Receive alerts and RSS feeds of search results

The Search Action Links Web Part adds Alert me and RSS links to search results pages.

These links enable users to receive e-mail alerts whenever the results of a search change, and to subscribe to regular RSS feeds of the items that were returned.

What do you want to do?

Receive alerts when search results change

Subscribe to RSS feeds

Configure your RSS feeds

Receive alerts when search results change

After you perform a search, you can ask to be notified when any of the search results change. For example, you might search on a team calendar, then have alerts e-mailed to you whenever that calendar is updated:

1. Conduct a search and display its results.

2. On your search results page, click Alert Me. The New Alert page is displayed.

   Tip: You can also select Alert Me from the Actions menu of a library or list, or from the menus of individual documents within them, to receive alerts when content changes.

3. In the Alert Title box, type a title that will remind you what results have changed. This title will be used as the e-mail subject of the alert message, and to help you manage these alerts in the future.

4. If you have permission to manage alerts (for example, as an administrator or site owner), the Send Alerts To box is available. To route alerts to other users, type their user names in the Users box. Click the Check Names icon to match e-mail addresses to user names, or click the Browse icon to search a directory service for names.

5. In the Change Type box, click the kinds of changes that you want to track. For example, you can choose to receive alerts for all changes, or only when items are deleted.

6. In the When to Send Alerts section, choose how often to receive e-mail alerts of search results that have changed. For example, you can choose to receive these messages daily or weekly.

7. Click OK. You will receive a confirmation message via e-mail. This message includes a link to your My Alerts on this Site page.

   Note: If you have added other names to the Users box, those users might also receive the confirmation e-mail. This message will name you as the alert creator, and can provide a mobile view, display links to document lists or libraries (as needed), and permit access to alert settings or other commands.

8. To review the alerts you have signed up for, display this confirmation message and click the link to your My Alerts on this Site page.

   Or go to the home page of the Web site where you conducted the search, expand the Welcome menu for your login name, and click My Settings to display your User Information page. Then click My Alerts.

9. To add alerts from your My Alerts on this Site page, click Add Alert. Click a library, list, or individual document about which you want to receive alerts, and click Next. Then complete the New Alert page, and click OK.

10. To discontinue alerts from your My Alerts on this Site page, select the checkboxes beside any alerts that you no longer want, and click Delete Selected Alerts.

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Subscribe to RSS feeds

You can also subscribe to RSS feeds of search results, and schedule your RSS reader to poll for feeds at regular intervals, and display them in its standard display format. For example, you might search on a specific document that is undergoing revisions. From your search results page, you can subscribe to RSS feeds of that document. Then set your RSS reader to request fresh feeds daily, so that you can review any changes.

Note: The administrator of the Search Center site determines how frequently content is updated. So, even though the RSS feed is set to receive new content at a specified interval, the interval at which new content is available to the Search Center might be longer.

Tip: You can also select View RSS Feed from the Actions menu of a library or list to receive RSS feeds of the items that they include.

Consult the Help for your RSS reader for more information about scheduling and managing RSS feeds. The instructions that follow pertain to Windows Internet Explorer 7 and Office Outlook 2007. Both programs include built-in RSS readers, and both can load RSS feeds from the Windows Common Feed List.

To subscribe to RSS feeds, take the following steps.

1. Conduct a search and display your search results.

2. On the search results page, click the RSS icon. Your search results are then displayed as links to RSS feeds.

3. Click Subscribe to this feed. The Internet Explorer Subscribe to this Feed dialog box opens.

   1. In the Name box, type a title for your new RSS feed that will remind you what search returned these results.

   2. Click Feeds on the Create in folder list.

   3. Click Subscribe. A link to your new RSS feed appears in the Feeds list on the Explorer Bar.

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Configure your RSS feeds

You can configure Internet Explorer 7 and Office Outlook 2007 to share a common list of RSS feeds. Then, whenever you receive an RSS feed of search results, you can use either program to display it. Likewise, whenever you delete an RSS feed, it will be removed from the feed lists of both programs.

To configure your RSS feeds, take the following steps.

1. Install all current updates for these programs from the Microsoft Update site.

   Tip: Update your versions of the .NET Framework and MSXML as well.

2. In the Internet Options Control Panel:

   1. Click the Content tab, and under Feeds, click Settings.

   2. To set a default schedule for RSS feeds, click the option to Automatically check feeds for updates, and choose an interval (for example, daily or weekly).

   3. Click the option to Turn on feed reading view. When you have finished setting options, click OK.

3. In Internet Explorer 7:

   1. Click the Favorites Center icon, and click Feeds.

   2. The Explorer Bar now lists the RSS feeds that you have subscribed to. Click the link to any feed to display its content in the browser window.

   3. To adjust how often to receive a particular RSS feed, display the Feeds list in the Explorer Bar, right-click the desired feed, and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Choose the Use custom schedule option, then select an interval from the Frequency list.

   4. To unsubscribe from an RSS feed, display the Feeds list in the Explorer Bar. Right-click the feed that you no longer want, and select Delete from its shortcut menu.

4. In Office Outlook 2007:

   1. Go to Options, select the Other tab, click Advanced Options, and select the option to Sync RSS Feeds to the Common Feed List.

   2. Expand the RSS Feeds folder. It now includes subfolders for the feeds that you have subscribed to, shared via the Windows Common Feed List.

   3. Expand any feed subfolder, and click the desired RSS feed to see it.

   4. A feed message appears in the Outlook Reading Pane. To display or download the content that was sent via this message, click the links it provides.

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