A profile is a collection of data (URLs/documents) to be searched, plus the settings that control that search; a profile must be created and walked before searches can occur.
On the Profiles page, a default profile name and data directory may already be filled in for you to create. If Profile Dataspace Roots have been configured in System Wide Settings, you'll have a set list of data directories to choose from.
Enter a name for the new profile, and choose a profile type. A
Standard
profile is just that - a standard profile for
walking - and is usually what you'll want to create, especially for
the first profile. A Meta Search
profile does not walk data
itself, but merely searches and aggregates results from one or more
other profiles; see here for details.
After setting a profile name and type, hit the Create Profile
button to create the profile.
A new profile will be created but a site walk/index will not be started yet.
You are then presented with the main walk settings page. Use the Base URL
setting to specify the starting point of your walk. This is often the homepage
of a site, or the sitemap page.