3511612 - New Learning Experience: Enhanced Search

The New Learning Experience provides changes/updates to the Library search in the 2H 2023 release. This KBA will provide further information on this topic, as well an FAQ section.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning

Managing:

• Enhanced Search Overview

Limitations/Expected Behaviors:

Note: The information provided in this section are either expected behavior or limitations of the current version of the system. To change any limitation or expected behavior, please follow the enhancement request process along with monitoring the latest What's New Viewer and Roadmap.

The following will not be present or currently supported:

• Blank searching. Minimum 2 characters are needed for a search.
• Calendar View.
• Card View.
• Customizing filters or the sort such as the ones maintained in the LIBRARY configuration.
• Item description displayed on the enhanced search doesn’t support HTML formatting.
• Category banners aren't supported in the New Learning Experience.
• Unsupported Direct Links:
  • Library Simple Search
• Rating filter will not show 1 star options. Only 2 star & up will be shown in the filter section.

Limitation:

• When updating a category of an item, the Browse By Category is updated in real time which will display the information to the end user. Due to the delay in the sync of Enhanced Search of 8-72 hours depending on the tenant type, if a user chooses the category they may be presented a blank search results page. As part of the 1H 2025 changes for the sync enhancements, this behavior will change.
• Enhanced Search is not available in DC23 and DC30.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

More information can be seen here, selected questions are placed in this knowledge base article.

• The following will not be present or currently supported:
  • Calendar View
  • Customizing filters such as the ones maintained in the LIBRARY configuration
      
• After I enable the new Learning experience, long will it take for my existing data to be available in the new search?
  • The data preparation for the new search will take about 12-24 hours, based on course volume and system load. After that amount of time, your data will be loaded and you can begin using new search.
            
• Why does the sync take this amount of time and what is the roadmap plan for the Library sync?

  • The new search experience provides more filters, results appear faster, and there are more searchable fields. To make these improvements, the data for search needs to be pre-processed. This is why it takes time for items to get updated in new search. In production, it can take up to 8 hours for the data to get updated. In preview, it can take up to 72 hours. We have heard the feedback from our customers and will be dedicating significant resources to reduce the time it takes for changes to get reflected in the search results. We are planning to make these changes in an upcoming release; current target 1H 2025.

    Please note that today it is possible to assign a training through the learning administrator page. Any assignments done from this page will be added to the users learning in real time. Additionally, the course details and learning entity details page will show real time information.

    You can refer to this page for updates to the timeline, feature details, and future rollout plans.

• After the initial data preparation, how long will it take for any new changes I make to my library to be reflected in new search?
  • Production tenants: It will take about up to 8 hours for any changes you make to items in your library to be updated in new search.
  • Preview tenants: It will take about up to 72 hours for any changes you make to items in your library to be updated in new search.
            
• After a User is assigned a Library how long will it take for all entities to be available in the new search?
  • Production tenants: It will take up to 8 hours for the content of newly assigned libraries to be available in new search.
  • Preview tenants: It will take up to 72 hours for the content of newly assigned libraries to be available in new search.
            
• After a User is reactivated how long will it take for them to be able to see all Items they have access to in new search?
  • The data preparation for the new search will take about 12-24 hours, based on course volume and system load.
            
• Why does searching with a blank value not work like before?
  • We are supporting more fields users can search by like skills and competencies (attributes), categories, and instructors and maintaining the old fields to search by like entity ID, description, and title. We expect that people will have something in mind when they are searching and they will get better results due to this new framework for how results are found.  

• Can the filters be modified?

  • Modifying the LIBRARY configuration will only update the legacy search page. Filters returned in the results are relevant to what was searched for. 

• Where did the Language setting for the search results go?
  • There is no language filter in the enhanced search experience today. Users can search across all languages regardless of their locale. Results will show based on the relevance of the keyword entered by the user compared to learning activities in their library.
            
• Since the Language/Locale setting was removed, can users search for any language?
  • As long as the courses in the libraries associated to the user have translations, depending on the keyword(s) used the search results will provide the best match. If the course has a title in only one locale, it will only display in that locale.
            
• How does multiple translations on a course display to the user in the search results?
  • The search logic:
    1. The results will show the title of the learning activity that has the best match (e.g. if you are typing in a course title which matches a course in a different locale than yours, then the search result will present that item to you in that locale)
    2. In case there is no best match, the system will show the title in the users locale (as long as there is a translation of the course title in the user's locale)
    3. In case the users locale is not available for the course, the entity ID will be displayed instead of a title
              
  • If discrepancies are noticed for course details, home page, search results, and bookmarks, these utilize differing logic on what is presented to the user.
    
    
    • As an example, when the user is opening the Item Details/Class Details page, they are redirected from Enhanced Search to Course Home and Course Home is treating the locales differently. This behaviour is following the system design as Course Home can display the item title/description only as per the followings:

      1. In the user's locale if there is a value on the item for title/description in their locale

      2. If there is no translation for it in the user's locale, then it will display it in the System default locale
         
         NOTE: If there is no Title value neither in the user's locale nor in the system default locale, then the user will see the entity ID as Course Home cannot load item title/description values from any other locales, only from the user preference locale and from the system default language.

      3. To summarize the language fallback rules, If the item title is available in one locale, then it will show the item title in that locale. 

         If the item title is available in more than 1 locale and one locale is the users locale then show it in the users locale 

         If the item title  is available in more than 1 locale and none of them are the users locale BUT there is a keyword match with the title in another locale, then it show the title with the keyword match 

         If the item is available in more than 1 locale and none of them are the users locale and there is no keyword match then fallback to the ID 

            
• How are price and currency displayed to the user in the new search?
  • Price will be displayed in accordance with the user's locale by default. If a user selects a specific currency within the currency filter then the price in the results will reflect the currency selected. For example, If a user had USD selected but now selects EUR they will see the price in the results show EUR.
            
•  How does the Price filter work on the new search?
  • Users can only enter an upper limit for price ie: price up to X value assuming the lower limit will be zero and that we should not hide free learnings even if the price filter is being used. In the case where a user does not select a currency and tries to use the price filter, the following will happen, the value will be searched across all all currencies that are contained in the results. For example, if you have USD, EUR, RMB results and you input "up to 20" into the price filter the system will look for results up to 20 for all of the currencies it has in its results. To resolve this a user should select a currency before using the price filter.
            
• Are hierarchies for Categories shown?
  • As of 2H 2024 Release, Learners can use the Browse Library feature to select a category and refine their library search results. A category appears on the list when it is added to a learning activity that is available in the learner’s library. 
            
• How are category filters sorted in search result page?
  • Category filters are sorted by the number of hits. Categories with most results are displayed on the top.

• Can items associated with sub-categories be searched with the parent category?
  • As of now, only items directly associated with the category will appear in the search results. Items associated with sub-categories will not appear when searching with parent categories. 

• Does the "browse all courses" option associated to the catalogBrowseEnabled setting work with the new search experience?
  • This setting only impacts the legacy search/library. As of the 2H 2024 release, the enableBrowseLibrary configuration was added which has a similar functionality but not exactly the same.
            
• Why does a course show as "Estimated Free"?
  • This occurs due to the one to many of Items and Classes. While an item has a set base price, the multiple classes created from that same item may have varying prices. You can drill into the course details and check the associated classes with corresponding prices. The system will display "Estimated Free" for ILT and blended courses - currently, there's no configuration to change it.
            
• Why does a course show as "Variable Pricing"?
  • The available price set to the item/class is not in the current user's Currency set under Options and Settings and/or set at the search filter (currently not available in Enhanced Search).
      
• How do Direct Links such as Simple Library Search work?
  • When a user clicks on a direct link within the legacy learning page, they will be routed to the legacy library search
  • When a user clicks on a direct link within the new learning experience and enhanced search is enabled on the tenant, the user will be routed to the new enhanced search
  • When a user clicks on a direct link within the new learning experience and enhanced search is not enabled on the tenant, the user will be routed to the legacy library search
            
• Can the enhanced search page labels be modified?
  • Please follow the instructions outlined in Label Values for Enhanced Search Results.
      
• Is it possible to switch the Duration of a Program from Hours to Days/Weeks or hide the Duration hour of a Program?
  • No, currently the Duration of a Program cannot be hidden and only supports displaying in Hours. e.g. A 10 days long program will show a Duration of 240 hours in the search results.
    
• Is it possible to opt out of the enhanced search?
  • No its not possible to opt out of the enhanced search it will be the search option for the new learning experience (assuming all prerequisites are met)
    
    
• Depending on the keywords typed at the Enhanced Search, the result page doesn't list all the items available. Instead, it says "About 10000 results". Is there a way to increase this number?
  • No. Currently, this is a system limitation and this number can't be increased.
  • It's recommended to use the available filters to narrow down the search.

• When removing keywords from my search, the results remain filtered by it.
  • The Product Development Team has confirmed that this behavior is currently expected, because the blank search filter is only supported through the usage of the "Browse All" button displayed on the homepage. Once a Keyword is inserted in the search field, the system will not load a blank search if it is removed.