Essential Configuration Settings for Total Search Module After Installation
After installing the Total Search module, optimizing its settings is crucial for providing a seamless search experience for your customers. Here's a detailed guide on configuring the essential settings in the "General settings" tab.
1. Enabling search for various content types
The Total Search module enhances the default PrestaShop search functionality by allowing you to enable search capabilities across different content types. This ensures that customers can find what they're looking for quickly and easily.
Product search
Enable product search: Toggle this option to "Yes" to include products in the search results. This allows customers to find products by their titles, descriptions, and other relevant details.
Category and manufacturer search
- Enable product category search: Toggle this option to "Yes" to include product categories in the search results. Customers can search for specific categories to find related products.
- Enable manufacturer search: Toggle this option to "Yes" to include manufacturers in the search results, helping customers find products from specific brands.
CMS page and blog post search
- Enable CMS page search: Toggle this option to "Yes" to include CMS pages, such as blog posts and informational pages, in the search results. This helps customers find relevant content beyond just products.
- Enable BLOG post search: Toggle this option to "Yes" to include blog posts generated by the BLOG module by PrestaHero in the search results, enhancing the discoverability of your blog content.
2. Enhancing search accuracy
To provide the most relevant search results, our Total Search module offers options to fine-tune the search scope and behavior.
Description search
- Search in description: Toggle this option to "Yes" to enable searching within the descriptions of categories, manufacturers, suppliers, and other entities. This provides a broader search scope, ensuring customers find all relevant content.
Example: If a customer searches for "summer dresses" and this option is enabled, the search results will include not only products with "summer dresses" in their titles but also those with relevant descriptions, such as "Perfect for summer outings", within the category or manufacturer descriptions.
Minimum input characters
- Minimum number of input characters: Set the minimum number of characters required for search text. This prevents the search function from triggering too early, which can be particularly useful for large catalogs. The recommended setting is at least 3 characters.
Example: If you set the minimum input characters to 3, a search for "bag" will trigger search results, but typing "ba" won't. This helps reduce irrelevant search queries and improves the efficiency of the search process.
3. Customizing search box appearance
The search box is a critical element of your website's user interface. Customizing its appearance can enhance the overall user experience.
Search box placeholder
- Search box input placeholder: Enter a placeholder text for the search box, such as "Search for products..." or "Type to search...". This guides customers on what they can search for.
Color customization
- Search button color: Choose a color for the search button that matches your website's theme. This ensures that the search button is easily noticeable and accessible.
- Hover color: Select a hover color for the search button to provide a visual cue when customers interact with it. This enhances the overall user experience and engagement.
4. Maintaining search index with cronjob
What is a Search index?
A search index is a database that stores information about your website's content to make searching faster and more efficient. When a customer searches for something on your site, the search engine references this index to quickly find relevant results. Without an updated index, the search engine might miss recent changes, additions, or deletions, leading to outdated or inaccurate search results.
Why keep the search index updated?
Keeping the search index updated is crucial because it ensures that all new products, categories, CMS pages, and other content are included in search results. If your index is not updated, customers may not find the latest content, which can lead to a poor user experience and lost sales opportunities.
Set up a cronjob for index maintenance
To keep the search index updated automatically, the Total Search module allows you to set up a cronjob. A cronjob is a scheduled task that runs at specified intervals to perform certain actions, such as updating the search index.
Example: If you add new products to your store daily, you might set up a cronjob to update the search index every night. This way, customers can find new products in search results the next day.
Configuring the Total Search module is a straightforward process that can significantly enhance the search experience on your PrestaShop site. By enabling search across various content types, fine-tuning search accuracy, customizing the search box appearance, and maintaining the search index with a cronjob, you can provide a seamless and efficient search experience for your customers.