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Cobalt Search Filter - doesn't work.

Problem Problem | Reviewed Reviewed | Cobalt 8 | Hits: 1137 | Comments: 4 | Bookmarked: 0 | Followers: 6

nwrightau VIP
Total posts: 99
29 Oct 2014 23:43

Nothing but trouble with Cobalt, and also MijoSearch has the same amount of bugs!! Extremely frustrating.

Alright here's what I want to do, would take 15 minutes in any other software but seems impossible using Cobalt.

I have a section and a content type called services, I want to display a search AS A MODULE that searches only that section or only the content type, whatever they both would acheive the same thing.

So first I try cobalts 'filter' module, nothing but issues here - you put it on the page, enter a search term and I have no idea what universe it gets the search results from, but they have no relavence to the search terms nor are they filtered to the services section OR content type [despite selecting services as the section in module settings] - anyway clearly the search filter completely ignores exact phrases and returns who knows what - usless results either way. So the results OBVIOUSLY need to work with exact phrases and be sorted by relavance at absolute minimum! It's just not a search module otherwise.

So that was frustrating, but something I've come to expect from Cobalt, bugs everywhere and usually no fix available.

So next I try MijoSearch with their Cobalt plugin - I add mijo search module, and add a cobalt filter to that section, but the module just ignores the filter and displays results from all over the site, but at least they are relavent.

So my dillemma is, 15 minute task blown out to hours and hours by overly complex and buggy software that I regret using. Is there at least a Joomla Smart search plugin for cobalt? OR are there some other 3rd party extensions that offer Cobalt plugins?

Any help anyone can offer is much appreciated, if you are reading this and can help please contact me - more than happy to pay for your services to get this sorted out ASAP!

Thanks

Last Modified: 03 Nov 2014

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nwrightau VIP
Total posts: 99
30 Oct 2014 04:08

Update:

Using the records module with everything disabled I've been able to sort of it make it work, I had to disable all fields from being searchable beacuse I only want to search title in this instance.

Now, the list of downsides to this:

  • The returned results are sorted alphabetically, with seemling no option to change this - clearly this needs to be sorted by relavance to search terms.
  • No option to search ONLY titles, only way around was to disabled content type fields from being searched, this will stop those fields being searched by the global search which is not ideal.
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Sergey
Total posts: 13,748
30 Oct 2014 11:55

nwrightau Is there at least a Joomla Smart search plugin for cobalt?

There is. Should be installed.

nwrightau I had to disable all fields from being searchable beacuse I only want to search title in this instance.

This is correct. Unfortunately you cannot text r=search in one place only in title and in other place it title and all fields. We have only one fulltext index.

nwrightau So the results OBVIOUSLY need to work with exact phrases and be sorted by relavance at absolute minimum! It's just not a search module otherwise.

I could add that when you text search, it automaticaly order by relevance. And that is how it worked at first. But it turned out that it is not always the case. Sometimes user sort by price for example and then search. And he want results by price and change anything behind the scene would create cases for user confusions. That is why when you search by text in ordering list, new order appear to order by relevance.

I have no Idea how I could change it to serve for your case. Actualy I changed that not to be default because I have complains about it.

So some people need search this way and some need that another way.

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pepperstreet VIP
Total posts: 3,837
30 Oct 2014 15:17

Sergey So some people need search this way and some need that another way.

Agree. Depends on the use case and user behavior. If you filter or sort beforehand... one might add the search on top of it. Or if you have a product catalog, you have to keep a certain default ordering.

Overall and technically, I understand it more as an additional filter.
But the average end-user might see it as a global site search... the latter is a taks for the J! search/smartsearch plugin.

Anyway, is there a chance to make it configurable? Or even dynamic?

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Sergey
Total posts: 13,748
03 Nov 2014 11:52

pepperstreet Anyway, is there a chance to make it configurable? Or even dynamic?

May be configuration option is possible. I'll look into it.

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