Feature: Enable searching Exhibit Tags via search box

[VanessaVenti]

Problem being solved

Currently, Exhibit Tags are not searchable via the main search box in Spotlight. Tags only appear:

• In the facet menu
• On the item detail page

Users cannot retrieve items by entering a tag value into the main search field, even when that value is clearly associated with an item via tagging. This reduces the discoverability of curated content and introduces a mismatch between curator workflows and user expectations.

Feature details

The request is to update Spotlight core’s default Solr configuration so that Exhibit Tags are included in a searchable field.

Cory from Stanford noted that Spotlight’s original behavior may have been designed to use tags only for faceting and browsing. However, Stanford has made local changes to their Solr config to include tags in their general search field, which improves tag discoverability without impacting facet functionality.

Making this change in Spotlight core would allow more institutions to benefit from tag-based discovery without needing to customize Solr configurations manually.

Note: Local instances would still need to ensure that their Solr schema supports this change for it to take effect.

Acceptance criteria

• Exhibit Tags are indexed into a field used for keyword searching
• Users can search for a tag value using the main search box and retrieve relevant items
• Tag behavior in facets and on item detail pages remains unchanged
• Spotlight ships with a Solr configuration that includes this indexing behavior by default
• Documentation is updated to describe this behavior and note any required local schema updates