Continuation of Previous Thread Regarding New Features, Improvements, and Bugs

[Ernest MarcinkoKeymaster]

Hi Michael!

Attachment search
Thank you for the export, good news, I have found the issue: it was the category filter. I think in my earlier reply I wrote that attachments are also affected by taxonomy term filters/exclusions. Your configuration allows results matching any of the selected categories only, nothing else – which is none of the attachments unfortunately.
By enabling the missing taxonomy terms allowance, this was immediately resolved, and I was getting results: https://i.imgur.com/g2kRU1U.png

The index table should also work now, the related issue was resolved in 4.12.

Date Filter Bug & Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent Posts – coming in next release

Customizable Headers in Settings Screen for “Generic Selectors” and Date Filters
I purposely left out this one out for now, as there is a header text for both inputs separately: https://i.imgur.com/wrtsLod.png
I think I will have to make a bigger change there, to somehow display these labels before the inputs, then introduce a 3rd label, that would be above them.

Best,
Ernest Marcinko
If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

Attachment Search

I can’t thank you enough for finding the source of my attachment problem. I had a feeling that if I provided you with my configuration you’d be able to pinpoint the source of the problem much faster than me.

So this actually makes a lot of sense, because I had purposefully turned off the “Show posts/CPM with empty (missing) taxonomy terms” setting a few weeks ago. This is why my attachment search suddenly stopped functioning. I turned this setting back on and like magic the attachments are displaying again.

Here’s the issue…

The reason I had turned off this setting in the first place was because it was causing problems with post-format filters. The problem is that when this setting is turned on that the default post-format will display in search results even when it is not selected. So for example, if I select to only show image posts in the search results, the default posts (we call them articles) will also be displayed. A few weeks back I found that if I turned this above setting off it solved this problem. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this is what broke the attachment search.

So the question is, can you fix this problem with the default post-format in the filters?

Obviously we don’t want the default post-format to display in search results if it isn’t selected. I’m thinking this is something you just missed when first introducing this to the filters.

Btw, the attachment search results are working beautifully now, and there are no problems fetching the images from the S3 bucket (via the WP Offload S3 plugin).

…..

Attachments Not Displaying When Using the Index Table

I have turned on the index table option for attachments and can confirm that it is now working properly. Thanks for getting this one fixed!

…..

Feature to Disable the Isotopic Default Image

Today I decided to take advantage of the new feature you added to display the background color in the search result cards if no image is present. I really like this feature and it is working perfectly. We needed to turn this on because without it the result cards were only the height of the title. I want to maintain a perfect grid, so this was an elegant solution.

I did have to do a little custom css however as the title was displaying at the top of the card when no image was present. It was a simple css fix.

I wanted to mention to you that it seems the default behavior of the isotopic results is to only display the title. This is exactly what I want, as there’s not enough room to show more than the title. I had previously requested to add these options when no image is present:

Show Only the Title
Show the Title and Description

What I realized however is that the title is already the only thing being displayed. In our case we’re displaying the title over the background color when no image is present. So technically I don’t need these other options. If you did add more options, I would need something like “Show Title and Background Color.” But as I said, this is already what it’s doing.

…..

Date Filter Bug and Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent Posts

coming in next release

Sounds great! Thank you!

When you do integrate the attachment results functionality I’ll need to remove the filter that you originally provided.

…..

Customizable Header in Settings Screen Date Filters

I purposely left out this one out for now, as there is a header text for both inputs separately: https://i.imgur.com/wrtsLod.png
I think I will have to make a bigger change there, to somehow display these labels before the inputs, then introduce a 3rd label, that would be above them.

That makes sense. There just needs to be a main header above the entire container to match the other sections. I’ll end up making the sub-titles for the two date fields a little smaller, so they don’t compete with the top header.

…..

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

I ran into this very strange issue today during testing. It’s not something I’ve ever seen before, so the problem may be on our end somehow. I wanted to bring it to your attention just in case.

What I was seeing was that the number of search result columns kept increasing every time I would perform a search. It would start off with the normal number of columns, and then on subsequent searches there would be one additional column. This kept repeating over and over again, and each time there would be more columns and the result cards would be smaller and smaller. As I said, I’ve never seen this before. The problem is intermittent and seemed to go away if I would refresh the page and start over.

…..

Quick Questions

1. I started using the export/import function today to transfer my configuration from the production environment to development. I’m using the export/import of settings feature (not the instance). I didn’t have any problems, but was wondering afterwards if it really worked perfectly. That’s my question… how perfect is the export/import of settings? Does it really get every single setting?

2. While doing a search today I noticed that using a common word like “the” could actually produce non-relevant results. A word like this can be used at the beginning of many search terms, when the real relevant word(s) come after the word “the.” So I was wondering if there was some kind of solution to this? Perhaps there’s a feature that already exists for this kind of tweak.

…..

My thanks as always for your continued help and support. You’ve honestly provided the best support I’ve ever received for a premium plugin. I’m very impressed by you, and grateful. I’m looking forward to showing you our platform when it finally goes live (in a few months still). 😉

~ Michael

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by  Michael Samson.

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

Did you see my post above from a few days ago? No rush, just want to make sure you saw it…

I have an important issue to bring to your attention:

Filter to Use Parent (Linked) Page for Attachment Search Results Not Functioning with Index Table Method

If you recall you had provided me with a filter that is able to detect when an attachment has a parent (linked) page, and to then use that URL for the attachment search result. This is a feature that you said you’re soon integrating into core.

I’ve been working here with my own development team to ensure that all of our attachments are properly linked to their parent post page in the media library. The idea being that the search will then see that linked post page and use it for the attachment link in search results.

During testing today I was having difficulty getting the filter to function. I was confused as to why it wasn’t working because I had tested it when you first provided it to me. I figured out that the filter does not function if the attachments are set to use the index table method. As soon as I turned it back to the normal search method the filter worked, and the attachments used the linked post page.

I wanted to bring this issue to your attention so that when you build this feature into core (you said it would be in the next release), that it will function when attachments are using the index table.

…..

Just a note that the date filter bug is driving me crazy here with testing. What is happening is that the search cannot see any posts from today’s date when the date filter is active. I have it set by default to display the last year of results. So anything posted on the current day is not being seen. This is troublesome especially when you’re testing stuff on the site and need it to come up in search. Anyway, I look forward to this one being fixed too. 😉

~ Michael

[Ernest MarcinkoKeymaster]

Hi Michael,

Sorry about the delay, I did read your previous reply yesterday. I was working on a major index table optimization, and had to answer ticket as fast as possible to have enough time for testing. I was granted access to someone elses live server to test, so I had to prioritize that first.

Attachment search

This is a tough one. Looking at the code, I am thinking that the best and fastest solution would be to simply disable the taxonomy term filter for attachments. However there is no filter for the arguments within that class (I guess I have to add this as well). For this reason the only possible solution is to manually disable the term filter within the plugin file.

NOTE: This solution will only work with the non-index table version! Before editing anything, make sure to have a back-up, just in case.

For the fix, follow these steps:
1. Open up the wp-content\plugins\ajax-search-pro\includes\classes\search\class-asp-search-attachments.php
2. Scroll to line 102, which should be this:

$term_query = $this->build_term_query( $wpdb->posts.".ID", $wpdb->posts.'.post_type' );

3. Replace that line with:

$term_query = '';

The best possible solution for this is that I add an option to the back-end, just like the one regarding the custom fields. That should resolve this once and for all.

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

I have noted this. I am not sure what might be the issue, but I will go through the pagination generator code before the next release, maybe I can find something that does not belong there.

Export/Import
While I designed this one with a lot of fallback, I only recommend using the export/import feature within the same site (and same plugin versions), as a sort-of archivation tool. It should be solid, as there are many consistency checks during the process. The export gets every single option of the search instance directly from the database, then encodes it. The import does the same, but inversed.
Possible point of failures can be for example mismatches in category IDs, missing taxonomy terms, custom fields between the export and import dates – but that is resolved during the search instance save process and on other actions as well, so the data consistency is checked on multiple occasions.

Common words
When using the index table engine, then on the Advanced options panel, there is a common word filter. Basically it will not index any words entered into that textarea:
Please note, that making a change on the index table options panel will reqire generating a new index.

Filter to Use Parent (Linked) Page for Attachment Search Results Not Functioning with Index Table Method

Indeed, I think I know why. Maybe this one?

Best,
Ernest Marcinko
If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

Like you, I had some other priorities to take care of before replying here. I also wanted to set aside enough time to review everything.

Nice job on the new index table optimization. I updated the plugin and saw what you did. Considering that we will ultimately have an enormous database, we’re going to need optimizations such as this. I’m grateful that you’re refining the search like a true engineer! =)

…..

Filter to Use Parent (Linked) Page for Attachment Search Results Not Functioning with Index Table Method

Your fix worked. I have confirmed that the attachment parent links are now functioning again when using the index table for attachment searches. Thank you for this!

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

I have noted this. I am not sure what might be the issue, but I will go through the pagination generator code before the next release, maybe I can find something that does not belong there.

I can now confirm this is a real issue, as it has persisted in both our production and development environments. The search result tiles (cards) just get smaller and smaller on repetitive searches. It’s a real annoying issue. Have you seen this yet on your end?

Featured Image Source Size Not Working in All Situations

This is a new issue I haven’t told you about until now. We’ve been working here on customizing all of our image sizes site-wide, generating specific sizes for specific locations. For ASP we are creating a 300x375px image.

I set the Featured Image Source Size to use this specific image, but it’s not working across the board. What I found is that it only seems to work for normal post search results. The attachment results are displaying the full image size, and tag results are strangely displaying the thumbnail (small) size. For tag results (we call them subcategories) we have created functionality for the search to display the image from the first post in the subcategory. This is working beautifully, but it is using the incorrect image size. The problem with the tag images may be on our end in our script, and I have brought it to the attention of our developers.

Attachment Search / Filter for Default Post-Format

NOTE: This solution will only work with the non-index table version! Before editing anything, make sure to have a back-up, just in case.

The best possible solution for this is that I add an option to the back-end, just like the one regarding the custom fields. That should resolve this once and for all.

It’s important that we can use the index table for our attachment results. I also don’t like the idea of modifying the plugin, as this is really a functional problem that should be solved within core.

I just want to make sure you understand the nature of this problem… (I think you do) 😉

If I turn off the “Show posts/CPM with empty (missing) taxonomy terms” feature than the attachment search will not function. However, if I turn on this feature it is causing the Default (Article) post-format to always appear in search results even when that format is excluded in the search settings.

Obviously I do not know the inner workings of the code, but what we need here is an integrated solution. These two features, using the attachment search, and filtering out the default post-format, should not be exclusive of one another. I’m confident that you will be able to find a proper solution to this problem.

Export/Import

While I designed this one with a lot of fallback, I only recommend using the export/import feature within the same site (and same plugin versions), as a sort-of archivation tool. It should be solid, as there are many consistency checks during the process. The export gets every single option of the search instance directly from the database, then encodes it. The import does the same, but inversed.

Possible point of failures can be for example mismatches in category IDs, missing taxonomy terms, custom fields between the export and import dates – but that is resolved during the search instance save process and on other actions as well, so the data consistency is checked on multiple occasions.

Thank you for this very detailed answer. I’m using the import/export feature to backup our instances. For syncing between the two environments (production and development) I am doing this work manually 99% of the time. This kind of thing isn’t limited to the search. I’m having to keep our two environments synced manually across the board, as I can’t simply export/import the entire database (for a mix of reasons). So I usually have the admins of both sites open side by side and make sure the settings match in both. I’ll avoid using the export/import for ASP unless absolutely necessary. But if I do need to use it, it’s good to know it should be dependable.

Common Words

When using the index table engine, then on the Advanced options panel, there is a common word filter. Basically it will not index any words entered into that textarea:

Please note, that making a change on the index table options panel will require generating a new index.

Thank you for pointing this feature out. I had actually looked at this feature earlier and didn’t connect it in my mind with this problem. I’ll have to carefully consider which words are entered here, since they would not be indexed at all. I think this will solve the problem though!

Date Filter Bug
Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent (Linked) Posts (Core Integration)
Customizable Header in Settings Screen Date Filters

I’m just listing these here so we don’t forget about them.

…..

Thanks as always Ernest!

~ Michael

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by  Michael Samson.

[Ernest MarcinkoKeymaster]

Hi Michael!

Finally I got my replies ready for you 🙂

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

Unfortunately no, and there are no other reports of it either for some reason. May I ask which browser are you testing this on, and your screen resolution? Thank you!

Featured Image Source Size Not Working in All Situations

Looking at the source, this is going to be an issue with the plugin code. I see it is missing the cache section. I will fix this for the upcoming release.

Attachment Search / Filter for Default Post-Format

I do understand, and the issue is that that term does not actually exist – and it messes up the whole logic. If you think about it, the search is instructed to exclude items that does not belong to any of the taxonomy terms, but again somehow include the ones that does not belong anywhere either. There is no way of having both within a single query. This feature is something I have to maintain (single query), as adding/removing results after the completed query (within the core) would be a complete disaster.

I think the only possible option left is to simply remove the undesired results from the list. That I was trying to avoid, but I don’t think there is any other way at this point:

Best,
Ernest Marcinko
If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

I’m sorry it took me a full week to get back to you! I wanted to respond earlier, but I’ve been deep in multiple projects here as usual.

Attachment Search / Filter for Default Post-Format

I know this wasn’t your preferred solution, but it worked! If you ever think of a better method to accomplish the same thing just let me know.

I just installed this filter and tested it pretty thoroughly. As far as I can tell this is working no matter what combination of post-format options I choose. I tested just about everything you could think of. Here are a few examples I tested for:

Selecting default post-format by itself
Selecting default post-format in combination with one other post-format
Selecting default post-format in combination with multiple other post-formats
Selecting one post-format other than the default
Selecting multiple post-formats other than default
Selecting no post-formats at all

That last one (selecting no post-formats) was a good test, as this produced no search results. Prior to this fix I would have seen the default post-format in the results when nothing was selected.

I do understand, and the issue is that that term does not actually exist – and it messes up the whole logic. If you think about it, the search is instructed to exclude items that does not belong to any of the taxonomy terms, but again somehow include the ones that does not belong anywhere either. There is no way of having both within a single query. This feature is something I have to maintain (single query), as adding/removing results after the completed query (within the core) would be a complete disaster.

Are post-formats a taxonomy term? While I don’t completely understand the mechanics of this, I get the basic idea. I also agree with you that having a single query makes the most sense. We certainly don’t want to harm the search because of this one “hole” in the logic.

The bottom line is that your filter solution works. You managed to get this all done for me. We have added the ability to filter the default post-format, took care of the default post-format showing up in results when it shouldn’t, and this now all works simultaneously with the ability to use attachment results.

Bravo! =)

…..

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

Unfortunately no, and there are no other reports of it either for some reason. May I ask which browser are you testing this on, and your screen resolution? Thank you!

Yieks. I hope it isn’t one of our scripts or custom configurations that is causing this. Unfortunately this issue is still here and very much annoying.

I use Chrome for testing and my screen resolution is 1920 x 1200.

I have seen this problem happening on my mobile devices too however, such as on my iPad Pro and my iPhone 7 Plus. I don’t believe this has anything to do with my browser or the resolution. I think it’s script related.

I’m open to any ideas you have to test this and narrow down the cause. I can also tell you that this issue is fairly new. It started happening a few weeks ago. So it’s likely the result of an update. There’s probably a bug or some conflict occurring.

…..

Featured Image Source Size Not Working in All Situations

Looking at the source, this is going to be an issue with the plugin code. I see it is missing the cache section. I will fix this for the upcoming release.

Please keep in mind that I am not using the image caching function. I don’t know if that is related to the problem.

This issue is affecting our attachment and tag result images. It’s not affecting our category result images because we’re using a filter for those to bring up specific images we made.

If this is an easy fix on your side it will be one less thing for us to worry about here.

…..

– Date Filter Bug
– Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent (Linked) Posts (Core Integration)
– Customizable Header in Settings Screen Date Filters

I’m just listing these here so we don’t forget about them… 😉

…..

You and I have made a lot of progress these past weeks with refinements and corrections. I continue to be so impressed by your commitment to this plugin and helping me in particular. All I can keep saying is thank you!

~ Michael

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by  Michael Samson.

[Ernest MarcinkoKeymaster]

Hi Michael,

Thank you again for your kind words, I appreciate them.

Attachment Search / Filter for Default Post-Format
To answer your question, yes, it is a taxonomy, with an exception that the ‘default’ term does not exist. The conflict arises from the way how the query is constructed, and that it can’t hadnle this exception.
I’m glad the solution works as it should, I will keep it noted, in case someone else needs it in the future.

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)
Thank you. Well, at least I know a bit more, it may help. I will go though this code section before the next udpate, in case I find anything suspicious.

A major update is coming soon, the date filter issue and the attachment link will be included with it. The date filter header will stay as it is for know, until I work out a better layout.

Best,
Ernest Marcinko
If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

Another late reply on my part. Sorry about that!

Attachment Search / Filter for Default Post-Format

To answer your question, yes, it is a taxonomy, with an exception that the ‘default’ term does not exist. The conflict arises from the way how the query is constructed, and that it can’t hadnle this exception.

I’m glad the solution works as it should, I will keep it noted, in case someone else needs it in the future.

Thanks for answering this. WordPress really should make the default format into an actual post-format (instead of the lack thereof). This has caused us issues on more than one occasion with filter related functions.

In any case, you found an effective way to solve this without compromising functionality. Indeed, you should definitely keep this solution for the future. You may even want to make it an option in core, as without this the filtering for the default format can’t work properly (under a configuration like ours).

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

Thank you. Well, at least I know a bit more, it may help. I will go though this code section before the next update, in case I find anything suspicious.

I can also help you to test this issue. While I can’t provide direct access to our site (as it is still a private venture), I can work with you jointly to test the problem. If you have any ideas please let me know. I know how to modify scripts using developer tools to test things quickly. I just need to know what to look for.

Listing what is left for reference:

– Date Filter Bug
– Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent (Linked) Posts (Core Integration)
– Customizable Header in Settings Screen Date Filters
– Featured Image Source Size Not Working in All Situations

A major update is coming soon, the date filter issue and the attachment link will be included with it. The date filter header will stay as it is for know, until I work out a better layout.

I look forward to the update! That date filter bug is a bad one, and it will be good to see it go away finally.

Having the attachment link functionality in core will also be great. Ironically we’re having some difficulty on this end automating the linking of media in the library to the parent posts. The developers keep getting it wrong (but we’re working on it). Once that is working it will work together properly with this function in search.

The date filter header is the least important of all the above remaining items. But we’ll get to it eventually.

If you’re wondering, we’re just a few months away from our launch. There’s still a lot on the table, but we’re making great progress. We’ll also be completing some major functionality after the initial launch. I’ll keep you posted for sure! 🙂

~ Michael

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by  Michael Samson.

[Ernest MarcinkoKeymaster]

Hi Michael,

The update is out, I have made a few major changes, currently working on the remaining documentation for the major new features (attachment content indexing, synonyms and Live results page loader).

The date filter issue and the image caching/cropping issue should be resolved now. Although I did find another related problem, just today, where the default image does not apply on missing images for non custom post type results. I also adjusted a bit the isotopic row calculation script, I’m not sure if that changes anything.
Attachment to parent is not yet implemented, I postponed it to the upcoming minor/bugfix release.

Best,
Ernest Marcinko
If you like my products, don't forget to rate them on codecanyon :)

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

I just wanted to let you know that I did see your latest response here and am aware of the new plugin version. I’ve been involved all week with a rather large project to re-engineer our AWS stack. On top of this I was away on a short trip last weekend which cost me some days as well. Suffice to say I am rather behind on many things.

I’m going to try and carve out some time next week to update ASP and evaluate the new features. It may be a few more days before you hear back from me, but I’ll be following up for sure.

Thank you keeping me posted as always. I’ll be in touch after I can test everything.

All my best!

~ Michael

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise to you, but my last few weeks have been insanely busy. I’ve been wanting to get to this for a while now, but I had to focus my attention elsewhere for a while. We’re working on a number of large infrastructure and engineering projects over here. Suffice to say things are very busy but we’re making a lot of progress towards our launch.

I’ve installed the latest version of ASP and just fully tested it. You introduced some interesting new features. Most of these don’t apply to my use-case, but neat stuff none the less!

…..

Date Filter Bug

I was disappointed to discover that this problem is in fact not fixed. I tested it extremely carefully to be sure about this. The original problem remains. I’m using the “Relative Date” options for the From Date and To Date fields. In the From Date field it is set to exactly one year ago.In the To Date field it is set to today’s date by entering in “0” into all the fields.

To reiterate the problem, any posts that are posted on today’s date simply will not show up in search results. This is despite the fact the To Date field is set to include today’s date. The results only display through yesterday’s date.

This is a really insidious problem, as it tends to cause all sorts of other search problems. It makes it very difficult for me to test ASP because none of my test results show up until the following day.

To prove this was not corrected I disabled the To Date field, and after that the problem went away. I really hope you can get this fixed.

…..

Featured Image Source Size Not Working in All Situations

I do not believe you tried to fix this yet, but I did test for it. I found this problem remained. Here are my original notes on it below:

This is a new issue I haven’t told you about until now. We’ve been working here on customizing all of our image sizes site-wide, generating specific sizes for specific locations. For ASP we are creating a 300x375px image.

I set the Featured Image Source Size to use this specific image, but it’s not working across the board. What I found is that it only seems to work for normal post search results. The attachment results are displaying the full image size, and tag results are strangely displaying the thumbnail (small) size. For tag results (we call them subcategories) we have created functionality for the search to display the image from the first post in the subcategory. This is working beautifully, but it is using the incorrect image size. The problem with the tag images may be on our end in our script, and I have brought it to the attention of our developers.

…..

Attachment (Media) Images are Not Being Automatically Added to Index Table on Post Creation

I found this issue today while testing and paying attention to attachment search results. I have our index table set to automatically index content from any new posts on creation. This is working just fine for the posts, however, it is not indexing the attachments in those posts. I found that the attachments are only indexed if the index table itself is regenerated.

…..

Intermittent Bug With Number of Search Result Columns (Cards)

I also adjusted a bit the isotopic row calculation script, I’m not sure if that changes anything.

Unfortunately this had no effect. I do have one observation about this problem. I noticed that the thumbnail sizes only decreased if you completely closed the search field and ajax results followed by running another search on the same page. Every time you repeat that process the number of thumbnail columns increases. This does not occur if you run another search without closing the ajax results.

…..

The “See More Search Results” Button is Not Using Correct Font-Color Style on Mobile Devices When First Loaded

This is a weird little issue I noticed a long time ago. It is happening in the ajax results screen on the load more button (the button to load the next set of ajax results pages). I have custom stylized this button with css. I noticed that on mobile devices those styles do not properly apply to this button when the ajax screen first loads. The font-color displays incorrectly. But as soon as you press to go to the next ajax results page the css style works properly. This is a mobile-only issue, and I do not believe it’s related to my css. It must be a JS/AJAX problem.

…..

Linking Attachment Search Results to Parent (Linked) Posts (Core Integration)

Attachment to parent is not yet implemented, I postponed it to the upcoming minor/bugfix release.

Sounds good. Please let me know when this is integrated so I can remove the custom function we added in functions.php.

Btw, we finally got the other end of this working perfectly. All of our media items now automatically link to their parent-post pages in the media library. This is working beautifully with the function you previously provided for the search.

…..

Customizable Header in Settings Screen Date Filters

I know you postponed this one. I’m just listing it here for reference.

…..

Spelling Error for Synonyms Button

Just letting you know that the button/tab for the new synonyms functionality is misspelled. 😉

…..

QUESTIONS

A. I’m curious as to how the new synonyms functionality can be used to improve the search? What is its main purpose?

B. In your change-log you mentioned adding lazy-load functionality. Where was this added exactly? Does it apply to the ajax results? Is it activated by default?

…..

Issue and Question Regarding the Search Results Caching Feature and /asp_upload/ Directory

First the issue…

I noticed a few weeks ago that our search results cache was no longer writing files to /uploads/asp_upload/. This used to work, and I’m not sure why it stopped.

Now the question…

My understanding about this feature is that it caches common search results so that those results can be reloaded again without having to access the database. If this feature was turned off it would mean that every search would run a full query as if it were the first time, obviously utilizing the database.

We’ve run into an interesting engineering problem regarding this feature. Actually, it’s a problem common to all plugins that store dynamic data such as this in /uploads/. I mentioned earlier that we are doing a large engineering project here on our infrastructure. Part of that job has to do with segregating our static content from dynamic content. Our stack is based in AWS. A major objective of our project is to eliminate as many dynamic files as possible, as those files most be shared between all servers (it’s a load-balanced environment).

This particular feature for the search caching stores its files in /uploads/asp_upload/. In addition there is a dynamic css file stored in this folder (style.instances.css).

What I am trying to do is see if this information can be stored in the DB so that we can eliminate this folder completely. So long as this folder exists it must be shared between all servers, and while we can do this it is best not do for a variety of technical reasons.

I was wondering if perhaps the search results cache could instead be stored in the database. It would still have all the benefits of a cache, but it would avoid all these files needing to be stored in /uploads/. If this information were stored in the DB it would still avoid the need to run a fresh query for a search, therefore reducing DB usage.

I’m not as sure about the dynamic css file, but this too is a problem for the same reasons. I really need to get that over to either static file storage, or instead somehow have it store the data in the DB.

As I said, we can keep all of this if necessary in /uploads/, but it would be far better if we didn’t need to. This is why I am asking you about it, as I think changing this to the DB would benefit all ASP users. Avoiding use of /uploads/ is always beneficial.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this!

~ Michael

• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by  Michael Samson.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by  Michael Samson.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 11 months ago by  Michael Samson.

[Michael SamsonParticipant]

Hi Ernest,

Please make sure you see my post above from a few days ago first… 😉

Avatar Image Size Used for BuddyPress Activity Search Results

I just came across something interesting that I need to ask you about. I have the setting to search in BuddyPress Activity turned on (we use BuddyPress). I started noticing that these search results were using the very small avatar size that happens to be next to the user’s activity. The problem with this is that the image is far too small, and ends up looking pixelated in search results.

A few days ago I just took steps to ensure that all the BuddyPress avatar sizes were properly defined. I’ve defined the thumbnail size, full size, and also the default avatars.

Is there a way we can have ASP use the full size user avatar when displaying search results for activity? BuddyPress only has two avatar image sizes; thumbnail and full size.

The member/user search results were using the full size avatar by default, so that’s all set. But these activity results are using the thumbnail image and that looks terrible. Perhaps this can be corrected with a filter? Or even better perhaps you can fix this in core?

One other thing I noticed…

This isn’t a problem, but I noticed that the BuddyPress Activity search results are also returning search results for normal post comments (which are technically not BuddyPress activity). I don’t happen to mind this as I am looking at it all as member activity, but I thought you should know just in case it isn’t supposed to work that way.

Looking forward to hearing back from you on everything.

All my best!

~ Michael

[Author]

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