Attribute Search Inconsistently On

[jmc.alex]

I followed all the help files to turn on attribute and SKU search in my WooCommerce instance. I was unable to get it to work even though I believe I’ve configured it properly. Then magically, it started working perfectly. I don’t recall making any changes leading up to that particular test.

When I was happy that the search was working exactly as I wanted, I went in to change the color scheme of the search bar so that it aligns more closely with the site style. I didn’t change anything else. And now it’s not searching attributes or SKU again. I have tried all the same things from the help files and nothing will get it working again.

I’m using an index table (although it doesn’t work with the regular engine either). I’ve selected the taxonomies. It just doesn’t seem to be looking in the attributes.

Sorry that this should be a simple situation, but it’s eluding me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

• This topic was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by .

[Ernest Marcinko]

Hi!

Thank you very much for all the details, it helps greatly.

It’s most likely a configuration related issue, these usually happen when multiple browser tabs may have been opened with the configuration, and saving one tab and then changing on the other will revert back to the previous, earlier state. It could be a yet unknown bug as well, let’s try to figure it out.

I will try to guess the most likely configuration issues in relation to this:
– Double check if the index table is selected, just to be sure
– Make sure the exact matching is turned off – this will automatically turn off the indexed search
– Make sure there is no exact matches filter used, even if it’s not visible, it still has an effect

These are the most likely causes. In case these doesn’t help, can you please add temporary back-end details? I will have a quick look at all of the configuration and do a few test searches.

[jmc.alex]

I’ve verified the 3 configuration items you’ve identified. They’re all set properly.

I’ve added the back-end details.

[Ernest Marcinko]

Thank you!

I found the issue, it was actually the search theme feature. The polaroid layout by default has an option to exclude resutls that have no images.

I switched to a different theme and now it’s all okay. Basically any theme that does not have “polaroid” in it should be all right 🙂

[jmc.alex]

Thanks.

SKU search is now working. But attribute search still isn’t working correctly. For instance, I have an attribute for “CAS Number” and one of the products has a value of “21293-29-8”. It won’t come up in the search results at all. The correct item is “ABSCISIC ACID”, SKU “ASB-00001010-010”. It will come up when I search for SKU or product description.

[Ernest Marcinko]

It’s because these attributes are not stored as taxonomy terms, but as custom field metadata. If you check for example the product CAS page attribute page, it reports that there are no attributes yet.

Luckily these are still indexable, I have added the product_attributes custom field to the index and re-indexed. The number of keywords doubled, so all of them should be indexed now.

[jmc.alex]

Interesting. I’m new to WordPress/WooCommerce. I uploaded all the items via a CSV file and followed their instructions for adding attributes. If you look at the Products page, it has an attributes subtab where these properties have been added. I didn’t notice the separate “attributes” page that had nothing populated.

Thank you very much for your help.

[Ernest Marcinko]

You are very welcome 🙂

Usually imported attributes are added as custom field value and not as taxonomy terms. I don’t exactly know how it works, but that’s my experience. There is probably a way to import them as taxonomy terms, but I’m afraid I don’t know how.

Either way if you don’t mind, I will close this topic soon and mark it as resolved, feel free to open another one if you have other questions or issues.

If you like the plugin and have not rated already, feel free to leave a rating on your codecanyon downloads page and on the wordpress plugin repository, it’s greatly appreciated.

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