CMS Search Boost

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The CMS Search Boost plugin lets you customize how search results are ranked in the Brightspot CMS. Configure boost rules to prioritize results based on text matching, content type, or recency—all without writing code.

Features

• Text matching boosts — Prioritize results where a field exactly matches, partially matches, or starts with the search query
• Content type boosts — Always surface certain content types higher in results
• Date-based boosts — Favor newer or older content based on a date field
• Semantic matching — Match phonetically similar terms (e.g., "nooz" finds "news")
• Per-site configuration — Each site can have its own boost rules, with global fallback

Installation

Requirements

Requires Brightspot 4.5 or later.

Maven

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.brightspot.cms-search-boost</groupId>
    <artifactId>cms-search-boost</artifactId>
    <version>__HIDDEN__</version>
</dependency>

Gradle

implementation 'com.brightspot.cms-search-boost:cms-search-boost:__HIDDEN__'

Gradle (Kotlin DSL)

implementation("com.brightspot.cms-search-boost:cms-search-boost:__HIDDEN__")

Quick start

Global configuration (all sites)

1. Navigate to Admin > Plugins
2. Select CMS Search Boost and click New Plugin
3. Under Default Configuration, select Set then select Custom for the Boost Configuration
4. Click Add to create your first boost rule
5. Choose a boost type, configure the field or content type, and set a weight

Site-specific configuration

1. Navigate to Admin > Sites & Settings
2. Select your site
3. Go to the Plugins tab
4. Under Configs click Add and create a new CMS Search Boost Configuration
5. Under Boost Configuration, select Custom
6. Click Add to create boost rules for this site
7. Save the new CMS Search Boost Configuration, apply it to the Configs field, and save the site.

Changes take effect immediately for CMS searches.

Example configuration

A typical configuration might include:

Boost Type	Field/Type	Weight	Purpose
Exact Match	cms.content.searchableText	80	Strongly prioritize exact title matches
Partial Match	cms.content.searchableText	40	Boost results containing query terms
Content Type	Article	30	Surface articles over other content
Newest	cms.content.publishDate	20	Prefer recently published content

How weights work

Each boost has a weight from 0-100:

• 0 — No effect (boost factor of 1.0)
• 50 — Moderate boost (~1,000x factor)
• 100 — Maximum boost (~1 billion factor)

The scale is logarithmic, so small weight differences at lower values have subtle effects, while higher weights create dramatic prioritization.

tip

Start with weights between 20-60 and adjust based on search results. You rarely need weights above 80.

Next steps

• Configuration Guide — Detailed setup instructions
• Boost Types Reference — All available boost types explained
• Extending the Plugin — Create custom boost types (for developers)