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Add a content source to enable users to search for content that is not stored in the portal site. For more information about the types of content sources you can add, see About Content Sources.

The easiest way to add content to the portal site for searching is by adding a site to the Site Directory and suggesting it for search. However, content sources offer more control over what is searched.

Note  SharePoint Portal Server can also crawl Lotus Notes databases. To create a Lotus Notes content source, you must first configure the index management server with the Lotus Notes client and then configure the Lotus Notes protocol handler. For information about configuring the protocol handler, see Configuring the Lotus Notes Protocol Handler.

In advanced search administration mode, you can select a content index for the content source. If you select an index that resides on an index management server on which you have installed the Lotus Notes client and configured the protocol handler, the Lotus Notes content source type is available. If you select an index that resides on a server without this configuration, the Lotus Notes content source type is not available.

You can do the following only if you have enabled advanced search administration mode:

• Specify a content index for the content source.
• Specify a source group for the content source.
• Create a Site Directory content source.

For more information about advanced search administration mode, see Enabling Advanced Search Administration Mode.

Security Consideration

Most content source types that ship with Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 have custom protocol handlers that enable SharePoint Portal Server to determine which users have rights to access documents.

The exception to this is the content source for Web pages or Web sites. When crawling a page or site that uses the HTTP or HTTPS protocol, SharePoint Portal Server cannot determine which users can access documents. If HTTPS or other restricted HTTP content is successfully crawled (that is, if the crawling account has access to the content), the content, including a document summary, is returned in search results. Users may see results for documents that they do not have rights to access. These users will be prompted to enter credentials if they click the results for which they do not have access.

This exception does not apply to the following content that uses the HTTP or HTTPS protocol:

• When you are crawling a workspace in SharePoint Portal Server 2001.
• When you are crawling a SharePoint Team Services 1.0 site or Windows SharePoint Services site and the crawling account is an administrator on the SharePoint site.

These crawls, although using the HTTP or HTTPS protocols, are able to determine which users can access documents so that content is not exposed to unauthorized users in search results.

Add a content source

1. On the Site Settings page, in the Search Settings and Indexed Content section, click Configure search and indexing.
2. On the Configure Search and Indexing page, do one of the following:
   • In the General Content Settings and Indexing Status section, click Add Content Source.
   • In the Other Content Sources section, click Add Content Source.
   • In the Other Content Sources section, click Manage content sources. On the Manage Content Sources page, click Add Content Source.
3. If you have enabled advanced search administration mode, on the Add Content Source page, in the Select a content index list, click a content index for this content source.
4. You can add the following types of content sources:

   Add an Exchange Server folder as a content source

   1. To create a content source that crawls an Exchange 2000 Server folder, click Exchange Server public folder, and then click Next.
   2. On the Add Content Source: Exchange Server folder page, in the Address and Description section, do the following:
      1. In the Address box, type the address of the Exchange Server folder to include in the content index.

         For example, http://exchangeserver/public/folder/subfolder.

      2. In the Description box, type the description of the Exchange Server folder.
   3. In the Crawl Configuration section, do the following:
      1. Click This folder and all subfolders or This folder only.
      2. To include this content source in adaptive updates, select the Include content source in adaptive updates check box.

         Note  If you select Include content source in adaptive updates, changes will show up more quickly in search results, but updates will use more server resources.

   4. If you have enabled advanced search administration mode, you can select a source group. In the Source Group section, do one of the following:
      • If you want to create a new source group for this content source, in the Source group box, type a description of the source group for this content source.
      • If you want to use an existing source group for this content source, click one of the existing source groups.
   5. Click Finish.

      After the content source is created, the Created Exchange Server folder content source page appears. You can use this page to further configure the content source.

   Add a file share as a content source

   1. To create a content source that crawls a file share, click File share, and then click Next.
   2. On the Add Content Source: File share page, in the Address and Description section, do the following:
      1. In the Address box, type the address of the file share to include in the content index, for example, \\myserver\shareddocs or file://myserver/shareddocs.

         Note  If you are creating a content source that is in a different domain from the portal site, ensure that you type the address with the trailing slash, for example, \\myserver\shareddocs\ or file://myserver/shareddocs/. The crawl may fail if you do not include the trailing slash. In addition, you might need to create a rule that includes or excludes content. For more information, see About Rules That Include or Exclude Content.

      2. In the Description box, type the description of the file share.
   3. In the Crawl Configuration section, do the following:
      1. Click This folder and all subfolders or This folder only.
      2. To include this content source in adaptive updates, select the Include content source in adaptive updates check box.

         Note  If you select Include content source in adaptive updates, changes will show up more quickly in search results, but updates will use more server resources.

   4. If you have enabled advanced search administration mode, you can select a source group. In the Source Group section, do one of the following:
      • If you want to create a new source group for this content source, in the Source group box, type a description of the source group for this content source.
      • If you want to use an existing source group for this content source, click one of the existing source groups.
   5. Click Finish.

      After the content source is created, the Created File share content source page appears. You can use this page to further configure the content source.

   Add a Web page or Web site, SharePoint Portal Server portal site, or Windows SharePoint Services site as a content source

   1. To create a content source that crawls a Web page or Web site, SharePoint Portal Server portal site, or Windows SharePoint Services site, click Web page or Web site, and then click Next.
   2. On the Add Content Source: Web page or Web site page, in the Address and Description section, do the following:
      1. In the Address box, type the address of the Web site, portal site, or SharePoint site to include in the content index, for example, http://example.microsoft.com/mypage.htm or http://example.microsoft.com.
      2. In the Description box, type the description of the content source.
   3. In the Crawl Configuration section, do one of the following:
      1. • Click This site - follow links to all pages on this site.

           Note  If you are creating a content source for a portal site or a SharePoint site, you should select the default This site - follow links to all pages on this site option.

         • Click This page only.
         • Click Custom - specify page depth and site hops.

           If you click the custom option, you can limit the page depth and the site hops. To do this, select the Limit page depth and Limit site hops check boxes, and then specify the limits.

           The page depth is the number of links followed within sites. A site hop occurs when a link from one Web site leads to another Web site. If you specify that the number of site hops on a Web site content source is unlimited, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003 can access an unlimited number of sites through the initial site. If you chose to reduce the page depth, three full updates must occur before any previously-crawled pages are excluded.

      2. To include this content source in adaptive updates, select the Participate in adaptive updates check box.

         Note  If you select Participate in adaptive updates, changes will show up more quickly in search results, but updates will use more server resources.

   4. If you have enabled advanced search administration mode, you can select a source group. In the Source Group section, do one of the following:
      • If you want to create a new source group for this content source, in the Source group box, type a description of the source group for this content source.
      • If you want to use an existing source group for this content source, click one of the existing source groups.
   5. Click Finish.

      After the content source is created, the Created Web page or Web site content source page appears. You can use this page to further configure the content source.

   Add a Site Directory as a content source

   1. To create a content source that crawls sites in the Site Directory of another portal site, click SharePoint Portal Server Site Directory, and then click Next.
   2. On the Add Content Source: Site Directory page, in the Address and Description section, do the following:
      1. In the Address box, change the address for the site directory if necessary.

         By default, the address for the site directory is http://server_name/.

      2. In the Description box, type the description of the content source.
   3. In the Crawl Configuration section, to include this content source in adaptive updates, select the Participate in adaptive updates check box.

      Note  If you select Participate in adaptive updates, changes will show up more quickly in search results, but updates will use more server resources.

   4. In the Source Group section, do one of the following:
      • If you want to create a new source group for this content source, in the Source group box, type a description of the source group for this content source.
      • If you want to use an existing source group for this content source, click one of the existing source groups.
   5. Click Finish.

      After the content source is created, the Created Site Directory content source page appears. You can use this page to further configure the content source.

   Add a Lotus Notes database as a content source

   Note  This option is only available if you have properly configured the Lotus Notes protocol handler. For more information, see Configuring the Lotus Notes Protocol Handler.

   1. To create a content source that crawls a Lotus Notes database, click Lotus Notes, and then click Next.
   2. On the New Notes Content Source page, in the Name and Information section, do one of the following:
      • To select a server from the list, click This server appears on the list below, and click the server name.
      • To specify the server name, click I will specify the server name, and then type the server name.
   3. Click Next.
   4. On the New Notes Content Source page, in the Database section, select a database from the Pick a database list.
   5. Click Next.
   6. On the New Notes Content Source page, in the Map Lotus Notes properties to search results column section, do the following:
      1. In the Pick the title property list, click a property to use as the title of the document.
      2. In the Pick the author property list, click a property to use as the author of the document.
   7. Click Next.
   8. On the New Notes Content Source page, in the Name and Information section, in the Name box, type a name for the content source.
   9. If you have enabled advanced search administration mode, you can select a source group. In the Source Group section, do one of the following:
      • If you want to create a new source group for this content source, in the Source Group box, type a description of the source group for this content source.
      • If you want to use an existing source group for this content source, click one of the existing source groups.
   10. Click Next.

   After the content source is created, the Lotus Notes content source page appears. You can use this page to further configure the content source.

5. If you want to start an update immediately, do the following:
   1. On the Created content_source_type content source page, select the Start update now check box.
   2. Click OK.

   Note  The default content access account and proxy setting must be specified correctly for a content source to be crawled. These settings are typically specified during the installation process.