Workvivo’s new search experience transforms how employees find information - faster, smarter, and all in one place. It replaces the old split between Quick Search and Advanced Search with a single, modern interface that works seamlessly across web and mobile.
With improved ranking, document content search, and personal tools like history and pinned searches, it’s designed to help every employee get to what they need in seconds.
What Is the New Search?
The new unified search is a complete rebuild of Workvivo’s search engine and interface. It introduces a single, consistent search bar across the platform, delivering relevant results instantly as users type. It’s powered by smarter ranking algorithms, fuzzy matching for typos, and advanced filters that make it easy to refine results by content type, team, or space.
Employees can now search across all key content types - including documents, pages, articles, events, and people - and even look inside document content such as PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
The experience is consistent across desktop and mobile, ensuring that everyone can find what they need, wherever they work.
⚠️ Note: External users cannot use the search function.
Why It Matters
The new search eliminates confusion between multiple search modes and dramatically improves content discoverability. It helps employees save time, reduces frustration, and gives admins valuable insights into what people are looking for. For organizations, this means higher engagement, better knowledge sharing, and fewer “can’t find it” support tickets.
Key Use Cases
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Everyday Efficiency
Employees can quickly find policies, forms, and guides without remembering where they’re stored. For example, an HR manager can search “expense policy” and instantly access the right document - even if the term only appears inside the file.
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Knowledge Discovery
Teams can explore content across accessible spaces, documents, and updates in one place. Advanced filters make it easy to narrow results by content type or team, helping users find the most relevant information faster.
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Personal Productivity
With search history and pinned searches, users can re-run frequent queries instantly. This is ideal for repeat workflows like checking “time off form” or “onboarding checklist”.
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Admin Insights
Search Analytics gives admins visibility into what employees are searching for, which terms return no results, and how search behaviour changes over time - helping identify content gaps and improve knowledge management.
How It Works
Smarter Ranking
When you search, Workvivo calculates a score for each result and sorts from highest to lowest. A result will move up when:
- Field importance: Matches in titles and names are weighted higher than body text.
- Freshness: Recently updated or published content ranks higher.
- Content type priority: Pages and articles are prioritized over comments or updates.
Fuzzy Matching
Search automatically handles minor typos and spelling variations - so “unifgorm policy” still finds “uniform policy.” There’s no need to spell perfectly.
Sort Options
Users can sort results by Most Relevant (default) or Most Recent, depending on their needs. Sorting currently applies to Workvivo content, with connector sort support coming soon.
Advanced Filters
Filters are always visible and allow users to refine results by:
- Content type (Documents, Pages, Articles, Events, etc.)
- File type (PDF, Word, Excel, etc.)
- Space or Team
Connectors
Search extends beyond Workvivo to connected systems like SharePoint, Google Drive, OneDrive, Confluence, Box, ServiceNow, Outlook, and Jira. External results appear in a separate section, respecting each system’s permissions.
Document and Attachment Search
Users can search inside supported documents and attachments across the platform. Existing files are retroactively indexed, so older uploads are also searchable. Folder paths and audience visibility are shown in results to help users identify the right file.
Mobile and Multilingual Support
The same powerful search experience is available on mobile, supporting multiple languages based on the organisation’s content setup.
Search Analytics
Search Analytics gives admins a clear view of how search is used:
- Search volume: How often employees use search.
- Top search terms: What people are looking for most.
- Zero-result queries: Where content gaps exist.
- Trends over time: How interest in topics changes.
This data helps teams improve content strategy and ensure employees can always find what they need.
Best Practices for Success
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Use Clear Titles
Title matches are weighted highest. Use descriptive, specific titles like “Expense Policy – 2026” or “Store Opening Checklist” to improve discoverability.
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Include Key Terms in Content
If employees are likely to search for “parental leave,” make sure that exact phrase appears in the document body.
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Keep Content Fresh
Regularly update key pages and documents. The ranking algorithm rewards recent updates, helping the latest information appear first.
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Encourage Pinned Searches
Train employees to pin their most-used searches for quick access to recurring information.
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Review Search Analytics
Use analytics to identify what employees can’t find and fill those gaps with new or better-structured content.
Workvivo’s new unified search makes finding information effortless - smarter ranking, document content search, and personal tools that keep your workforce connected, informed, and productive.
Check out our more detailed content to get you up and running with unified search: