Improving search

Hello,

We are getting feedback that our current product search configuration is not producing very good results. I attempted to configure the search to "include" every practical field in the products table. Would modifying or re-ordering these help improve our search?

I've attached the search settings from DataAssist. I can provide more detailed info, if needed.

Many thanks in advance!

yes, i will need more details

specifically what results you would like to achieve and a description of how the current results are not meeting that expectation.

Thanks for the quick reply. This post was opened for a quick review of the search settings, to see if they are configured logically.

Searches inquiries include ProductName, ProductSKU, ProductManufacturer, ProductKeywords, ProductShortDescription. They are filtered by S_ProductCategoryID in the url. All results should be filtered using "ProductDeactivate = 0" and "ProductPrice > 0"

Also, a search for "first aid kits" brings up two (2) results, while "first aid kit" brings up sixteen (16) results. We tried getting around this by including the ProductKeywords field, but it's an enormous task to add keywords to every product.

The url and login are in PM.

it's imposible to know if search settings are correct or not with only a vague description that you are not getting the results you want, I needed to know specifics of the results you where getting versus what you expect to be able to determine if the settings are correct or not.

I suspect the problem is not the settings, but rather the data.

your search for "First Aid Kits"

will only retunr results that include the word "kits"

whereas "First Aid Kits" will return results where the word "kit" and "kits" is included.


theres not really a way around that except to use a products keywords column where you define all the key words that can be used to search for an item so that you can specify that an item be returned whether search is for "kit" or "kits"

Thank you Jason, I apologize for the vague description.

I began investigating the products and found many had an empty keyword field. It was reported that searching for "eye wash" did not bring up anything, while "eyewash" gave the expected results. I added "eye wash" to the keyword field and now the search brings up the expected results.

Does the order of the search criteria (the AND, OR) affect the results? I have found the when a user searches for a safety product, both products (ProductPrice > 0) and rentals (ProductPrice = 0) appear, even though it seems they should be filtered out.

$WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromList("JoinCategory","S_ProductCategoryID","AND","=",1);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromEdit("ProductName","S_ProductName","AND","Includes",0);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromEdit("ProductSKU","S_ProductName","OR","Includes",0);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromEdit("ProductManufacturer","S_ProductName","OR","Includes",0);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromEdit("ProductKeywords","S_ProductName","OR","Includes",0);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparisonFromEdit("ProductShortDesc","S_ProductName","OR","Includes",0);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparison("ProductDeactivate","0","AND","=",1);
  $WADbSearch1->addComparison("ProductPrice","0","AND",">",1);

In your criteria, i see that you have S_ProductName field searching multiple fields, instead of using multiple criteria for that, use only one. Set the criteria type to a keyword search, and then select all of the columns that should be searched.


that will cause all of the key word search terms to be grouped which is probably why you are getting both price items.

Thank you! I adjusted the S_ProductName to search multiple criteria and am seeing much improved results. I appreciate the assistance.