How to Use Friendly Managed Property Names in SharePoint Highlighted Content
Question details
The user wants to configure the SharePoint Highlighted Content web part using custom, easily identifiable managed property names instead of default aliases.
- Product
- SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Filtering content in the SharePoint Highlighted Content web part based on custom metadata and columns.
- Observed behavior
- SharePoint defaults to requiring obscure predefined managed property names like RefinableString01, but the user prefers to create and use custom properties with friendly names for clarity.
Ensure you have Site Collection Administrator permissions, as creating or modifying managed properties in the SharePoint Search schema requires high-level access.
Create a Custom Managed Property with a Friendly Name
Map your crawled property to a new custom text managed property, allowing you to use a user-friendly name instead of a generic string.
In environments where creating custom properties is supported, this method provides a cleaner naming convention for managing your Highlighted Content filters.
Navigate to your SharePoint Site Settings and click on Search Schema under the Site Collection Administration section.
Click on 'New Managed Property' and enter your desired friendly name, such as 'NewWork01'.
Ensure you check the boxes to enable the 'Searchable', 'Queryable', and 'Retrievable' attributes for this property.
Scroll down to the 'Mappings to crawled properties' section, click 'Add a Mapping', and select the corresponding crawled property for your column (e.g., ows_PageCategory).
Save the new managed property, navigate to your Site Pages library settings, and click 'Reindex document library' to apply the changes.
Use Predefined Refinable Properties (For Restricted Environments)
Map your crawled property to an existing predefined refinable string if your SharePoint Online environment restricts creating custom managed properties.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the option to create a managed property of type Integer disabled?
In SharePoint Online, creating certain new managed properties, like Integers, is often disabled to optimize tenant performance. You typically need to map your crawled properties to existing predefined integer properties (such as RefinableInt00) instead.
What does it mean if a new managed property is not refinable?
If a managed property is not refinable, it cannot be used to create search refiners (the filtering sidebar on search result pages). Custom properties created by users often lack this capability in SharePoint Online, which is why predefined 'RefinableString' properties are highly recommended for refiners.
How long does it take for a mapped managed property to start working?
After creating or modifying a managed property and reindexing the associated library, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to several hours for the search crawler to process the changes before the property successfully filters in the Highlighted Content web part.
Can I use custom managed properties on SharePoint Online?
SharePoint Online generally limits the creation of custom refinable managed properties. While you can sometimes create basic text properties, relying on predefined properties like RefinableString01 to RefinableString199 ensures consistent behavior and full support from Microsoft.
