Skip to main content
Learn more about our NEW login process here!
Thermo Fisher Scientific

How to Search the Knowledge Base

  1. Last updated
    May 26, 2023
  2. Save as PDF

Issue

How do I search for Knowledge Articles and/or Documentation within the Knowledge Base?

How to Search

  1. Navigate to the search bar that is located in the center of the homepage, if you are in an article or a guide the search bar will be in the upper left corner of the page. 
  2. When searching for a knowledge article, type what you are searching for by using  a question/symptom/issue you are having. 
  3. When searching for a document, search using the instrument name and the documentation type you are looking for.

Knowledge Article Example: My FID won't ignite (This is the issue I am experiencing)

clipboard_e19157daa237f8b7de8a464d08de9a983.png

Figure 1: Type the issue into the search bar

Tip: Add any additional information you'd like such as an instrument product name to get more specific results. The more information you use to search the better your results will be! 

  1. The elements of search results:
  • The number of search results 
  • Search results list:
    • Page Title hyperlinked to article page
    • Page URL
    • Page Summary

 

clipboard_e0a1d4b52171f41f2134baa668bc27cc7.png

Figure 2: Preliminary search results

  1. After preliminary results are displayed, use the available filters, to left of the results list, to view more focused results.
  2. To better understand each filter, please see knowledge article (KA), Knowledge Base Filter Options.

NOTE: Search results update as you type in the search bar and as you choose filters.

clipboard_e1587d62331fe148d9c7e1de3fcaebc74.png

Figure 3: Filter results

Tip: Refine your search results by Location, Classification, and whether attachments are included or not in the article you are searching for. Note that Classification only applies to documentation.

 

Advanced Search Options

Search String Result

tag:<Nicolet iS20>+<laser>

 Best matches for articles with the tag "Nicolet iS20" and including word "laser" appear at the top of the search results, followed by the next best matches under tag or search term ("laser" in this case)
author:<text> Lists all pages that are authored by a certain user. The last person to make changes to an article is considered an author. Example: author:JamesV
content:<text> Only searches within the content of a page or file. This does not include titles, tags, file names, descriptions, etc. Example: content:templates
date.created:<yyyymmdd*> Searches for all articles or files created at a certain date. The format is YYYYMMDDhhmmss. You may append an asterick (*) to search for everything within a certain date range. The example shows all articles created in 2014. Example: date.created:2014*
date.edited:<yyyymmdd*> Searches for all articles or files edited at a certain date. The format is YYYYMMDDhhmmss. You may append an asterick (*) to search for everything within a certain date range. The example shows all articles edited in 2015. Example = date.edited:2015*
description:<text> Only searches file descriptions. If multiple words are being searched, they must be wrapped in quotes. Example: description:"image properties"
extension:<extension> Lists only files associated with a certain file extension. Example: extension:csv
title:<title> Only returns search results that are specific to the page title. Example: title:"page"
script:"template('<template_path/template_name>/" Returns pages that contain a specific template. This search does not search templates.
-<search constraint> Add a minus sign next to any of these constraints to exclude options from the search result. Example: editor -tag:customization
+<search constraint> Add a plus sign next to any of these constraints to include options from the search result. Example: editor +tag:customization
OR Displays one query or the other. Searching with multiple words (not a phrase in quotes) always searches with the OR operator. The more relevant search results are boosted if all of the words in the search are in the result. Example: Editor OR Table
AND Only shows articles that include all of the words in the query. Searching with phrases acts similarly to using the AND operator. Example: Editor AND Table
NOT Removes the next word from the search results. This helps when you have a large population of results and know you would like to strip out a specific subset of results. Example: Editor NOT Table

Analysis

The Knowledge Base search uses a proprietary algorithm to order search results, in other terms displaying the most relevant results from their search index for specific queries. The search algorithm is also optimized by using natural language processing techniques, techniques that allow the computer to understand humans!