A Search Result Source is a phrased used within SharePoint to name a set of search results based on a specific search query. An equivalent in web-terms might be the "Web", "Images", "Maps", "Video" or "News" options visible when you search using a search engine like Bing:
In Bing, these are used to describe what are referred to as search "verticals" or slices of a larger set of results. So, as an example, a search vertical could be used to provide only Images in the results. In a similar way, a Search Result Source is used throughout the FastStart site to provide a subset of all search results - so for instance, only documents that are tagged in a particular way.
The construction of the queries used by a Search Result Source is not covered by this documentation but more information can be found here.
- Search Result Sources are typically managed from the SharePoint Admin Centre so you will need to be an administrator in order to access, edit or create new result sources.
- By navigating to the SharePoint Admin Centre, and selecting "more features" you have an option for "Search"
- In here, you get another option for Manage result sources where you can then see a list of all the result sources that have been created.
- To edit a Search Result Source, hover over the relevant item and click "edit" to open the result source.
- Once editing, you will see a launch query builder button that opens up the window where you can configure or update that search result source.