Product reference search

[cdicken]

You can search for product references within the main search field as long as you are not auto-generating product reference numbers. Will that address the issue for you? It could be that are auto-generating product reference numbers now, but you weren't in v6.

[HowardW]

Hi Chris
We do not auto generate product references. However, whenever we do a search on a product reference, no matching products are found
regards
howard

[cdicken]

Do your product references have any unusual characters in them? If I search for '11' on my default Actinic store, I get the teapot up - which has a product reference of '11'.

[HowardW]

Hi Chris
No we do not.
As I recall, we had to do what I want as something special in the version 6 AUG.
Regards
Howard

[cdicken]

As I recall, we had to do what I want as something special in the version 6 AUG.

Do you mean something like this?:

<form method="post" action="<actinic:variable name="SearchCGIURL" />">
	<input type="hidden" name="NOLOGIN" value="1" />
	Search for product references:
	<input type="text" name="PRODREF" value="" />
	<input type="submit" name="submit" value="Search Now" />
</form>

[HowardW]

Hi Chris
Something like that.
However, it just worked with all the quick search and main search boxes.
Where do I put it?
Regards
Howard

[cdicken]

Sorry Howard, but you seem to be contradicting yourself.

As I recall, we had to do what I want as something special in the version 6 AUG.

However, it just worked with all the quick search and main search boxes.

Can you remember whether you had a separate box for the product reference search in your v6 store or whether you just used the standard search fields? I just don't know whether to help you get v8 working as v6 did, or help you add a new product reference search field into your layouts.

If it's the latter, I need to see a URL of your store so I know how you can customise the layouts effectively.

[Pagesdiy]

Reference search

I would really like to be able to have a search by product reference number too either by entering the partial or full reference code.

Is there no way to set actinic so that when a user does a search it indexes the reference number as well as the product name and description text in the items it searches.

Quite often customers make an enquiry to me about a particular product quoting the reference number. I can't physically go onto my own site and search for the product by putting the reference number into the search box.
I create my own product references and am unable to search for them.

If this isn't easily available to do with V8 perhaps this facility could be included in a wish list for v9?

[HowardW]

Hi Chris
Sorry, we did have a second box for a time, but then we found that for some reason, the normal box could search on product reference, so we got rid of the separate box.
Don't ask me how.
Regards
Howard

[cdicken]

OK - well if you copy the code I pasted earlier into your Quick Search Bar layout , or your 'Search Page Bulk Area' layout you will have a product reference search field. You may need to tweak the HTML code to suit your requirements, and you may also need to remove the <form> and </form> tags from my code if you are placing this code within an existing <form> on the page (which you probably will be).

But as I say, I changed the product reference of 'Great Expectations' in a default store to 'snowdonia'. Then uploaded and searched for 'snowdonia' and Actinic found the product. This was in 8.5.1

[HowardW]

Whoops
RTFM Looked through help
and the answer is there
It is built in to the progam
Althought it doesn't seem to work
Is it because I upraded?
Regards
Howard

[HowardW]

Update

Got it working .
Some of our product references contain hyphens, changed valid characters (search settings) to include hyphens and it is now sorted
Regards
Howard

[cdicken]

Glad you got it working Howard.