Setting up free text search for Ecommerce

In this tutorial, you will learn how to set up a basic free text search for Ecommerce, enabling users to search the:

• Product names
• Short and long descriptions

Of all active Ecommerce products – all from the same text field.

Simply follow this step-by-step guide, and you’re set.

• Go to you Management Center
• Right click on Repositories and create a new repository
• Name it and click OK

This creates a new repository (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Your new empty repository should look like this

Creating a working index requires you to add the elements in the proper order – Index > Instance > Build > Fields.

• Click Add index
  • Name it
  • Click OK
• Click Add instance
  • Name it
  • Select the LuceneIndexProvider
  • Provide a folder name
  • Click OK
• Click Add Build
  • Name it
  • Select the Dynamicweb.eCommerce.Indexing.ProductIndexBuilder
  • Select Full as your builder action
  • Click OK
• Click Add field
  • Select field type Schema extender
  • Select ProductIndexSchemaExtender as your type
  • Click OK
• Save your index, then build the index (click the "build"-button next to your build. It has the the same as your instance)
• Save and close your index – it should look like Figure 3.1

Figure 3.1 Your index should look like this

• Click Add query
  • Name it
  • Select your index as data source
  • Click OK
• Click Add parameter
  • Name it (e.g. Search)
  • Select System.String as type
  • Click OK
• Click Expressions > Add group
  • In the dropdowns, select the Active field and the Equal operator.
  • Click the wand and select Constant & System.Boolean. Set value to true.
  • Click Add group and select the OR operator in the dropdown
  • Add four expressions (Figure 4.1)
    • Select Product name, Product number, Short description and Long description from the dropdowns
    • Select Contains as the operator
    • Click the wand and select Parameter > Search for all four
• Save and close your query

Figure 4.1 Your expressions should look like this

• Go to the Product Catalog module settings on your paragraph
• Under the Show settings, select Index
• Under the Index settings, select your query
• Under Templates, open the ProductList template and add <!--@Ecom:Search.SearchBox--> where you want the search box to appear (Figure 5.1).

Figure 5.1 Insert the tag where you want your search box to appear

• Next, check the Search checkbox - this makes the Search template appear (Figure 5.2)

Figure 5.2 Check the Search checkbox to enable (and edit) the search result template

• In your search template, edit the parameter name to match the name of your parameter (from your query) (Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.3 Change the Search template to match your parametername from your query

• Save and close your module settings

And that’s it. You’re done! 

Click Show page and start searching..