Search settings: Match search terms in any order?

johnstephens · 2014-02-25 01:36:04

I have a custom field that contains one or more human names listed in a common citation format. Using wet_haystack to make that field and others searchable, I found that Textpattern can find articles containing listed names only when the name is entered exactly as it appears in the field:

Case A

Custom field content: John Stephens
Search query: John Stephens
Result: Search returns the articles with “John Stephens” in the custom field

Case B

Custom field content: Stephens, John
Search query: John Stephens
Result: Search does not return the articles with “Stephens, John” in the custom field

My goal is to get the search query for case B to return results where the last name is first in the custom field.

Uli suggested I look at smd_fuzzy_find, but I already use that plugin, and it doesn’t trigger because the names appear in other contexts. He also recommended ob1_advanced_search which includes this feature.

I examined the manual for ob1_advanced_search, and it’s very intimidating. It appears to have a lot of complicated moving parts that I don’t need, and I’m very reluctant to add an orphaned plugin to a client’s professional public website.

Are there any other options or suggestions? If you or a loved one have considered this issue before, I’d be very grateful for any guidance you might provide!

Last edited by johnstephens (2014-02-25 01:36:45)

colak · 2014-02-25 08:03:43

Hi John. I guess it is obvious but do you use ~~@search=“any”@~~ @match=“any”@ in the search_input?

Last edited by colak (2014-02-25 18:33:06)

etc · 2014-02-25 10:34:04

colak wrote #279211:

Hi John. I guess it is obvious but do you use search="any" in the search_input?

Shouldn’t it be match="any"?

colak · 2014-02-25 11:57:58

Hi Oleg,

Indeed. You are right. I corrected it above

uli · 2014-02-25 14:18:25

colak wrote #279211:

I guess it is obvious but do you use search="any" in the search_input?

Ouch, that’s embarassing, completely forgot about that attribute. Threw it in the search_input tag in each page (still TXP default), and it still doesn’t bring up the expected results. Probably even more embarrassing for me. Good that it’s the sandbox.

johnstephens · 2014-02-25 20:53:02

I feel like a fool. I have always used my own custom search input instead of the txp:search_input tag, and I was unaware of the match attribute. Thank you all so much!

Heads up to anyone finding this thread in the future: If you are using a custom search form, it is insufficient (and unnecessary) to add the match attribute to the search_input tag:

<txp:search_input form="my_search_form" match="all"/>

Instead, you need to add the a hidden input field to the form, like so:

<input type='hidden' value='all' name='m'/>
<input type='search' name='q' value='' placeholder='Enter the best keywords ever'/>
<input type='submit' value='Search'/>

Question: Is there any difference between using the search_input tag with a form declared in the form attribute, and simply using output_form?

etc · 2014-02-26 14:43:01

johnstephens wrote #279264:

Is there any difference between using the search_input tag with a form declared in the form attribute, and simply using output_form?

the only difference is that <txp:search_input /> retains the value of <txp:search_term />, though you can set it manually.

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#1 2014-02-25 01:36:04