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Posted to dev@solr.apache.org by Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> on 2026/04/29 09:27:17 UTC
Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Hi all,
I would like to propose adding a *Case Studies* section to the Solr website.
Right now, most public examples of Solr usage that can be found online are
old. This can create the impression that Solr is less active or less
adopted than it really is...
A dedicated section could help show real and current usage of Solr.
Possible content:
- Companies using Solr in production (public submissions)
- Open source projects built on Solr
- Short technical stories from community members
- Modern use cases
Benefits:
- Better first impression for new users
- Stronger visibility of Solr adoption
- Better comparison with other search technologies
- Better representation of an active community
Examples from other search technologies:
OpenSearch <https://opensearch.org/case-studies/> | Elastic
<https://www.elastic.co/customers> | Vespa <https://vespa.ai/case-studies/>
If there is interest, I would be happy to help define a simple submission
format.
Also, if anyone is already willing to share an initial case study, that
could help populate the section from the start.
Thoughts?
*Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
e-mail:
*l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
*Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
Consulting | Training | Open Source
Website: Sease.io
LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
<https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
<https://github.com/seaseltd>
Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Eric Pugh <ep...@apache.org>.
Lisa, I sent an intro to Cedric from Francelabs about a case study on their Datafari product.
On 2026/04/30 04:27:31 David Smiley wrote:
> Would this be really another category of a "post"
> https://solr.apache.org/posts.html ? I could see doing this and
> additionally linking to it from elsewhere in the site to make these "case
> studies" more prominent.
>
> I suppose any one of us could basically look at someone else's
> conference/meetup presentation and basically turn it into a "case study"
> post, provided it has enough information about running Solr to fit that
> label. Meaning, if we know of a Solr deployment and can source information
> about it publicly, we don't need permission or to require a representative
> to write the "case study".
>
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 7:42 PM Eric Pugh <ep...@apache.org> wrote:
>
> > I have reached out to someone who has built a product on top of Solr and
> > this might be a good case study.
> >
> > On 2026/04/29 12:32:09 Gus Heck wrote:
> > > This sounds like a good idea if we can get some case studies. It might be
> > > detrimental if it is added empty.
> > >
> > > On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi all,
> > > >
> > > > I would like to propose adding a *Case Studies* section to the Solr
> > > > website.
> > > >
> > > > Right now, most public examples of Solr usage that can be found online
> > are
> > > > old. This can create the impression that Solr is less active or less
> > > > adopted than it really is...
> > > >
> > > > A dedicated section could help show real and current usage of Solr.
> > > >
> > > > Possible content:
> > > >
> > > > - Companies using Solr in production (public submissions)
> > > > - Open source projects built on Solr
> > > > - Short technical stories from community members
> > > > - Modern use cases
> > > >
> > > > Benefits:
> > > >
> > > > - Better first impression for new users
> > > > - Stronger visibility of Solr adoption
> > > > - Better comparison with other search technologies
> > > > - Better representation of an active community
> > > >
> > > > Examples from other search technologies:
> > > >
> > > > OpenSearch <https://opensearch.org/case-studies/> | Elastic
> > > > <https://www.elastic.co/customers> | Vespa <
> > https://vespa.ai/case-studies/
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > If there is interest, I would be happy to help define a simple
> > submission
> > > > format.
> > > > Also, if anyone is already willing to share an initial case study, that
> > > > could help populate the section from the start.
> > > >
> > > > Thoughts?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > *Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
> > > > e-mail:
> > > > *l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
> > > >
> > > > *Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
> > > > Consulting | Training | Open Source
> > > >
> > > > Website: Sease.io
> > > > LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
> > > > <https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
> > > > <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
> > > > <https://github.com/seaseltd>
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > http://www.needhamsoftware.com (work)
> > > https://a.co/d/b2sZLD9 (my fantasy fiction book)
> > >
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@solr.apache.org
> > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@solr.apache.org
> >
> >
>
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Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Eric Pugh <ep...@opensourceconnections.com>.
I like the template idea, that could be added to the Solr-site. Maybe in the footer of each case study is a “Got a good story to share, contribute yours” with a link to the template.
This section https://solr.apache.org/community.html#powered-by should be replaced with Case Studies. We could also modify on the main homepage the “Trusted and Proven” section to list out the specific case studies.
Let’s use that time together in Glasgow to get a few more written.
Eric
> On Aug 10, 2026, at 5:03 PM, Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> wrote:
>
> Thanks everyone, I think we are converging on a good approach.
>
> I agree that we should not create an empty section. I already have a first
> case study we can use, thanks to Eric Pugh and Cedric Ulmer, so we have
> something to start with [Datafari Case Study
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR3YrKAMaTOyHQENzJnNYQJ7jAtFKduCqzN7BljZ8zs/edit?usp=sharing <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR3YrKAMaTOyHQENzJnNYQJ7jAtFKduCqzN7BljZ8zs/edit?usp=sharing>>
> ].
>
> Regarding the format, I agree that case studies could technically be
> implemented as a category of posts. We could also create them ourselves
> when enough public information about a Solr deployment is available, or
> contact companies and projects directly. I have prepared a simple template
> that they can fill in, to make contributing as easy as possible [Template
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qyTwALbrJwmuJVSAN2XnLDqTXZxdhN3AeLlc7zYbmeI/edit?usp=sharing <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qyTwALbrJwmuJVSAN2XnLDqTXZxdhN3AeLlc7zYbmeI/edit?usp=sharing>>].
> Since
> the Solr website is based on Markdown, one option would be to provide an
> example .md file where contributors only need to replace the relevant
> fields. An even better option could be a simple form that automatically
> generates the .md file after submission, ready to be reviewed and added to
> the website.
>
> My only concern with treating case studies mainly as blog content is
> visibility. Technical posts will naturally remain the majority of the blog,
> while I think case studies serve a different purpose: someone evaluating
> Solr is likely to look for real examples of organizations and projects
> using it, ideally finding a use case similar to their own.
>
> So I would make Case Studies a clearly visible section of the website,
> potentially powered by posts underneath, but accessible directly from the
> main navigation or homepage.
>
> We are also considering proposing this as a roundtable / Birds of a Feather
> topic at Community Over Code. It could be a good opportunity to collect
> more real-world Solr stories and then turn them into useful content for the
> website.
>
>
> *Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
> e-mail:
> *l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
>
> *Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
> Consulting | Training | Open Source
>
> Website: Sease.io
> LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd>> | Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/seaseltd <https://twitter.com/seaseltd>> | Youtube
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ>> | Github
> <https://github.com/seaseltd <https://github.com/seaseltd>>
>
>
>
> On Fri, May 1, 2026 at 11:45 PM Chris Hostetter <ho...@fucit.org>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > : Would this be really another category of a "post"
> > : https://solr.apache.org/posts.html <https://solr.apache.org/posts.html> ? I could see doing this and
> > : additionally linking to it from elsewhere in the site to make these "case
> > : studies" more prominent.
> >
> > Yeah ... I think this idea (user stories about how people use Solr) was
> > one of the main "use cases" that came up when the "official" solr blog was
> > first suggested, about why we should make sure it's easy for anyone in the
> > community to submit a blog post, thus the blurb...
> >
> > https://solr.apache.org/blog.html <https://solr.apache.org/blog.html>
> > >> Have something to share? We're always looking for new articles! If you
> > >> have one you'd like to contribute, or would like to link out to an
> > >> external post, create a PR using the instructions here.
> >
> >
> > In general I think that blog posts (with their intrinsic "publish date"
> > metadata) are a good way of making sure information like case study write
> > ups can be viewed in the appropriate context (ie: "This case study seems
> > like a perfect use for feature X, why don't they use it? ... oh, because
> > this case study was written 3 years ago.")
> >
> >
> > We might be able to encourage more "case study" type submissions to the
> > blog if it had a dedicated "category tab" at the top of the page (like
> > "News" and "Security") ... but that brings up the chiecken-vs-egg problem
> > of adding the category before anyone has submitted any :)
> >
> >
> > -Hoss
> > http://www.lucidworks.com/ <http://www.lucidworks.com>
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@solr.apache.org
> > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@solr.apache.org
> >
> >
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Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io>.
Thanks everyone, I think we are converging on a good approach.
I agree that we should not create an empty section. I already have a first
case study we can use, thanks to Eric Pugh and Cedric Ulmer, so we have
something to start with [Datafari Case Study
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR3YrKAMaTOyHQENzJnNYQJ7jAtFKduCqzN7BljZ8zs/edit?usp=sharing>
].
Regarding the format, I agree that case studies could technically be
implemented as a category of posts. We could also create them ourselves
when enough public information about a Solr deployment is available, or
contact companies and projects directly. I have prepared a simple template
that they can fill in, to make contributing as easy as possible [Template
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qyTwALbrJwmuJVSAN2XnLDqTXZxdhN3AeLlc7zYbmeI/edit?usp=sharing>].
Since
the Solr website is based on Markdown, one option would be to provide an
example .md file where contributors only need to replace the relevant
fields. An even better option could be a simple form that automatically
generates the .md file after submission, ready to be reviewed and added to
the website.
My only concern with treating case studies mainly as blog content is
visibility. Technical posts will naturally remain the majority of the blog,
while I think case studies serve a different purpose: someone evaluating
Solr is likely to look for real examples of organizations and projects
using it, ideally finding a use case similar to their own.
So I would make Case Studies a clearly visible section of the website,
potentially powered by posts underneath, but accessible directly from the
main navigation or homepage.
We are also considering proposing this as a roundtable / Birds of a Feather
topic at Community Over Code. It could be a good opportunity to collect
more real-world Solr stories and then turn them into useful content for the
website.
*Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
e-mail:
*l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
*Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
Consulting | Training | Open Source
Website: Sease.io
LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
<https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
<https://github.com/seaseltd>
On Fri, May 1, 2026 at 11:45 PM Chris Hostetter <ho...@fucit.org>
wrote:
>
> : Would this be really another category of a "post"
> : https://solr.apache.org/posts.html ? I could see doing this and
> : additionally linking to it from elsewhere in the site to make these "case
> : studies" more prominent.
>
> Yeah ... I think this idea (user stories about how people use Solr) was
> one of the main "use cases" that came up when the "official" solr blog was
> first suggested, about why we should make sure it's easy for anyone in the
> community to submit a blog post, thus the blurb...
>
> https://solr.apache.org/blog.html
> >> Have something to share? We're always looking for new articles! If you
> >> have one you'd like to contribute, or would like to link out to an
> >> external post, create a PR using the instructions here.
>
>
> In general I think that blog posts (with their intrinsic "publish date"
> metadata) are a good way of making sure information like case study write
> ups can be viewed in the appropriate context (ie: "This case study seems
> like a perfect use for feature X, why don't they use it? ... oh, because
> this case study was written 3 years ago.")
>
>
> We might be able to encourage more "case study" type submissions to the
> blog if it had a dedicated "category tab" at the top of the page (like
> "News" and "Security") ... but that brings up the chiecken-vs-egg problem
> of adding the category before anyone has submitted any :)
>
>
> -Hoss
> http://www.lucidworks.com/
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@solr.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@solr.apache.org
>
>
Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Chris Hostetter <ho...@fucit.org>.
: Would this be really another category of a "post"
: https://solr.apache.org/posts.html ? I could see doing this and
: additionally linking to it from elsewhere in the site to make these "case
: studies" more prominent.
Yeah ... I think this idea (user stories about how people use Solr) was
one of the main "use cases" that came up when the "official" solr blog was
first suggested, about why we should make sure it's easy for anyone in the
community to submit a blog post, thus the blurb...
https://solr.apache.org/blog.html
>> Have something to share? We're always looking for new articles! If you
>> have one you'd like to contribute, or would like to link out to an
>> external post, create a PR using the instructions here.
In general I think that blog posts (with their intrinsic "publish date"
metadata) are a good way of making sure information like case study write
ups can be viewed in the appropriate context (ie: "This case study seems
like a perfect use for feature X, why don't they use it? ... oh, because
this case study was written 3 years ago.")
We might be able to encourage more "case study" type submissions to the
blog if it had a dedicated "category tab" at the top of the page (like
"News" and "Security") ... but that brings up the chiecken-vs-egg problem
of adding the category before anyone has submitted any :)
-Hoss
http://www.lucidworks.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@solr.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@solr.apache.org
Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by David Smiley <ds...@apache.org>.
Would this be really another category of a "post"
https://solr.apache.org/posts.html ? I could see doing this and
additionally linking to it from elsewhere in the site to make these "case
studies" more prominent.
I suppose any one of us could basically look at someone else's
conference/meetup presentation and basically turn it into a "case study"
post, provided it has enough information about running Solr to fit that
label. Meaning, if we know of a Solr deployment and can source information
about it publicly, we don't need permission or to require a representative
to write the "case study".
On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 7:42 PM Eric Pugh <ep...@apache.org> wrote:
> I have reached out to someone who has built a product on top of Solr and
> this might be a good case study.
>
> On 2026/04/29 12:32:09 Gus Heck wrote:
> > This sounds like a good idea if we can get some case studies. It might be
> > detrimental if it is added empty.
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> wrote:
> >
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I would like to propose adding a *Case Studies* section to the Solr
> > > website.
> > >
> > > Right now, most public examples of Solr usage that can be found online
> are
> > > old. This can create the impression that Solr is less active or less
> > > adopted than it really is...
> > >
> > > A dedicated section could help show real and current usage of Solr.
> > >
> > > Possible content:
> > >
> > > - Companies using Solr in production (public submissions)
> > > - Open source projects built on Solr
> > > - Short technical stories from community members
> > > - Modern use cases
> > >
> > > Benefits:
> > >
> > > - Better first impression for new users
> > > - Stronger visibility of Solr adoption
> > > - Better comparison with other search technologies
> > > - Better representation of an active community
> > >
> > > Examples from other search technologies:
> > >
> > > OpenSearch <https://opensearch.org/case-studies/> | Elastic
> > > <https://www.elastic.co/customers> | Vespa <
> https://vespa.ai/case-studies/
> > > >
> > >
> > > If there is interest, I would be happy to help define a simple
> submission
> > > format.
> > > Also, if anyone is already willing to share an initial case study, that
> > > could help populate the section from the start.
> > >
> > > Thoughts?
> > >
> > >
> > > *Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
> > > e-mail:
> > > *l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
> > >
> > > *Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
> > > Consulting | Training | Open Source
> > >
> > > Website: Sease.io
> > > LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
> > > <https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
> > > <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
> > > <https://github.com/seaseltd>
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > http://www.needhamsoftware.com (work)
> > https://a.co/d/b2sZLD9 (my fantasy fiction book)
> >
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscribe@solr.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dev-help@solr.apache.org
>
>
Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Eric Pugh <ep...@apache.org>.
I have reached out to someone who has built a product on top of Solr and this might be a good case study.
On 2026/04/29 12:32:09 Gus Heck wrote:
> This sounds like a good idea if we can get some case studies. It might be
> detrimental if it is added empty.
>
> On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I would like to propose adding a *Case Studies* section to the Solr
> > website.
> >
> > Right now, most public examples of Solr usage that can be found online are
> > old. This can create the impression that Solr is less active or less
> > adopted than it really is...
> >
> > A dedicated section could help show real and current usage of Solr.
> >
> > Possible content:
> >
> > - Companies using Solr in production (public submissions)
> > - Open source projects built on Solr
> > - Short technical stories from community members
> > - Modern use cases
> >
> > Benefits:
> >
> > - Better first impression for new users
> > - Stronger visibility of Solr adoption
> > - Better comparison with other search technologies
> > - Better representation of an active community
> >
> > Examples from other search technologies:
> >
> > OpenSearch <https://opensearch.org/case-studies/> | Elastic
> > <https://www.elastic.co/customers> | Vespa <https://vespa.ai/case-studies/
> > >
> >
> > If there is interest, I would be happy to help define a simple submission
> > format.
> > Also, if anyone is already willing to share an initial case study, that
> > could help populate the section from the start.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> >
> > *Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
> > e-mail:
> > *l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
> >
> > *Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
> > Consulting | Training | Open Source
> >
> > Website: Sease.io
> > LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
> > <https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
> > <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
> > <https://github.com/seaseltd>
> >
>
>
> --
> http://www.needhamsoftware.com (work)
> https://a.co/d/b2sZLD9 (my fantasy fiction book)
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Re: Add Case Studies section to the Solr website
Posted by Gus Heck <gu...@gmail.com>.
This sounds like a good idea if we can get some case studies. It might be
detrimental if it is added empty.
On Wed, Apr 29, 2026 at 5:28 AM Lisa Biella <l....@sease.io> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I would like to propose adding a *Case Studies* section to the Solr
> website.
>
> Right now, most public examples of Solr usage that can be found online are
> old. This can create the impression that Solr is less active or less
> adopted than it really is...
>
> A dedicated section could help show real and current usage of Solr.
>
> Possible content:
>
> - Companies using Solr in production (public submissions)
> - Open source projects built on Solr
> - Short technical stories from community members
> - Modern use cases
>
> Benefits:
>
> - Better first impression for new users
> - Stronger visibility of Solr adoption
> - Better comparison with other search technologies
> - Better representation of an active community
>
> Examples from other search technologies:
>
> OpenSearch <https://opensearch.org/case-studies/> | Elastic
> <https://www.elastic.co/customers> | Vespa <https://vespa.ai/case-studies/
> >
>
> If there is interest, I would be happy to help define a simple submission
> format.
> Also, if anyone is already willing to share an initial case study, that
> could help populate the section from the start.
>
> Thoughts?
>
>
> *Lisa Biella*Digital Marketing Manager
> e-mail:
> *l.biella@sease.io <l....@sease.io>*
>
> *Sease* - Information Retrieval Applied
> Consulting | Training | Open Source
>
> Website: Sease.io
> LinkedIn <https://linkedin.com/company/sease-ltd> | Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/seaseltd> | Youtube
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDx86ZKLYNpI3gzMercM7BQ> | Github
> <https://github.com/seaseltd>
>
--
http://www.needhamsoftware.com (work)
https://a.co/d/b2sZLD9 (my fantasy fiction book)