Rank query results for relevance utilizing external context

A method performed by a computing device to rank query results for relevance, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a server, a search query and an external context list from a user via a client device, the external context list having data representing one or more entries individually identifying a person, a team, a group, an organization, or a site;
• and
• in response to receiving the search query, at the server,
• querying a database to generate a search index according to the received search query, the search index comprising one or more items having metadata identifying one or more attributes of the individual items;
• determining, whether the one or more attributes of the individual items match any of the one or more entries in the external context list;
• in response to determining that one of the attributes of one of the items matches one of the entries in the external context list, increasing a ranking level of the one of the items in the search index over other items in the search index;
• and
• transmitting to and surfacing on the client device a subset of the items in the search index each having a ranking level above a threshold.

A computing device, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor to cause the computing device to:
• receive a search query and an external context list from a user via a client device, the external context list having data representing one or more entries individually identifying a person, a team, a group, an organization, or a site;
• and
• in response to receiving the search query,
• query a database to generate a search index according to the received search query from the user, the search index including multiple items individually having metadata identifying an attribute of the corresponding item;
• determine, whether the attribute of the individual items matches any of the one or more entries in the external context list;
• in response to determining that the attribute of one of the items matches one of the entries in the external context list, increase a ranking level of the one of the items in the search index over other items in the search index;
• and
• transmit to the client device a subset of the items in the search index to be surfaced at the client device, each item in the subset having a ranking level above a threshold.