Configure personalization

The Sitecore Search Personalization feature boosts content that is interesting to each visitor. Search determines whether a content item will be interesting to a visitor using attributes that you configure for personalization.

This walkthrough describes how to:

  1. Enable the Personalization feature for an attribute.

  2. Configure an attribute on the Feature Configuration tab.

  3. Set up personalization in the global widget.

Enable the Personalization feature for an attribute

To personalize content, you must first enable the Personalization feature for the attributes that you want to use.

To enable the Personalization feature for an attribute:

  1. On the menu bar, click Administration > Domain Settings > Attributes.

  2. To filter the list of attributes by entity, in the Entity drop-down menu, select the check box for the type of entity you want to show and click Apply.

  3. To search for the attribute you want to edit, in the search bar, enter the attribute name. Then click the attribute in the tabular list. This opens the attribute editing dialog.

    Tip

    Note the value of the attribute's Attribute Name. This might be different than the display name and is necessary for feature configuration.

  4. On the Use For Features tab, select the Personalization check box.

  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any additional attributes you want to use for the Personalization feature.

  6. Click Apply, then click Save.

Configure an attribute on the Feature Configuration tab

After enabling attributes for the Personalization feature, you have to configure options or ensure options are set for each attribute.

To configure an attribute on the Feature Configuration tab:

  1. On the menu bar, click Administration > Domain Setting > Feature Configuration.

  2. Click Personalization. This opens a list of all attributes that have the Personalization feature enabled.

  3. In the Analyzer column, confirm that there is an analyzer set for every attribute. If an attribute does not have an analyzer associated with it, click the drop-down menu and select one. In most cases, the Standard analyzer is sufficient.

  4. Optionally, you can opt an attribute out of a personalization strategy by clicking the drop-down menu in the Opt out of strategy column and selecting either More like this or Affinity.

Set up personalization in the global widget

Finally, set up the Personalization feature at the global widget level. This configuration determines how personalization functions across your site. You can also set up Personalization via API, which when configured, overrides these settings.

Note

You can use this same process to set up Personalization at the widget level using a rule. Widget-level configuration overrides configuration set up on the Global Widget but does not override any settings sent to the API.

To set up personalization in the Global Widget:

  1. On the menu bar, click Global Resources > Global Widget.

  2. On the Global Widget Settings tab, click the Personalization card.

  3. If the Enable Personalization switch is turned off, turn it on.

  4. On the Personalization strategy drop-down menu, select More like this or Affinity.

  5. Under the Attributes heading, click Add Attribute and select an attribute from the drop-down menu. Repeat this step for every attribute you want to use.

  6. Optionally, if you have chosen the More like this strategy, under the Search Controls heading, customize the values for Last N Events, Boost weight, or Minimum number of events.

  7. Click Save, then click Publish. This opens a dialog box. Confirm your changes by clicking Publish again in the dialog box.

Important

After completing this step, you must reindex your content for the new sorting option to be available for use.

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