top Results
    • Batch Ranking Adjustments
    • Custom Sorting Rules
  • Best Practices for Results Ranking
    • Systematic Approach
    • Optimization Guidelines
    • Collaborative Ranking
  • Monitoring and Analytics
    • Ranking Effectiveness Metrics
    • Accessing Analytics
  • Troubleshooting Common Issues

Accessing Results Ranking

1. Navigate to the Knowledge Management section from the main navigation bar
2. Select Results Ranking from the dropdown menu
3. The Results Ranking interface will display, providing tools to search and modify result rankings

Understanding Results Ranking

Key Concepts

• Relevance Score: Each search result has a relevance score that determines its position in results
• Manual Adjustments: Administrators can manually adjust these scores
• Result Hiding: Irrelevant results can be hidden from searches
• Persistent Settings: Ranking adjustments apply to all future searches with similar queries

Relevance Scoring System

The platform uses a sophisticated algorithm to calculate relevance scores based on:

• Content Match: How closely the content matches the search query
• Recency: How recently the content was created or updated
• Popularity: How frequently the content is accessed
• Source Authority: The relative importance of the knowledge source
• Metadata Match: Relevance of tags, categories, and other metadata

The default relevance score ranges from 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater relevance.

Using the Results Ranking Interface

Conducting a Test Search

To begin adjusting result rankings:

1. Enter a search query in the search field at the top of the Results Ranking interface
2. Click the search button or press Enter
3. The system will display search results with their current relevance scores
4. Results are displayed in order of decreasing relevance (highest scores first)

Viewing Search Results

The search results display includes:

• Result Title: The title of the content item
• Source: The knowledge source where the content originated
• Relevance Score: The current numerical score determining ranking
• Preview: A snippet of the content showing matched terms
• Action Buttons: Controls for adjusting ranking or hiding results

Adjusting Result Rankings

Increasing Relevance

To promote a result to appear higher in search results:

1. Locate the result you want to promote
2. Use the controls to increase its relevance score:
   • Click the "+" button to incrementally increase the score
   • Enter a specific higher value in the score field
   • Use the slider control to adjust the score visually
3. The result will move up in the ranking order based on the new score
4. Changes are saved automatically

Decreasing Relevance

To demote a result to appear lower in search results:

1. Locate the result you want to demote
2. Use the controls to decrease its relevance score:
   • Click the "-" button to incrementally decrease the score
   • Enter a specific lower value in the score field
   • Use the slider control to adjust the score visually
3. The result will move down in the ranking order based on the new score
4. Changes are saved automatically

Hiding Results

To completely remove irrelevant results from search:

1. Locate the result you want to hide
2. Click the "Hide Result" button (often represented by an eye icon with a slash)
3. Confirm the action in the prompt that appears
4. The result will be removed from search results for this query
5. A "Hidden Results" section will appear, showing all hidden items

Managing Hidden Results

To review and manage results that have been hidden:

1. Scroll to the "Hidden Results" section at the bottom of the interface
2. Review the list of results that have been hidden for the current query
3. To unhide a result: Click the "Unhide" button (often represented by an eye icon)
4. The result will return to the main results list with its original relevance score

Advanced Ranking Features

Applying Ranking Rules to Similar Queries

Some implementations allow ranking adjustments to apply to variations of the search query:

1. After making ranking adjustments, you may see an option to "Apply to Similar Queries"
2. Enabling this will apply your adjustments to semantically similar searches
3. This helps maintain consistent ranking across different phrasings of the same question

Creating Permanent Top Results

For critical information that should always appear for certain queries:

1. Locate the result you want to permanently position at the top
2. Click a "Pin to Top" or "Always Show First" option
3. Configure which search terms should trigger this pinned result
4. The result will always appear first when users search for the specified terms

Batch Ranking Adjustments

For efficient management of multiple results:

1. Use checkboxes to select multiple search results
2. Apply batch actions such as:
   • Adjust scores by a fixed amount
   • Hide all selected results
   • Set all selected results to a specific score

Custom Sorting Rules

Some implementations allow creating custom sorting rules beyond relevance scores:

1. Navigate to the "Custom Rules" section of Results Ranking
2. Create rules based on criteria like:
   • Document age
   • Knowledge source
   • Author
   • Content type
3. Assign priority levels to these rules
4. The system will apply these rules in addition to relevance scores

Best Practices for Results Ranking

Systematic Approach

• Start with Common Queries: Begin by optimizing results for the most frequent searches
• Test with Various Terms: Enter different phrasings of the same query to ensure consistency
• Regular Maintenance: Review and update rankings monthly as content evolves
• Focus on Top Results: Pay most attention to the first 5-10 results, as users rarely look beyond these
• Document Changes: Keep records of major ranking adjustments and their rationale

Optimization Guidelines

• Promote Authoritative Content: Boost results from official documentation and trusted sources
• Consider User Roles: Adjust rankings based on the needs of different user groups
• Balance Recency and Relevance: Don't let new content automatically outrank more relevant older content
• Use Hiding Sparingly: Only hide results that are truly irrelevant, not just lower priority
• Seek User Feedback: Periodically ask users if they're finding what they need quickly

Collaborative Ranking

For larger organizations with multiple administrators:

• Establish Governance: Create clear guidelines for who can adjust rankings
• Review Process: Implement a review system for significant ranking changes
• Knowledge Transfer: Ensure multiple people understand the ranking approach
• Documentation: Maintain logs of major ranking decisions and rationale

Monitoring and Analytics

Ranking Effectiveness Metrics

Monitor the impact of your ranking adjustments:

• Click-through Rate: Which results are users selecting
• Search Refinements: How often users modify their search after seeing results
• Time to Click: How quickly users find and select relevant results
• Zero-result Searches: Queries that return no results
• User Feedback: Direct ratings of result helpfulness

Accessing Analytics

1. Navigate to the Analytics section of the platform
2. Select "Search Analytics" or a similar option
3. Review metrics before and after making ranking adjustments
4. Use insights to guide further optimization

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Issue	Possible Causes	Solutions
Ranking changes not appearing	Caching, indexing delay	Wait for index refresh, clear cache, verify changes were saved
Results still appearing after hiding	Multiple content versions, different query phrasing	Check for duplicates, apply hiding to similar queries
Unexpected ranking behavior	Conflicting rules, system updates	Review all ranking rules, check for system notifications
Important content ranking too low	Content quality issues, metadata problems	Improve content, enhance metadata, manually boost relevance
Inconsistent rankings across similar queries	Lack of semantic matching rules	Apply ranking changes to similar queries, create query groups