Result Page Search Settings (Search Tab Configurations)

Whenever a user is viewing a result page and/or advanced search form, a set of search-tab configuration settings is active for that page. These settings affect many aspects of the content, options, and functionality available on the page, including:

• The selection of searchable properties (such as field-based search) for advanced search forms.
• The selection of result properties (such as metadata) shown for each document in the result list.
• The selection of sorting properties, by which users can sort results.
• The selection of Refiner properties, through which users can narrow their search
• The selection of search scopes for simple and advanced search forms.
• The selection and programming of search-result actions, which are things that users can choose to do with any result (such as edit, add to favorites, mark for notification, etc.)
• The selection and programming of quick filters, which make it easy to execute popular types of targeted searches

The search-tab configuration that is active while a user is viewing a search form or result page in the Search Center depends on one of the following:

• The position of the Search Center within the SharePoint hierarchy
The search-tab configuration can be made for any site, collection, application or farm in SharePoint, with the settings inherited along the structural lines of SharePoint and with the possibility of overruling inherited settings at any level (and on downwards).
• The site the user was in when searching
When a user enters a query using the Search & Preview Search Box (which is a simple search field that should be provided on nearly every page in SharePoint), the Search Box Web Control forwards both the user’s query and the site the user was in when searching (this is called the “referring site”). It is possible, therefore, to configure your result page so that it inherits its search-tab settings from the referring site rather than from the usual SharePoint hierarchy.