Category and tag names are searchable by default, so a search for a category name finds the content carrying it. Comments are the opposite: they stay out of the index unless you switch them on. Both live under Elevated › Site Search › Settings › Advanced Options › Content to Index.

Table of Contents

• Step 1: Open Content to Index
• Step 2: Toggle Taxonomies and Comments
• What Each Toggle Changes
• Troubleshooting

Step 1: Open Content to Index

Navigate to Elevated › Site Search › Settings, expand Advanced Options, and locate Content to Index.

Step 2: Toggle Taxonomies and Comments

Include category/tag names is on by default: the names of the categories and tags attached to an item count as searchable text for that item.

Include comments is off by default. Switch it on to make approved comment content searchable; the comment text counts toward the post it belongs to.

Click Save Settings; the index rebuilds automatically.

What Each Toggle Changes

• Taxonomies on: a search for “denim” also matches items tagged denim, even when the word never appears in the text.
• Comments on: a question answered in a comment thread becomes findable through the post that hosts it. Results still link to the post, never to a bare comment.
• Excerpts: the neighbouring Include excerpts toggle (on by default) controls whether hand-written excerpts count as searchable text.

Troubleshooting

Tag matches rank too high or too low. Taxonomy matches carry their own weight, tunable under Field Weighting (see How to Weight Search Fields).

A fresh comment does not match yet. Save the settings again or rebuild the index from Advanced Options › Indexer after enabling comments; only approved comments are indexed.