Create a Search Center site (Search Server 2010)

Applies to: Search Server 2010

Topic Last Modified: 2012-01-06

A Search Center provides an interface for users to submit search queries. It is a richer interface than the search box that appears by default on each SharePoint site.

Depending on the kind of installation that you performed and the site collection template that you selected at that time, you might already have a Search Center site. To check this, browse to the top-level site for the site collection that you created during installation. If that site is not a Search Center or if it does not have a tab named Search, create a Search Center site by using the following procedure.

To create a Search Center site

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators group.

2. On the Home page of the Central Administration Web site, in the Application Management section, click Create site collections.

3. On the Create Site Collection page, do the following:

   1. In the Web Application section, specify the Web application that you want to use or create a new Web application.

   2. In Title and Description section, in the Title box, type the name for this Search Center site. Optionally, type a description in the Description box.

   3. In the Web Site Address section, type the last part of the URL for this site.

   4. In the Template Selection section, click the Enterprise tab and then select the Enterprise Search Center template or the Basic Search Center template. If you intend to use people search, you must select the Enterprise Search Center template. Unlike the Basic Search Center, the Enterprise Search Center provides a tab for people search.

   5. In the Primary Site Collection Administrator section, in the User name box, type the user name of the primary site collection administrator for this site collection in the form domain\user name.

   6. (Optional) In the Secondary Site Collection Administrator section, type the user name of a secondary site collection administrator in the form domain\user name.

   7. In the Quota Template section, select a predefined quota template to limit resources that are used for this site collection, or choose No Quota.

   8. Click OK.

4. On the Top-Level Site Successfully Created page, click the link to the Search Center site that you created.

After you create the Search Center site, you must grant access to users by using the following procedure.

To grant all Windows users access to the Search Center

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a site collection administrator for the Search Center site.

2. In a Web browser, go to the Search Center site.

3. On the Site Actions menu, click Site Permissions.

4. On the ribbon, click Grant Permissions.

5. In the Users/Groups box, type NT Authority\authenticated users, and then click the Check Names icon to resolve the name.

6. In the Grant Permissions section, select the Add users to a SharePoint group option, and then choose Search Center Visitors [Read] from the drop-down list.

7. Click OK.

Video demonstration

This video shows the steps required to create a Search Center site and grant access to users.

Running time: 2:41

Watch the video.  For an optimal viewing experience, download the video. Right-click the link, and then click Save Target As to download a copy. Clicking the link will open a .wmv file in the default video viewer for full-resolution viewing.