GitHub PnP Search for SharePoint Online: A Comprehensive Guide

As businesses increasingly rely on SharePoint Online for collaboration, effective search functionality becomes crucial. SharePoint's native search experience is useful but sometimes requires more flexibility, customization, and extensibility. This is where PnP (Patterns and Practices) Search for SharePoint Online comes into play, allowing developers and administrators to leverage advanced search features.

In this article, we will explore what GitHub PnP Search is, how it works with SharePoint Online, and how you can get started with it. We’ll also highlight its key features, customization options, and best practices for maximizing its potential.

1. What is PnP Search for SharePoint Online?

PnP Search is part of the broader SharePoint PnP initiative, which is an open-source project led by Microsoft and the SharePoint community. The goal of PnP is to provide patterns, best practices, and reusable components for SharePoint development. Specifically, PnP Search is a solution that enhances SharePoint’s search capabilities, providing customizable, modern search experiences.

GitHub Repository for PnP Search

The source code for PnP Search is available on GitHub

The repository contains code, documentation, and examples to help users implement modern, flexible search solutions in SharePoint Online.

Key components of PnP Search include:

- PnP Modern Search Web Parts: These web parts allow for a custom search interface that can be tailored to fit your organization's needs.

- PnP Search Query Tool: A tool for querying the SharePoint search index, enabling advanced query scenarios.

- PnP Search Templates: Pre-built templates to speed up the deployment of common search configurations.

Why Use PnP Search?

The primary reason to use PnP Search is that it extends SharePoint Online's native search capabilities. While the built-in search engine works well for simple scenarios, PnP Search allows developers to tailor the search interface, use custom search results layouts, and apply filters or refinements to meet business requirements.

2. Key Features of PnP Search

PnP Search for SharePoint Online offers an array of features that make it a powerful tool for delivering personalized and efficient search experiences.

Customizable Search Web Parts

PnP Modern Search Web Parts provide you with the ability to add custom search interfaces to SharePoint Online pages. You can design your search experience by choosing different layouts, query templates, and result sources.

Some key web parts include:

- Search Box: A customizable search input box that can be styled and configured to your needs.

- Search Results: This web part allows you to display search results in a variety of formats, such as lists, grids, or cards.

- Search Filters: Enable users to refine search results with custom filters, such as metadata properties or content types.

- Search Pagination: Enhance user navigation with pagination options for large result sets.

Extensibility

One of the strengths of PnP Search is its extensibility. You can connect it to various data sources, apply custom query logic, or even integrate it with third-party applications using APIs. The PnP Search GitHub repository

contains numerous examples and documentation on extending search functionality beyond SharePoint's default behavior.

Enhanced Search Queries

With PnP Search, you have greater control over how search queries are formulated and processed. It supports custom query templates, query refiners, and advanced filters. You can also configure result sorting and ranking options to display the most relevant content first.

3. Getting Started with PnP Search

Getting started with PnP Search involves a few simple steps. First, you need to install the PnP Modern Search Web Parts solution from the GitHub repository, then deploy and configure it in your SharePoint Online environment.

Installation

To install the PnP Modern Search Web Parts, follow these steps:

1. Download the latest version from the PnP Search GitHub Releases page.

2. Extract the solution package (.sppkg) from the release.

3. Upload the package to your App Catalog in SharePoint Online.

4. Deploy the solution in your SharePoint tenant.

For a detailed step-by-step guide, refer to the PnP Search installation documentation.

Configuration

After installation, configure the search web parts to suit your organization's needs. You can do this by:

- Adding the web parts to a SharePoint Online modern page.

- Setting up query parameters, result sources, and display templates.

- Using refiners, sorting, and filtering options to create a custom search experience.

For configuration options, refer to the official PnP Modern Search documentation.

4. Customization Options for PnP Search

One of the major advantages of PnP Search is its flexibility. Whether you want to change the search layout, add custom refiners, or modify how results are displayed, there are plenty of customization options.

Layout Customization

You can choose from various result layouts, including:

- List: A simple list view.

- Grid: A tile-based format.

- Cards: A more visually engaging option, perfect for media-rich content.

These layouts can be further customized using modern CSS and JavaScript frameworks, ensuring they fit within your corporate branding and style guidelines.

Query Customization

Custom queries allow for complex search scenarios, such as retrieving content based on specific metadata fields, content types, or even across multiple site collections. You can set up query templates that leverage KQL (Keyword Query Language)

or CAML (Collaborative Application Markup Language)

to refine how results are retrieved.

Refiners and Filters

Adding custom refiners can significantly enhance the user experience by allowing users to drill down into search results. For example, you can add filters based on document types, authors, or modified dates. This is especially useful in large organizations where finding the right content can be overwhelming.

5. Best Practices for Implementing PnP Search

When implementing PnP Search in SharePoint Online, there are several best practices to consider.

Plan Your Search Schema

Before deploying PnP Search, ensure that your SharePoint Online content is well-organized and properly tagged with metadata. This will make it easier for the search engine to index and retrieve relevant information.

Performance Considerations

PnP Search can handle large volumes of data, but it’s important to optimize performance. This includes using indexing strategies, caching, and pagination for better user experience.

User Training

To fully leverage the power of PnP Search, provide training to users and administrators. Ensure they understand how to use refiners, filters, and search queries to get the most relevant results quickly.

Summary

PnP Search for SharePoint Online is a powerful, flexible, and highly customizable tool for improving your organization's search capabilities. Whether you're building a simple search interface or a complex, data-driven search experience, the PnP Modern Search web parts and tools provide the foundation you need. With its open-source nature and the wealth of resources available on GitHub, getting started and customizing your search experience has never been easier.