Site Search Result Cards

Result cards control how individual search results are displayed.

Use result cards when you want different result types to show different information. For example, a Programs result might show a thumbnail, credential, delivery mode, and study area, while a News result might show a date, topic, and shorter summary.

Open Search Configuration > Result Cards to create and edit result cards.

What a Result Card Controls

A result card can control:

Setting	What it does
Result card ID	The internal name used when assigning a card to a scope, such as `default` or `program_card`. Visitors do not see this value.
Layout	The overall card shape, such as Media card, Compact, Minimal, Tile card, or Custom layout.
Title, URL, summary, and image bindings	Which indexed values are used for the main parts of the card.
Metadata badges	Small labels that show useful indexed field values, such as Credential, Delivery, Format, or Date.
Preview	A live example of how the card will look using indexed data when available.

Most services start with the default result card and add more cards only when different scopes need noticeably different presentation.

Built-In Layouts

Choose a built-in layout when you want a supported card design without custom structure.

Layout	Best for
Media card	Search results with useful images, such as programs, products, services, or marketing pages. This is the usual default.
Compact	Dense result lists, documentation, support content, or pages where images are not important.
Minimal	Simple search pages where the title, link, summary, and subtle metadata are enough.
Classic search result	Familiar search-engine style results with a small source line, URL path, title, and summary.
Tile card	More visual grid-style search pages, card collections, and browsing experiences.

Changing between built-in layouts is a display change. It usually does not require reprocessing or reindexing.

The Classic search result layout can show a site, organisation, or department name when a suitable indexed field exists, such as site_name, site_title, organisation, organization, or department. If no such field exists, the card still shows the URL path above the title.

Custom Layouts

Choose Custom layout when a result card needs a customer-specific structure.

After choosing Custom layout, click Customize layout to open the layout builder. The builder lets you arrange safe structured blocks rather than writing raw HTML, CSS, or JavaScript.

Common block types include:

Title
Summary
Image
Badges
Single metadata field
Metadata field group
URL or page type line
Document format

The builder also controls card frame settings such as image position, image aspect ratio, and how the card behaves when no image is available.

Custom layouts are designed to be safe and maintainable. They can use indexed fields and standard presentation options, but they do not allow raw script or style code.

Metadata Badges

Metadata badges are short field values shown on a result card to help visitors scan results quickly.

Examples:

Credential: Certificate, Diploma, Degree
Delivery: Online, In person, Blended
Format: Full-time, Part-time
Date: 12 May 2026
Document type: PDF, Guide, Policy

Badges are based on indexed Search Fields. If a field has no value on a result, the badge can be hidden or can show a fallback label, depending on the badge settings.

Use badges for useful, compact facts. Avoid adding too many badges, because a crowded result card is harder to scan.

Advanced Bindings

Advanced bindings control which indexed values feed the main result card fields.

For most result cards, leave these unchanged:

Title usually comes from title.
URL usually comes from URL.
Summary usually comes from description or the generated result snippet.
Image usually comes from image.

Change advanced bindings only when a service has reliable custom fields that should replace the standard values. For example, a program card might use a dedicated program title field if the normal page title contains extra website navigation text.

Assigning Result Cards to Scopes

Result cards are assigned from Search Configuration > Scopes.

Each scope can use a different card. For example:

Scope	Result card
All	`default`
Programs	`program_card`
News	`news_card`
Documents	`document_card`

Use separate cards when different result types need different visual treatment or metadata. Keep one shared card when the result types are similar.

Testing Result Cards

Use the preview inside the Result Cards tab to check one card at a time.

Use Search Configuration > Preview to test the full saved search experience, including scope tabs, filters, sorting, and result cards together.

When testing:

Try a query that returns the intended result type.
Confirm the title, summary, image, and badges are populated.
Check empty states, such as results without images or missing badge values.
Test mobile width if the card uses images or several badges.
Save the card, then test it in the scope where it is assigned.

Changing a card layout, badge label, or scope assignment usually does not require reindexing. Adding a new field for a badge or custom layout block usually requires reprocessing or reindexing so the field values exist in the search index.

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