--- title: "Single Source vs. Multiple Sources (Tabs): Choosing the Search Mode in Smart Search" description: "Learn the difference between the Single Source and Multiple Sources (Tabs) modes of the Vitextra Smart Search web part, what each of the ten built-in search sources finds, and how to rename, hide and reorder search tabs in SharePoint Online." url: https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10224 language: en published: 2026-10-09 modified: 2026-10-13 products: - "Smart Search" author: "Lidija Reising" tags: ["Smart Search mode", "Single Source", "Multiple Sources", "search tabs", "search result sources", "configure search tabs", "SharePoint search sources", "Vitextra Smart Search", "SharePoint Online search web part"] --- # Single Source vs. Multiple Sources (Tabs): Choosing the Search Mode in Smart Search Learn the difference between the Single Source and Multiple Sources (Tabs) modes of the Vitextra Smart Search web part, what each of the ten built-in search sources finds, and how to rename, hide and reorder search tabs in SharePoint Online. ## Overview Every **Vitextra Smart Search** web part works in one of two modes: - **Single Source** — the web part searches one kind of content, and no tabs are shown. - **Multiple Sources (Tabs)** — users switch between several kinds of content with tabs above the results. The mode is set in the **Data Source** group of the web part property pane, next to the search scope. This article explains when to use each mode, what the built-in search sources find, and how to set up the tabs. ![Single Source and Multiple Sources (Tabs) modes on one page](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10224/modes-compared-en.png) *Single Source and Multiple Sources (Tabs) modes on one page* --- ## Which mode to choose | | Single Source | Multiple Sources (Tabs) | |---|---|---| | What users see | One result list, no tabs | A row of tabs above the results | | How it's configured | One source from the **Source** drop-down | The **Select Sources** panel: visibility, names and order of tabs | | Best for | Focused blocks: *Latest documents* on a department site, *Meeting recordings* on a project page, *Company news* on the home page | A search center or a dedicated search page where users look for any kind of content | A good rule of thumb: if the page answers one question (*where are our recordings?*), use **Single Source**. If it's the place people go to *find anything*, use **Multiple Sources (Tabs)**. 💡 **Tip** Several Smart Search web parts can live on the same page, each in its own mode and with its own source. For example, a project home page can show *Documents* and *Meeting recordings* as two separate single-source blocks. --- ## Built-in search sources Smart Search offers ten built-in sources. They are based on the standard SharePoint search result sources, so they return the same content as SharePoint search and respect the same permissions. | Source | What it finds | Shown as a tab by default | |---|---|---| | **Everything** | All content within the search scope | Yes | | **Documents** | Documents in libraries | Yes | | **Popular** | The most viewed items | Yes | | **News** | News posts; with multilingual pages, in the user's language | Yes | | **People** | Employee profiles | Yes | | **Video** | Video files | No | | **Meeting Recording** | Teams meeting recordings stored in OneDrive and SharePoint | Yes | | **Pages** | Site pages | Yes | | **Recently Changed Items** | Items that were changed recently | No | | **Pictures** | Images | No | The **search scope** — **Tenant**, **This site collection** or **This site** — applies to every source. For example, with the **This site** scope, the **Documents** tab shows documents from the current site only. 📝 **Note** The refinement panel isn't shown for the **Everything** source, because it mixes very different kinds of content. Sorting doesn't apply to the **Popular** and **Recently Changed Items** sources, which have their own order. --- ## Setting up Single Source mode 1. Open the page in edit mode, select the Smart Search web part and click the **pencil (Edit web part)** icon. 2. In the **Data Source** group, under **Mode**, select **Single Source**. 3. In the **Source** drop-down, select the source to search. ![Choosing the source in Single Source mode](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10224/single-source-en.png) *Choosing the source in Single Source mode* The web part reloads the results right away. All ten sources are available in the drop-down, including those hidden as tabs. 💡 **Tip** Give a single-source web part a clear title — click the title area above the results in edit mode and type, for example, *Meeting recordings*. Without tabs, the title is what tells users what the block shows. For a ready-made recordings setup, see [KB10059. Search Recorded Teams Meetings with Smart Search](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10059). --- ## Setting up tabs in Multiple Sources mode 1. In the **Data Source** group, under **Mode**, select **Multiple Sources (Tabs)**. 2. Click **Select Sources**. A panel opens with one row per source. 3. For each source, set: - **Display Name** — the tab caption users see. It's required; rename tabs to match your organization's vocabulary, for example *Documents* → *Files* or *People* → *Colleagues*; - **Visible** — select the check box to show the tab, clear it to hide the tab; - **Order** — the position of the tab in the row. 4. Click **Save** to apply the changes, or **Cancel** to discard them. ![Configuring tabs in the Sources panel](https://static.vitextra.com/articles/10224/sources-panel-en.png) *Configuring tabs in the Sources panel* The **Source** column shows the built-in name of the source and can't be changed, so you always know which source a renamed tab is based on. Each tab keeps its own icon. When the page opens, the first visible tab is selected. Put the tab your users need most often — usually **Everything** or **Documents** — in the first position. --- ## How tabs behave for users - Switching tabs keeps the query and runs it against the new source, starting from the first page of results. - Filters selected on one tab are cleared when the user switches to another tab, because different sources have different refiners. - The selected tab is saved in the page address in the `source` parameter. A link copied from the browser opens the same tab, and you can build links that open a specific tab — see [KB10223. How to Create a Search App Page with Smart Search](https://vitextra.com/en/support/kb/10223). ❗ **Important** Hide tabs that your users don't need. Every visible tab is one more choice for the user, and a short row of clearly named tabs works better than a full set of ten. Learn more about the product: