Troubleshooting Ranking

When one or more queries do not return the results that you expect, you can use, among other things, the relevance score of problematic results to solve your ranking matters.

To troubleshoot ranking

1. In a Coveo search interface, in the search box, perform the following query:

    enablerankinginformation

   This query adds document ranking weight information to the JavaScript search interface debug page or to the search result details in a Coveo .NET Front-End search interface.

   Note: Because adding this information can have a performance impact, the feature is enabled only for your user.

2. Perform a query that needs to be troubleshooted.

3. Look at the detailed ranking information:

   • For Coveo .NET Front-End search:

     1. In a Coveo .NET Front-End interface, at the bottom of a search results, click Details.

        The Details section expands.

     2. In the Details section, click the Ranking weights tab.

        

   • For the Coveo JavaScript Search:

     1. In a Coveo JavaScript interface, press Alt + double-click the search result description.

        The Debug window appears.

     2. In the Debug window, scroll down to the Ranking Info section.

        

   Note: The ranking weight of the result is next to Total weight, which is the sum of the Document weighs and Terms weights. The more weight a result has, the higher it appears in the results list. Each of these ranking factors can be customized as well as the number of results in each index ranking phases (see Customizing Search Results Ranking and Index Ranking Phases).

   Important: Enabling the ranking information uses a lot of additional memory in the ranking phase. Therefore, it should only be enabled temporary to analyze ranking problem. You can quit the ranking information mode by performing the following query: disablerankinginformation.

4. Look for any numbers that contrast with the others and take action.

   Example: You query for sales tax and the first search result that is returned does not satisfy you. You see that the result has a score of 1500 in Adjacency so you go in the Ranking Weights page and lower the ranking score for Term proximity.