Search functionality in PrestaShop is one of the most important features that ensures convenience and efficiency for customers. In this article, we will review the main search settings in PrestaShop, explain their purpose, and provide recommendations on how to use them.
1. Search for Substring
By default, the search in PrestaShop is performed by the beginning of a word. For example, to search for "blouse," you need to enter "blou" or "blo." If you enable the "Search for substring" option, the search will be performed by any part of the word. This means that searching for "lous" or "ous" will also return results with "blouse."
Advantages:
- Increases the number of found products, even if the user enters a part of the word.
- Enhances the usability of the search.
Recommendations:
- Enable this option if you want to improve user experience and increase the chances of finding the desired product.
2. Search Exact Match by End
By default, the search in PrestaShop finds words with different endings. For example, searching for "book" may return results like "book," "book-transformer," and "book-game." Enabling the "Search exact match by end" option will restrict the results to exact matches only, such as "book."
Advantages:
- Narrows down search results to exact matches, which can be useful for specific queries.
Recommendations:
- Enable this option if your customers often search for exact product names.
3. Fuzzy Search
By default, this option is enabled, allowing products to be found even if there are spelling errors. For example, searching for "bird" may return results like "burd," "bard," or "beerd." Disabling this option will require exact spelling for search results.
Advantages:
- Increases the chances of finding products despite spelling errors.
- Improves user satisfaction by reducing the number of unfound products.
Recommendations:
- Keep this option enabled to enhance the usability of the search.
4. Maximum Approximate Words Allowed by Fuzzy Search
This setting determines how many words with errors are allowed for fuzzy search. The default value varies depending on your preferences and catalog size.
Advantages:
- Allows you to adjust the degree of fuzziness, which can improve search results.
Recommendations:
- Adjust the value according to your product assortment and typical user errors.
5. Maximum Word Length (in Characters)
This setting determines the maximum length of words to be indexed in the search. For example, if the value is set to 10 characters, words longer than 10 characters will not be indexed and, therefore, will not appear in search results.
Advantages:
- Helps limit the index size and improve search performance.
Recommendations:
- Set a value that matches the length of your product names.
6. Minimum Word Length (in Characters)
This setting determines the minimum length of words to be indexed in the search. For example, if the value is set to 3 characters, words shorter than 3 characters will not be indexed.
Advantages:
- Helps exclude short words that may not have meaningful relevance from the index.
Recommendations:
- Set a value that suits your needs and typical user queries.
7. Stop Words
Stop words are words excluded from indexing and search. These are usually common words such as "and," "in," "on," which do not help in finding specific products.
Advantages:
- Reduces the index size and improves the relevance of search results.
Recommendations:
- Customize the list of stop words according to the language of your store and typical user queries.
Conclusion
Search settings in PrestaShop allow you to fine-tune the search functionality to meet the needs of your store and users. Proper configuration of these parameters can significantly enhance customer satisfaction and increase conversion rates. Experiment with the settings and analyze the results to find the optimal configuration for your business.
