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Ritu Agrawal
Ritu Agrawal

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Taking Control of Sitecore Search Facets: Boost Order and Hide the Noise

#sitecore #searchengine #webdev #cms

Ever launched a Sitecore Search implementation only to find that your facet filters are ordered alphabetically instead of by business priority? Or worse, they're cluttered with technical content types that confuse end users?

Your client wants their most important content front and center, and irrelevant facets hidden. Good news: Sitecore Search has a built-in solution for this exact problem.

πŸ“– Reading time: 8 minutes

The Problem: Facets are auto-generated during indexing, creating noise in your filter UI. Default ordering doesn't match business priorities. Clients want specific facets boosted to the top and irrelevant facets hidden.

The Solution: Facet Boost Lists let you manually control facet order and visibility without touching code.

How to Access:

Administration β†’ Domain Settings β†’ Feature Configuration β†’ Facets β†’ Edit
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What You Can Do:

  • ⭐ Click the star icon to boost facet values to appear first
  • 🚫 Click the exclude icon to hide unwanted facet values entirely
  • πŸ“‹ Manage all facets from one simple interface

Key Use Cases:

  • Prioritize business-critical content types (Profiles, Events, Articles)
  • Hide technical facets that users don't need (Media assets)
  • Clean up dynamically-created facets from indexing

How to Access Facet Configuration

Step 1: Navigate to Domain Settings

  1. Log into portal.sitecorecloud.io
  2. Select your Organization
  3. Click Search β†’ Select your Search app
  4. Click Administration (left sidebar)
  5. Click Domain Settings (top breadcrumb)

Step 2: Open Feature Configuration

  1. Click the Feature Configuration tab
  2. Locate the Facets section
  3. Click Edit (right side)

Facets section in Feature Configuration - shows the Facets row with Edit button highlighted

Step 3: Select a Specific Facet to Configure

After clicking Edit on the Facets section, you'll see a list of all your configured facets. Each facet (Content Type, Category, Tags, etc.) can be configured independently.

  1. Find the facet you want to configure - in this example, we'll use Content Type
  2. Click the Edit button (pencil icon) next to the Content Type facet

Content Type Facet in Facet Edit - shows the Content Type Facet with Edit button highlighted

Step 4: Locate the Order and Boost List Section

Once you're editing the specific facet (Content Type), scroll down to find two key configuration sections:

  1. ORDER - Controls how facet values are sorted (e.g., Desc. facet value count, Alphabetical)
  2. BOOST LIST - Where you'll boost priority values and exclude unwanted ones

Look for the BOOST LIST section:

Boost List Edit

Click the Edit link next to "BOOST LIST" to open the three-column boost editor interface.

Understanding the Boost List Editor

When you click Edit on the BOOST LIST section, you'll see the three-column interface:

Facet Boost Editor

Column 1: All Available Values (Left)

This shows every facet value discovered during indexing, with action icons:

VALUES - CONTENT TYPE
πŸ” Search

Articles         ⭐ 🚫
Events           ⭐ 🚫
Media            ⭐ 🚫
Products         ⭐ 🚫
Profiles         ⭐ 🚫
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These are your raw, unfiltered facets. This list grows as you index more content.

Action icons:

  • ⭐ (Star icon) - Click to boost this facet to the top
  • 🚫 (Exclude icon) - Click to hide this facet from filters

Column 2: Preferred Values on Top (Middle)

Click the star icon on facet values to boost them to this column:

PREFERRED VALUES ON TOP

⭐ Profiles
⭐ Events
⭐ Articles
⭐ Products
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Facets in this column appear first in the search results filter list, regardless of alphabetical order or frequency.

Order matters: The top item in this list appears first, second item appears second, and so on.

Column 3: Excluded Values (Right)

Click the exclude icon on facet values to move them to this column:

EXCLUDED VALUES

🚫 Media
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Users will never see these facets as filter options, even if matching content exists.

Practical Example: Real-World Implementation

Here's a real-world scenario that demonstrates the power of this feature:

Client Requirements

  1. Boost these facets (priority order):

    • Profiles (most important - user/employee profiles)
    • Events (second priority - upcoming events/webinars)
    • Articles (third priority - blog posts/news)
    • Products (fourth priority - product pages)

  2. Hide these facets:

    • Media (images, videos, PDFs - not useful for filtering)

Before Configuration

Filter list appeared like this (alphabetical):

Articles
Events
Media                   ← Not useful for filtering
Products
Profiles                ← Should be first
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After Configuration

Filter list now appears like this:

Profiles                ← Boosted to top (priority #1)
Events                  ← Boosted to second (priority #2)
Articles                ← Boosted to third (priority #3)
Products                ← Boosted to fourth (priority #4)
(Media is hidden)       ← Excluded entirely
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Step-by-Step: Boost and Exclude Facets

To Boost a Facet Value

  1. Open the Boost List editor (see "How to Access" above)
  2. In the left column (All Values), find the facet value you want to boost
  3. Click the star icon (⭐) next to the facet value
  4. The facet value will move to the middle column (Preferred Values on Top)
  5. Repeat for other values you want to boost
  6. Click Save

To Exclude a Facet Value

  1. Open the Boost List editor
  2. In the left column (All Values), find the facet value you want to hide
  3. Click the exclude icon (🚫) next to the facet value
  4. The facet value will move to the right column (Excluded Values)
  5. Repeat for other values you want to exclude
  6. Click Save

To Remove Boost/Exclusion

  1. Open the Boost List editor
  2. Find the facet value in the middle column (Boosted) or right column (Excluded)
  3. Click the remove icon or arrow icon to move it back to the left column (All Values)
  4. Click Save

Important Notes

Reindexing Required

After saving your boost list configuration, you must reindex for changes to take effect:

  1. Click Sources (left sidebar)
  2. Click Reindex All (top right)

Why? The boost list affects how the search index organizes facet data. Without a reindex, your old index structure remains in place.

Boost List is Per-Facet

Each facet (Content Type, Category, Date Range, etc.) has its own boost list. If you have 5 facets, you configure 5 separate boost lists.

Dynamic Facets Still Work

Boosting and excluding doesn't disable dynamic facet creation. New content types will still appear in the "All Values" list after future crawls. You'll just need to review and boost/exclude them as needed.

Exclusions Are Soft Deletes

Excluded facets aren't deleted from the indexβ€”they're just hidden from the filter UI. If you later decide you want them back, click the remove icon to move them back to the All Values column.

Common Use Cases

1. Prioritize Business-Critical Content

Scenario: Your client's main CTAs lead to Profiles and Events. Boost those facets to the top so users can quickly filter to the content that matters most.

Solution: Click the star icon next to "Profiles" and "Events" to boost them, then reorder by priority.

2. Hide Technical Content Types

Scenario: Your search indexes media assets (images, videos, PDFs) that aren't useful as standalone filter options. Users want to find pages, not raw media files.

Solution: Click the exclude icon next to "Media" to hide it from filters.

3. Clean Up After Migration

Scenario: You migrated from an old CMS and ended up with legacy content types like "Articles_Legacy" or "Old_Products" that shouldn't appear in filters.

Solution: Exclude the old content types while you clean up the source data.

4. Regional or Audience-Specific Filtering

Scenario: You have region-specific content types ("US Events", "Canada Events") and want to boost the relevant one for each region.

Solution: Use Sitecore Search's localization features along with separate boost lists per locale.

Best Practices

1. Review Facets After Each Crawl

Crawls discover new content types. After major content updates:

  1. Check the "All Values" column for new facets
  2. Decide if they should be boosted, excluded, or left as-is

2. Document Your Boost Strategy

Create a simple doc that explains why each facet is boosted or excluded:

Profiles  β†’ Boosted (priority #1, key user content)
Events    β†’ Boosted (priority #2, time-sensitive content)
Articles  β†’ Boosted (priority #3, frequently searched)
Products  β†’ Boosted (priority #4, catalog content)
Media     β†’ Excluded (raw assets, not useful for filtering)
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This helps when new team members ask "Why is X first?"

3. Test with Real Users

Your business priorities might not match user behavior. After boosting, check analytics to see which facets users actually click. Adjust accordingly.

4. Keep the Boost List Lean

Don't boost everythingβ€”that defeats the purpose. Boost only the 2-5 most important facets. The rest can fall into natural order (usually alphabetical or by frequency).

5. Use Exclusions Sparingly

Hiding facets can be confusing if users expect to see certain content types. Exclude only:

  • Technical/internal content types
  • Known noise from indexing
  • Deprecated content that's being phased out

Troubleshooting

Changes Aren't Showing Up

Cause: You saved the boost list but didn't reindex.

Fix:

  1. Go to Sources
  2. Click Reindex All
  3. Wait 15-45 minutes (depending on content volume)
  4. Clear your browser cache and test

Facet Still Appears After Excluding

Cause:

  • Reindex didn't complete
  • Browser cache is showing old results
  • Multiple facets have similar names (e.g., "Media" vs "media")

Fix:

  1. Check reindex status in Sitecore Search admin
  2. Clear browser cache
  3. Verify the exact facet name (case-sensitive) in the exclusion list

New Facets Keep Appearing

Cause: Dynamic facet creation is working as designed. New content types create new facet values.

Fix: This is expected behavior. Review and categorize new facets after each major content publish.

Icons Not Responding

Cause: Browser compatibility issue or UI glitch.

Fix:

  1. Refresh the page
  2. Try a different browser (Chrome recommended)
  3. Clear browser cache
  4. Check browser console for JavaScript errors

When to Use This Feature

Good Uses:

  • βœ… Prioritizing business-critical content types
  • βœ… Hiding technical/internal content from end users
  • βœ… Cleaning up facet noise after migration
  • βœ… Matching filter order to user expectations

Not Ideal For:

  • ❌ Completely disabling facets (use facet configuration settings for that)
  • ❌ Filtering out content from search results (use source filtering instead)
  • ❌ Hiding facets temporarily (better to fix the root cause in your content model)

Alternative Approaches

Option 1: Fix at the Source

Instead of excluding facets, consider fixing your content model:

  • Rename generic "Media" templates to specific types (Images, Videos, Documents)
  • Use consistent naming conventions
  • Clean up legacy content types

Pros: Cleaner long-term solution
Cons: Requires CMS/content changes, takes longer

Option 2: Custom Frontend Filtering

You can also filter facets in your frontend code before rendering:

// Filter out unwanted facets in your React component
const visibleFacets = facets.filter(
  facet => !['Media'].includes(facet.name)
);
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Pros: No reindexing needed, faster iteration
Cons: Doesn't solve the problem for other search implementations (e.g., headless CMS integrations)

When to use Boost Lists instead: If you need a no-code solution that works across all search implementations and can be managed by content authors or admins.

🎁 Key Takeaways

βœ… Boost Lists let you control facet order without code
βœ… Click to boost: Star icon moves facets to top priority
βœ… Click to exclude: Exclude icon hides facets from filters
βœ… Must reindex after changes (15-45 min)
βœ… Per-facet configuration: Each facet (Content Type, Category, etc.) has its own boost list
βœ… Dynamic facets continue: New values appear after crawls
βœ… Navigation path: Administration β†’ Domain Settings β†’ Feature Configuration β†’ Facets β†’ Edit [Facet] β†’ BOOST LIST

Wrapping Up

Sitecore Search's facet boosting is one of those features that seems minor until you need itβ€”then it becomes essential. Being able to control facet order and visibility without touching code or waiting for a deployment makes life dramatically easier when clients have strong opinions about search UX (and they always do).

Three things to remember:

  1. Navigation: Administration β†’ Domain Settings β†’ Feature Configuration β†’ Facets β†’ Edit β†’ Select Facet β†’ BOOST LIST
  2. Simple clicks: Star icon to boost, Exclude icon to hide
  3. Reindex after changes or nothing happens

Now go clean up those facet filters.

Related Resources

Before You Go

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Written with insights from real-world Sitecore Search implementations

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