In MOSS 2007 we could use the codeplex faceted search solution to provide what is now called ‘Search Refiners’ in SharePoint 2010.
By default the standard refiner will look like this:
The really nice thing about the refiner is that it will only show a value if a search result is returned for it, so a user will never be faced with clicking on an option and have it return zero results.
But those of us who are familiar with the old faceted search solution will know that the web part displays a count of the results, well the SharePoint 2010 refiner can as well:
Notice the subtle counts next to the metadata property.
This can be achieved by adding the following XML attribute to the refiners configuration xml:
Find the <Category> element that you wish to display counts for and add: ShowCounts=”Count”