How to make the a custom search the default search in SharePoint 2010

Question

I have created a custom, site-wide, search scope in SharePoint 2010 (and its associated tab for displaying on the search page). What I would like is to make my custom search the default search for the site collection instead of SharePoint's default option. So my requirement is that when a user types search keywords into the default search box, the search will use my search scope instead of the default one.

I figure that this must be a fairly common thing to do but I just can't seem to find how to do it.

Answer 1

You can change the order of the search box scope drop down and specify a default scope other than All Sites.

1. In your site collection, go to (Site Actions), Site Settings.
2. Under Site Collection Administration click Search Scopes.
3. In the scopes page you'll see all your scopes. Note the scope you want to be default should be listed under the Search Dropdown group. Click Display Groups
4. Select the Search Dropdown, and click Edit Display Group.
5. In the Default Scope dropdown, select the scope you wish to be the default. You can also reorder the scopes as they appear in the dropdown on this page.
6. Click OK to save.

For more information about search scopes and the scopes dropdown, Plan search scopes (SharePoint Server 2010) and Change properties for the Search Box Web Part (Search Server 2010).