Boomslang 18 Release Notes

Overview

SearchUnify rolls out two comprehensive releases every year. They include enhancements, bug fixes, and new features. This page summarizes all of them introduced with Boomslang ’18. You can also download a copy of this set of release notes by clicking on download icon present on the top right corner.

We suggest our customers to keep an eye at this section to keep themselves up-to-date with the latest feature and performance enhancements we keep pushing or to see what we have in store for you.

Release Schedule

The release has been scheduled for 3rd July, 2018. For ensuring a smooth transition to the latest iteration, there is a provision to try out the latest release on your sandbox.

To experience your souped up SearchUnify instance, raise a ticket at support@searchunify.com and we will be more than happy to upgrade your instance.

Supported Browsers

Currently, we support most of the leading browsers such as:

  • Google Chrome
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Internet Explorer (IE 11 and above)
  • Safari (Mac OS)
  • Opera

In the best interest of seamless user experience, SearchUnify will no longer be compatible with IE 10 or any other older version.

Without further ado, let us take a closer look at the whole array of changes brought forward by Boomslang ’18.

SearchUnify Goes Mobile

With the onset of Boomslang ’18, we are extending our support to mobile phones, tablets, etc. On mobile devices, SearchUnify will be supporting browsers including Google Chrome and Safari. We are actively working on adding more & more browsers. We recommend using the latest versions of the above-mentioned browsers for a more fluid experience.

Admin Panel Gets a Fresh, New Look

Enhancing the user experience for the admin panel was one of the primary objectives of Boomslang ’18. To achieve this feat, we incorporated a number of changes:

  • Say Hi to Happy UI: The first change you will notice is the brand-new UI, which renders the whole console a lively and energetic face.
  • Play with Drag & Drop Graphs: All the facets on the ‘Dashboard’ now come with drag & drop functionality which enables users to reorganize the dashboard and prioritize graphs, tables, or charts that better suit their needs.
  • Update Configurations in a Jiffy: The various forms present throughout the console are now more user-centric and convenient.

More Repositories, Twice the Fun!

In a bid to offer out-of-the-box connectivity for every major enterprise platform available out there, we have added some new connectors to our existing fleet of content sources. These additions are mentioned below: -

  • SharePoint
  • GitHub
  • Stack Overflow
  • Box
  • Google Drive
  • Zendesk
  • Slack
  • YouTube
  • Help Scout

Furthermore, there is a lot you can do under the ‘Content Sources’ section now.

  1. More Secure Authentication with OAuth: With the added support for OAuth-based authentication, you can effortlessly connect compatible content sources without putting your enterprise data security at risk.
  2. Broader Sync Frequency Band: You now have more options while selecting the sync frequency for different repositories. These include minutes, hours, daily, weekly, monthly, a particular day of week or month, annually, or even never. As a result, you save API calls or avert excessive load on content servers.
  3. Easily Tweak Search Rules: Setting search rules for respective repositories is now more lucid and easy with the availability of auto-population for most fields. This allows you to exercise more control on the information that indexed by choosing subsets of content source such as channels, space, boards, folders, etc.

Behold, Search Client 2.0

This has been one of the focus areas of the release and comprehensive list of updates suggests the same. We have worked on improving the UX for configuring the search bar and simplified the whole process. The additions or enhancements are listed below:

  • HTML Editor Support: Earlier, the search results page was customizable via CSS. Now, you can also tweak it by writing HTML code as well. In case you are using multiple search clients, then you can independently configure every one of them as per your need.
  • Clone Search Client: Leverage already chosen settings from a previously configured search client by simply cloning it and fine tuning it.
  • Stock Templates for Results Page: You also have an option to leverage built-in templates for your search pages for blazing fast implementation.
  • Preview and Select Best Results: For search clients on websites, you now have an option to preview results on search results page itself. This helps search users to instantly identify useful content.
  • Strengthened Formula Editor: Formula Editor allows you to control search results by restricting certain content pieces from a content resource for particular audiences.
  • Analytics Settings for Individual Search Client: Now you can separately choose search analytics you want for individual search clients.

More Cognitive Force

AI, machine learning, and NLP have been an integral part of our algorithm since our first day in the industry. Unlike other solutions, we actively use these technologies to foster enterprise growth and customer success. With Boomslang ’18, things are about to get better. All three core technologies have started working in harmony to deliver optimized and problem-solving answers.

  • Intelligent Recommendations: We have added ‘Recommendation Widget’ to SearchUnify’s arsenal. It merges search query and common user browsing pattern to find and recommend useful pieces. This feature can be turned on or off in the Search Client’s settings.
  • Opening Doors to Synonym Factory: We have launched Auto Synonyms. In the ‘Manage Synonyms’ section, AI & machine learning proactively operate to automatically observe search behaviour and suggest additional synonyms for a better search experience.
  • Automated Facet-based Personalization: We have reconfigured our algorithm to better personalize results for individual users based on their facets selection history. Machine learning keeps track of user’s facet preference and optimize results accordingly.

Dive Deeper Into Analytics

Analytics has always been our forte. In order to continue our strides towards delivering business intelligence, we have upped the ante. The forthcoming bullets explain how:

  • Track User Journey via Keywords: First things first, you can now click on individual keywords on the Most Searched Keywords mesh cloud on ‘Dashboard’ to instantly drill down on user journeys and understand what worked for them.
  • Search Traffic vs Conversion Consolidated Graph: Search Analytics now offer a consolidated view of search and conversion count under the moniker ‘Search Hit Count’ in ‘Search Analytics’ tab. This helps you closely evaluate content and search performance.
  • Top Searches with No Clicks: In addition to queries with no results, the console now also identifies searches with results but no conversion. This helps create content which the users actively seek, thereby bridging content gaps and generating more conversions. You can find this report in ‘Content Gap Analysis’ tab in ‘Analytics’ section.
  • Analytics REST API: We now support an enhanced REST API which allows you to consume SearchUnify analytics in other platforms as well.
  • Amped up Click Chain Reporting: Click chain reporting has been enhanced to paint a more accurate and comprehensible picture of user search journey.
  • Downloadable Reports in Excel: Every analytical chart from the console can now be exported to Excel in addition to CSV with a click of a button. You just need to hit the ‘Download’ button against the respective client.

What are the advantages of the above-mentioned changes? More insights, better ROI, and smarter decisions, and effective optimization to name some.

Enhanced Control Over Results & Relevancy

Controlling search results has always been one of the key necessities of our customers. To continue surpassing their expectations, we have further improved the search tuning function and search results. We have introduced many new parameters for you to better optimize search results. They are mentioned in the following points:

  • Search Tuning by Search Client: Now you can separately fine tune search results for every search client. This helps you optimize search results for different end users who may be leveraging different search clients.
  • Introducing Stop Words: The ability to manage stop words further strengthens search and ensures such words do not alter the results & dampen the user experience.
  • Configurable Automatic Boosting: Staying true to our cognitive roots, we have added the option of configuring Automatic Boosting. This helps you to tap on the AI-based algorithms when system has a decent search experience under its belt and starts evolving by every search query.
  • Custom boosting: This allows you to boost content on the basis of multiple options such as content age, solved discussions, etc.

Other Advances to Make Your Day

There are several other changes which aim to make your life easier.

  • Admin Audit Trail: We have enabled Audit Trail in SearchUnify which provides you a detailed report on all admin activity in console.
  • Blacklist URLs from a Website: Now, you can blacklist particular URLs when crawling a website so that they are not part of search results.
  • Overhauled Knowledge Bases: A new help center and community are now up and running. They will be also functioning as our idea factory and place-to-be for discussions.