Introduction
If you want to make your custom property searchable then you need to create a managed property for that custom property.
I have added a new property "Initials" to my User Profile Synchronization Service and mapped it to a property from AD. That works and the property is properly imported into the user's profiles. I have even managed to successfully show it in search results; however I still can search for it specifically.
This managed property acts as a bridge between the search and custom properties.
Section: Configuring Managed Properties in Search Service on Server
Step 1
In SharePoint Search Service, select the "Search Schema" option.
Step 2
Select "New Managed Property".
Step 3
The following Managed Properties need to be created.
- Country
- Property Name: Country
- Type: Text
- Searchable: Yes
- Queryable: Yes
- Retrievable: Yes
- Allow Multiple Values: No
- Refinable: Yes-active
- Sortable: No
- Safe: No
- Alias: --
- Token Normalization: Yes
- Complete Matching: No
- Include content from all crawled properties: Yes
Select "Add a Mapping".
Select "All Categories" then search for "Country" then click "Ok".
The property is mapped as given in the following screen shot:
Conclusion
This tracking has an impact on the relevancy of search results. For example, a search result that is often clicked by users will automatically be displayed higher up in the search results.