Abstract: Techniques for detecting one or more focus areas of a user and structuring activities and content around the focus area(s) are disclosed. The activities of a user, the people associated with the activities, and/or the content associated with the activities are automatically inferred or detected based on the channels of collaboration associated with the focus area(s). Example channels of collaboration include, but are not limited to, electronic mail, instant messages, documents, and in-person and online meetings. Some or all of the activities, people, and/or content are grouped into one or more focus areas, where a focus area relates to an endeavor in which the user focuses on over a period of time. Some or all of the focus areas are presented to the user.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for assisting users with unknown topics by automatically presenting information associated with the unknown topics to the users. In an example embodiment, an unknown topic is referred to or discussed during a conversation between multiple users. A candidate definition for the topic is determined, where the candidate definition is known by the user that used the topic. Based on a determination that the topic and the candidate definition are unknown to a second user in the conversation, the topic and the candidate definition are provided to one or more output devices for presentation to the second user.

Abstract: Aspects of the technology described herein leverage usage data of content items to facilitate returning search results relevant to a user's intent. A search engine enables a user to select from one of three filter options: a first filter option for the user's own content items, a second filter option for content items previously accessed by the user, and a third filter option for content items new to the user. In response to selection of one of the filter options, the search engine identifies and returns search results based at least in part on correspondence between usage data for content items and the selected filter option. In some aspects, the search engine may automatically select one of the filter options based on search context and provide the selected filter option as a filter suggestion.

Abstract: A method and system for intelligently notifying collaborators of activity on collaborative content include receiving a first indication of a first collaboration activity performed on a first document by a first collaborator among a plurality of first collaborators associated with the first document and responsive to receiving the first indication, obtaining first activity information for the first document comprising the first collaborative activity and one or more second collaborative activities performed on the first document. The method and system determine a lifecycle stage of the first document, analyze the first activity information and the lifecycle stage of the first document to identify one or more second collaborators among the plurality of first collaborators associated with the first document to notify of the first collaborative activity, and provide for displaying the first collaboration activity to the one or more second collaborators.

Abstract: A method and system for intelligently notifying collaborators of activity on collaborative content include receiving a first indication of a first collaboration activity performed on a first document by a first collaborator among a plurality of first collaborators associated with the first document and responsive to receiving the first indication, obtaining first activity information for the first document comprising the first collaborative activity and one or more second collaborative activities performed on the first document. The method and system determine a lifecycle stage of the first document, analyze the first activity information and the lifecycle stage of the first document to identify one or more second collaborators among the plurality of first collaborators associated with the first document to notify of the first collaborative activity, and provide for displaying the first collaboration activity to the one or more second collaborators.

Abstract: A method and system for intelligently ranking search results may include receiving a search request containing one or more terms for performing a search, providing the one or more terms for conducting a search, and receiving a search results index containing a list of a plurality of documents, each of the plurality of documents corresponding to one of the one or more terms or to one or more other terms associated with the at least one of the one or more terms.

Abstract: A method and system for intelligently ranking search results may include receiving a search request containing one or more terms for performing a search, providing the one or more terms for conducting a search, and receiving a search results index containing a list of a plurality of documents, each of the plurality of documents corresponding to one of the one or more terms or to one or more other terms associated with the at least one of the one or more terms.

Abstract: A file usage recorder program that is executed on a processor is disclosed. The file usage recorder program may be configured to determine usage data for a plurality of files stored in a file system. The usage data may include, for each file, a plurality of usage instances by one or more users. The file usage recorder program may further be configured to classify each of the plurality of files as being in one of a plurality of predetermined usage states, based on the determined usage data. The file usage recorder program may further be configured to generate a usage index indicating the usage state of each of the plurality of files, and output the usage index for use by a software program.

Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for determining authoritative documents based on implicit interlinking and communication signals. In aspects, a search operation may be initiated from one or more applications or services. The search operation may be processed to identify search information, such as one or more content items, content topics, or entities. The identified search information may be used to search one or more data sources for implicit relationships between the search information and content items and/or entities stored by the data sources. The results of the search may be collected and ranked according to one or more criteria. The ranked results may be provided in response to the search operation.

Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for analyzing data items and relationships between those data items to create a time-based visualization of what particular individuals are working on and/or with whom particular individuals are working. The visualization may provide a brief summary of projects associated with the individual for a particular period of time.

Abstract: Examples of the present disclosure describe systems and methods for determining relationships between content items to create a visualization associated with the various content items. The visualization may provide information regarding what various individuals in a group, team, or organization have been working on (e.g., content, documents, projects).

Abstract: A method and system for intelligently ranking search results may include receiving a search request containing one or more terms for performing a search, providing the one or more terms for conducting a search, and receiving a search results index containing a list of a plurality of documents, each of the plurality of documents corresponding to one of the one or more terms or to one or more other terms associated with the at least one of the one or more terms.

Abstract: Generating and providing a content feed to a user that surfaces information items that are determined to be interesting or relevant to the user including content that is determined to be “distant” to the user is provided. Explicit user actions are used to discover peers who are not colleagues of the user (e.g., peers with whom the user does not share a close organizational relationship, peers with whom the user does not regularly communicate, etc.), but who the user indicates an interest in via his/her actions. These peers are categorized as elevated peers of the user, and information items associated with and trending around the elevated peers are surfaced to the user in a content feed.

Abstract: A file usage recorder program that is executed on a processor is disclosed. The file usage recorder program may be configured to determine usage data for a plurality of files stored in a file system. The usage data may include, for each file, a plurality of usage instances by one or more users. The file usage recorder program may further be configured to classify each of the plurality of files as being in one of a plurality of predetermined usage states, based on the determined usage data. The file usage recorder program may further be configured to generate a usage index indicating the usage state of each of the plurality of files, and output the usage index for use by a software program.

Abstract: Generating and providing a content feed to a user that surfaces information items that are determined to be interesting or relevant to the user including content that is determined to be “distant” to the user is provided. Explicit user actions are used to discover peers who are not colleagues of the user (e.g., peers with whom the user does not share a close organizational relationship, peers with whom the user does not regularly communicate, etc.), but who the user indicates an interest in via his/her actions. These peers are categorized as elevated peers of the user, and information items associated with and trending around the elevated peers are surfaced to the user in a content feed.

Abstract: An information feed is provided that surfaces information items that are determined to be interesting or relevant to a user. The information feed may be updated with new information items each time the feed is accessed by the user. Information not surfaced to the user in the feed may be accessed by the user via one or more other means, but only those items having a sufficient importance to the user are surfaced in the feed. Items in the feed are sorted by order of importance or relevance to the user. When new items are added to the feed, they are sorted relative to each other, but are displayed separately from previous groupings of items added to the feed. Items may be reposted to different positions in the feed, and items may be manually removed from the feed if desired.

Abstract: Described herein are enterprise search systems and methods that cluster search results that are associated with the same metadata or the same enterprise search site into one or more clustered results panels of a search results panel. The search results that are not included in the clustered results panel(s) are included in a non-clustered results panel of the search results panel.

Abstract: Users are most likely to search for documents “around” them, such as documents which are created, read, or modified by other users they work closely or collaborate with, documents on sites the user frequents, and/or documents trending around them, in addition to documents they've created or interacted with themselves. Therefore, embodiments are directed to relevance ranking of query results based on external context. A search service may receive a query and an external context list, determine a relevance value for each entry in the external context list, and perform the query, where a search index comprising items may be returned in response to performance of the query. The search service may then match entries in the external context list against associated properties of the items, compute a score for the items based on the matching, and rank results of the query based on the score computed for the items.

Abstract: Users are most likely to search for documents “around” them, such as documents which are created, read, or modified by other users they work closely or collaborate with, documents on sites the user frequents, and/or documents trending around them, in addition to documents they've created or interacted with themselves. Therefore, embodiments are directed to relevance ranking of query results based on external context. A search service may receive a query and an external context list, determine a relevance value for each entry in the external context list, and perform the query, where a search index comprising items may be returned in response to performance of the query. The search service may then match entries in the external context list against associated properties of the items, compute a score for the items based on the matching, and rank results of the query based on the score computed for the items.

Abstract: An information feed is provided that surfaces information items that are determined to be interesting or relevant to a user. The information feed may be updated with new information items each time the feed is accessed by the user. Information not surfaced to the user in the feed may be accessed by the user via one or more other means, but only those items having a sufficient importance to the user are surfaced in the feed. Items in the feed are sorted by order of importance or relevance to the user. When new items are added to the feed, they are sorted relative to each other, but are displayed separately from previous groupings of items added to the feed. Items may be reposted to different positions in the feed, and items may be manually removed from the feed if desired.