SharePoint 2010 Search Alerts

In this article, we examine the Search Alerts feature of SharePoint.

What is a search alert?

Search Alert is a feature by which the user query is saved. Later, when content matches the query, the user is informed about the content through email or RSS feed. The major search providers online have this feature.

SharePoint 2010 also provides the Search Alert feature.

Experimenting with alert

You can try with the Search Alert feature.

1. Open the default site and use the search term that does not exist.
   Example. Art of Living. Your search result will be none as shown below.
   
2. Now click on the Email button which is highlighted above. You will get the following screen.
   

Enter the details and click the OK button. Your Search Alert is ready.

For testing the alert, create a list of content with the Alert Keyword. You will be getting email notifications for the same as a daily summary / weekly summary based on the option you have selected. We can also add RSS feeds as an alternative to Email.

Summary

In this article, we have explored the Search Alerts feature of SharePoint.