Global Search (Training) - Deprecation of Traditional Search with the November 2024 Release

With the introduction of Enhanced Search in Global Search, Cornerstone is planning to deprecate the SQL-based legacy Traditional Search for Global Search in November 2024.

The Enhanced Search is a more performant, scalable, and results-driven way to power a search framework. It allows us to provide better, faster searches. The Enhanced Search supports most filters currently used in Global Search (Training).

How Does this Deprecation Impact My Organization?

  • Administrators can no longer transition the Global Search (Training) page back to Traditional Search (SQL) using Search Preferences.
  • Using Enhanced Search as the default framework for Global Search provides end users with a consistent and unified experience while providing better, faster search results.​

Deprecation Milestone

  • March 2024: Traditional Search Deprecation Announcement.
  • July 2024: Removal of the Global Search Traditional Search Preference in the user interface. Administrators can no longer configure Traditional Search in their portal. No changes are made to customer settings.
  • November 2024: Traditional Search is deprecated from Global Search – Training. Any remaining customers using Traditional Search will have their portals updated to use Enhanced Search.

Considerations

  • All filter configurations (except for Title, Keyword, and Description) for Global Search (Training) remain unchanged. The administrators require no action to continue using the same filters once the default change has been made.
  • In most cases, a newly created or updated learning object is updated within Enhanced Search results within 15 minutes or less, with few exceptions.
    • The learning object was included as a part of a large data ingestion, or a large bulk update was completed. In this case, the time for the update to be made available within search results may depend on the amount or the size of the change.
    • The learning object was created or updated at the exact moment of an update to the data set. In this case, we'd expect the learning object to be available beyond 15 minutes time-frame.
  • All filters use an 'AND' operation when Enhanced Search is enabled. This includes Custom Fields, which currently uses an 'OR' operation when Traditional Search is enabled.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yes. We love to hear feedback and how search can be improved. Our data tells us less than 1% of customers have moved back to Traditional Search since the default change was made in July 2023. If you are one of those customers, we would love to hear from you in Suggestion City.

No. No changes will be created to your Global Search (Training) preferences or the search framework you use for the March 2024 release. This is an announcement so customers can make changes as needed.

Yes. Administrators can change the global search framework from Enhanced Search to Traditional Search if they choose or if it is better for your portal. This can be done by using the search preference. However, we plan to remove this preference as a part of the July 2024 release.

Yes. Enhanced Search and Traditional Search use different frameworks to produce search results. Therefore, search results may vary when using one framework versus another.

Search results are weighted using a relevancy scoring system. For more information regarding Enhanced Search Scoring and Search Tokenization, please See Learning Search vs. Traditional Search.

Suppose you are using the results from Global Search (Training) to populate results from other pages of the application. In that case, there is a possibility the results will be updated to use Enhanced Search. We recommend testing the updated results in stage portals or other lower environments.