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Result types and display templates that are used to display classic search results in SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: yes-img-132013 yes-img-162016 yes-img-192019 yes-img-seSubscription Edition no-img-sopSharePoint in Microsoft 365

SharePoint Server includes many default search features that do a great job in helping users find what they're looking for. But you might want your search results to look a certain way, for example, display information that's specific to your company or business. To customize how search results look and what information they contain, you can create new result types and display templates or change existing ones. This article does not describe how you can do this, but gives an overview of the default result types and display templates that are used to display search results.

About result types

When you search for something on a SharePoint site, very often many search results are returned. By default, the search results are displayed differently so that you can easily differentiate between the different types of search results. For example, just by glancing at the image below you can see that the first two search results are PowerPoint presentations, the third result is a Word document, and so on.

Search results displayed according to result type

To display search results differently like this, search results are sorted into result types. A result type is a classification of a search result. For example, if a search result is found in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, the search result belongs to the Microsoft PowerPoint result type. If a search result is found in a PDF file, the search result belongs to the PDF result type.

The following table shows the default result types.

Result type Search result found in
Person
The Local People Results result source
Microsoft Access
A Microsoft Access file
Microsoft Excel
A Microsoft Excel file
Microsoft OneNote
A Microsoft OneNote file
Microsoft PowerPoint
A Microsoft PowerPoint file
Microsoft Publisher
A Microsoft Publisher file
Microsoft Visio
A Microsoft Visio file
Microsoft Word
A Microsoft Word file
Discussion
An entry within a community site
Reply
A reply to an e-mail
Email
An e-mail
Image
An image file
PDF
A PDF file
Text
A TXT file
Video
A video file
XML
An XML file
Zip
A ZIP file
SharePoint Blog
A SharePoint Blog site
SharePoint Community
A SharePoint Community Site
SharePoint Discussion Board
A SharePoint Discussion Board library
SharePoint Document Library
A SharePoint Document library
SharePoint List
A SharePoint list
SharePoint MicroBlog Post
A blog post within a SharePoint Blog Site
SharePoint Picture Library
A SharePoint Picture library
SharePoint site
A SharePoint site
SharePoint Survey
A SharePoint survey
SharePoint Wiki
A SharePoint Enterprise Wiki Site
SharePoint Picture Library List Item
An item in a SharePoint picture library
SharePoint List Item
An item in a SharePoint list
Webpage
External web pages, for example HTML or ASPX pages
Default Result Type
Anything not covered by the other result types, for example Java files, C++ or C#

How result types and display templates are connected

In a SharePoint Search Center, search results are displayed in a Search Results Web Part. To control how the search results are displayed, two types of display templates are used:

  1. Item display template

  2. Hover panel display template

Display templates used to control how the search results are displayed

The item display template defines how each result is displayed. The hover panel display template shows additional information when a user hovers with the mouse pointer over a search result.

The following diagram shows how result types and display templates are connected.

How result types and display templates are connected

  1. Each result type refers to an item display template.

  2. Each item display template contains a variable that refers to a hover panel display template. This variable is var hoverUrl.

The following table shows how the default result types are connected to item display templates and hover panel display templates.

Result type Item display template title as shown in the user interface Item display template file name as shown in the Master Page Gallery Hover panel display template file name as shown in the Master Page Gallery
Person
People Item
Item_Person
Item_Person_HoverPanel
Microsoft Access
Office Document Item
Item_OfficeDocument
Item_OfficeDocument_HoverPanel
Microsoft Excel
Excel Item
Item_Excel
Item_Excel_HoverPanel
Microsoft OneNote
OneNote Item
Item_OneNote
Item_OneNote_HoverPanel
Microsoft Powerpoint
PowerPoint Item
Item_PowerPoint
Item_PowerPoint_HoverPanel
Microsoft Publisher
Office Document Item
Item_OfficeDocument
Item_OfficeDocument_HoverPanel
Microsoft Visio
Office Document Item
Item_OfficeDocument
Item_OfficeDocument_HoverPanel
Microsoft Word
Word Item
Item_Word
Item_Word_HoverPanel
Discussion
Discussion
Item_Discussion
Item_Discussion_HoverPanel
Reply
Reply Item
Item_Reply
Item_Reply_HoverPanel
Email
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
Image
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
PDF
PDF Item
Item_PDF
Item_PDF_HoverPanel
Text
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
Video
Video Item
Item_Video
Item_Video_HoverPanel
XML
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
Zip
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Blog
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Community
Community Item
Item_Community
Item_Community_HoverPanel
SharePoint Discussion Board
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Document Library
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint List
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint MicroBlog Post
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Picture Library
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Site
Site Item
Item_Site
Item_Site_HoverPanel
SharePoint Survey
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Wiki
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
SharePoint Picture Library List Item
Picture Item
Item_Picture
Item_Picture_HoverPanel
SharePoint List Item
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel
Webpage
Web Page Item
Item_WebPage
Item_WebPage_HoverPanel
Default Result Type
Default Item
Item_Default
Item_Default_HoverPanel

Common display templates that are used by all result types

In addition to the display templates that are listed in the previous section, there are some display templates that are used by all result types. These are called common display templates. The common display templates are referred to from both the item display templates and the hover panel display template. The following diagram shows how they are referenced.

How result types and all display templates are connected

  1. Each item display template refers to the Common Item Body item display template. The reference is _#=ctx.RenderBody(ctx)=#_.

  2. Each hover panel display template contains three references to the three common hover panel display templates. The references are _#=ctx.RenderHeader(ctx)=#_, _#=ctx.RenderBody(ctx)=#_ and _#=ctx.RenderFooter(ctx)=#_.

The following table shows the common display templates.

Display template title as shown in the user interface Display template name as shown in the Master Page Gallery Description
Common Item Body
Item_CommonItem_Body
Displays information in the body of the Search Results Web Part.
Common Hover Panel Header
Item_CommonHoverPanel
Displays information in the header of the hover panel.
Common Hover Panel
Item_CommonPanel_Body
Displays information in the body of the hover panel.
Common Hover Panel Actions
Item_CommonHoverPanel_Actions
Displays actions in the footer of the hover panel, such as Edit or Send.

Display template that is used for promoted results

You can use query rules to promote individual results so that they appear towards the top of the search results list. The promoted results are displayed by using a specific item display template that is not connected to a result type. Therefore, it is used to display all search results that are promoted. This display template does not refer to a hover panel display template.

The following table shows the display template that is used for promoted results.

Item display template title Item display template file name as shown in the Master Page Gallery Description
Best Bet Item
Item_BestBet
Displays search results that are promoted by using query rules.

See also

Concepts

Customize search result types in SharePoint Server

Manage the Search Center in SharePoint Server

Manage query rules in SharePoint Server

Display template reference in SharePoint Server