Hi,
Sorry for the late response, I had to investigate a possible resolution, and I think I have found a fix for both cases.
1. I had to make a direct change to the plugin code in order to make this one work. Unfortunately this will disappear once the plugin is updated, but with these instructions you will be able to restore it every time:
– The file I have changed is wp-content\plugins\ajax-search-pro\includes\classes\search\class-asp-query.php
– Line 1031 was resplaced, which is:
– It was replaced by these additional lines:
Hopefully, now if you enable the grouping, the parent categories will be appended to the results, and should be categorized accordingly.
2. This one was easier, I had a custom code ready, which was previously used in a ticket about a year ago. I have added this custom filter to the functions.php file in your child theme directory. This will work even after an update:
Hopefully it should work as you expect it now, or at least very close to it.