Frustrated - Help needed with Site Search Preview and Search Results.

[William Davis]

Help needed with Site Search Preview and Search Results, we've been wrestling with this far too long.

Note, we have read the following documentation "Miva 10 Expanded Search Rules (Full Text Search)", but we must have missed something because we can't correct these issues..

We sell items in different denominations (e.g.: 1, 5, 10, etc.) from different categories (e.g.: coins, etc.). Note, we use a "denomination" product custom field enabled in Searchable Fields set to Full Text Search Type, Enabled Sort by Relevance and the highest Relevance Weight among other field.

Issue:

1. When performing a search for single digit denominations for a specified category name, the search preview does not display single digit values and often the wrong category.

Search Preview Example (without the quotes):

"5 cents coin" or "5 cent coin" would render multiple two digit denominations products.


2. The same occurs for search results -most frustrating.


3. With regards to other denomination product in a different category (e.g.: bills, etc.), would it be a good idea to create a product custom field that contains category name to improve Site Preview and Search Results in distinguishing between categories (e.g.: coins vs bills)?

[William Davis]

No suggestions?

[alphabet]

MySQL sets the default word length for full text searches to 4 characters. In your case, the full text search query will ignore any words such as 1, 5 or 10, which will help speed up the result set but not return the results that you are expecting.

One solution is to change the database config file to return results of at least one character but is not recommended as it will slow down the DB processing.

If you can write modules or use Toolbelt PreAction you could transcribe the query string that changes the string "5 cent coin" to "five cent coin" and add "five" to your denomination product custom field.

You could also use Javascript to change the query string onSubmit. Check your search query reports in Analytics and modify your string replacement code accordingly.

[William Davis]

MySQL sets the default word length for full text searches to 4 characters. In your case, the full text search query will ignore any words such as 1, 5 or 10, which will help speed up the result set but not return the results that you are expecting.

One solution is to change the database config file to return results of at least one character but is not recommended as it will slow down the DB processing.

If you can write modules or use Toolbelt PreAction you could transcribe the query string that changes the string "5 cent coin" to "five cent coin" and add "five" to your denomination product custom field.

You could also use Javascript to change the query string onSubmit. Check your search query reports in Analytics and modify your string replacement code accordingly.

alphabet, thanks for clearing that up for me. As to possible remedies, how would it impact DB processing and could it increase number of inaccurate results, we have "5 cent coin", "5 cent stamp", "5 dollar bill", etc.?

Finally, would a product custom "keywords" field be a good idea for category name in plural (e.g.: coins, bills, stamps, one, five, etc.), and use the same field for the same word but in another language?

[alphabet]

Full text searches can be very powerful and also very complicated but I'll try to simplify it for you.

As to possible remedies, how would it impact DB processing and could it increase number of inaccurate results, we have "5 cent coin", "5 cent stamp", "5 dollar bill", etc.?

Full text search will ignore the string '5' and return any field that has the string ' cent, coin, dollar, bill' without weighting. The developer would have to run second query against the return set to add weighting.

Would a product custom "keywords" field be a good idea for category name in plural ...for the same word but in another language?

Full text searches have different modes: natural, expansion, and boolean. Boolean mode can return plurals but it depends on how the developer wrote the query.

It is a good idea to add keywords, their plurals, different languages and even misspellings to the META:keywords field and then add as a custom field in the Search Settings.

As for words under 4 characters you will need to a script to transcribe them and then add to a custom field.

[William Davis]

Full text searches can be very powerful and also very complicated but I'll try to simplify it for you.



Full text search will ignore the string '5' and return any field that has the string ' cent, coin, dollar, bill' without weighting. The developer would have to run second query against the return set to add weighting.



Full text searches have different modes: natural, expansion, and boolean. Boolean mode can return plurals but it depends on how the developer wrote the query.

It is a good idea to add keywords, their plurals, different languages and even misspellings to the META:keywords field and then add as a custom field in the Search Settings.

As for words under 4 characters you will need to a script to transcribe them and then add to a custom field.

alphabet, I sincerely want to express my immense gratitude for your invaluable assistance and the clarity with which you explained the matter. Our team has been grappling with this challenge for a considerable period, repeatedly poring over the documentation in search of a solution, along with others. Regrettably, comprehending and successfully implementing it proved elusive to us and others. However, your exceptional explanation not only shed light on the underlying issue but also offered potential remedies that were previously unexplored. I cannot emphasize enough how much your help means to us. Thank you wholeheartedly for your unwavering support and guidance.

[alphabet]

You're welcome and I'm glad I could help out.

The Miva Forum is a great place to learn and share. I know what it's like to be frustrated by a code snippet and then have been helped out by this forum.

Best wishes.