Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Dear Sirs,
Having been engaged in bvcommerce customization for quite some time (starting from bvc2004), I decided to publish some of my plugins developed for the users.
Advanced Search for bvc5 – this plug-in builds on expanding standard set of search options, similar to the routines used in all key search engines. With this plug-in you can:
set an exact search phrase by using quotation marks;
exclude unwanted parameters from the search results, by adding “-“ symbol before the parameter;
indicate one of several options by using OR operator
A handy popup window is used for parameter setting; also, the plug-in incorporates my fix for sp3.2 error (empty search strings returned if user selected “vendor” or “manufacturer” sorting).
The installation instruction is included in the archive. I am highly interested to hear your opinion about this plug-in. The download link is - Removed by Moderator.
Regards
Dmitri |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 11/5/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,786
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Dmitri,
Thank you for working on an add-on. I have removed the download link because your distribution includes a large chunk of our source code and you did not obtain our permission to redistribute this code with your add-on.
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Marcus,
Sorry about that. But am I permitted to install my code into existing store? If yes - could I integrate it into trial bv? Or I can only integrate it into purchased version? |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 11/5/2003(UTC)
Posts: 1,786
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Dmitri,
If you have a license for the software you can obviously add your modifications without a problem. You could also add your modifications to a copy o f the trial version you downloaded.
The problem comes in when you start to distribute a modified version of our application without permission. Your changes can be distributed as you see fit but the zip file you were distributing didn't just include your changes, it included a significant portion of our source code too.
You either need to distribute your changes in a format that doesn't include our code like "Change line 103 in search.aspx.vb to read...." Or secure our permission before distributing modified versions of our pages/code.
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Marcus,
Ok, I understood what you are talking about. In general the instruction for my code integration with bv would be too complicated. So I can install plugin by myself or help with installation for 3 web sites for free. The only thing I will ask you to do is to write a report about of what do you think of this plug-in on this page. Please contact me if you are intrested at support at software-development-innovations.com |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Dear friends, I have installed the demo store on http://bvc5.software-development-innovations.com to show plug-in in action. Please let me know what do you think of it. And for everybody who is <SPAN lang=EN-US style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: RU; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">interested in installing it on the store please contact me on: support at software-development-innovations.com. For the first two users the free installation is provided. Regards Dmitri |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 3/3/2006(UTC)
Posts: 1,737
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A search for < "media player" - media > resulted in no returns as expected.
A search for < "media player" media > also resulted in no returns. Why? |
Optimists invent airplanes,
Pessimists buy parachutes. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Dear Mitch,
Thanks for your report.
I have fixed the issue you were talking about.
Please also note that search string < "media player" - media > will request "-" as well. The proper search string without media keyword should be <"media player" -media">. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Oh sorry,
The proper string should be <"media player" -media> of course. |
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/2/2004(UTC) Posts: 2,381 ![United States]( "United States") Location: Hummelstown, PA Thanks: 6 times
Was thanked: 163 time(s) in 158 post(s)
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Dmitri,
That's pretty cool! I suspect that few shoppers are even aware of search syntax and those that are would not expect a site search to implement it. Consequently I think a usability improvement would be to bring the textboxes from your pop-up window onto the search page. |
Aaron Sherrick
BV Commerce
Toll-free 888-665-8637 - Int'l +1 717-220-0012 |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Dear Aaron,
Thanks for your comment. I was thinking about this but thought the search page will be overloaded with too many search fields. In order to avoid this I have added pop-up window that allows simply search criteria filling up. However this technique leads to unpleasant moment. The search criteria needs to be entered again each time the window is opened. Moving search fields into search page will eleminate it. Also possibly search type drop down is not needed as advanced search includes regular search functionality.
Please let me know what do you think of this? |
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/2/2004(UTC) Posts: 2,381 ![United States]( "United States") Location: Hummelstown, PA Thanks: 6 times
Was thanked: 163 time(s) in 158 post(s)
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Dmitri,
You know, I never even noticed the Regular/Advanced dropdown. That's definitely confusing. I think you do have a point about the search page looking complicated with those extra textboxes on the page, but don't forget that on most sites the user enters their search from a search box in the header or left column. On the search results page I think it's OK to offer more options. That said, one way you could simply the interface is to use a checkbox or radio button list to toggle between the two search modes. When you do this, you could show/hide the extra textboxes. Anyway, that's just a few random thoughts. |
Aaron Sherrick
BV Commerce
Toll-free 888-665-8637 - Int'l +1 717-220-0012 |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Aaron,
That's brilliant idea! Thanks for it. Will implement this approach and let know about it. All the rest ideas are also welcome. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Aaron,
I have updated advanced search to discussed point.
Please everybody check out the update.
Thanks
Dmitri |
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/2/2004(UTC) Posts: 2,381 ![United States]( "United States") Location: Hummelstown, PA Thanks: 6 times
Was thanked: 163 time(s) in 158 post(s)
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Dmitri,
I think it's better. When you check the "Advanced Search" box, it's unclear what the relationship is, if any, between the keyword textbox and the other textboxes (exact phrase, any of words, and unwanted words). I think the keyword box must be replaced by the other three textboxes. Otherwise I don't think it makes sense. Also, when you do this, if there is any text in the keyword box it should be copied into the "any of words" textbox. |
Aaron Sherrick
BV Commerce
Toll-free 888-665-8637 - Int'l +1 717-220-0012 |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Aaron,
Thanks will think of this. I was thinking of how to group keywords seach criteria somehow but got no exact idea. One of the possible approach is to place wording criterias into fields set but need to think of layout. |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Just made an update. I have removed "any words" fields because in general for bv search algorithm it doesn't make sense. All the keywords entered in keyword field are used in search resultset. Also I have put all the advanced fileds above the checkbox so they are visually splited. Any comments are welcome. |
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/2/2004(UTC) Posts: 2,381 ![United States]( "United States") Location: Hummelstown, PA Thanks: 6 times
Was thanked: 163 time(s) in 158 post(s)
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One thought I had, though it would limit the functionality, is to provide a radio button list that would change the mode of the search from an OR search (any of these words) to an AND search (exact phrase). This would simplify the interface, but it would not permit you to perform both types of searches together. |
Aaron Sherrick
BV Commerce
Toll-free 888-665-8637 - Int'l +1 717-220-0012 |
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Rank: Member
Joined: 9/26/2008(UTC)
Posts: 121
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Thanks again for your comment. Will think of this. By the way have one more idea I'd like to discuss. Why the search is implemented for products only but not for categories and custom pages? Possibly it will be useful for users. From user side there will be for example two checkmarks: search in categories, search on pages. What do you think? |
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Rank: Administration
Joined: 4/2/2004(UTC) Posts: 2,381 ![United States]( "United States") Location: Hummelstown, PA Thanks: 6 times
Was thanked: 163 time(s) in 158 post(s)
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That could be useful. You would probably have to break the search results out into separate groups (i.e. products, categories and custom pages). I'm not sure that a user would understand the difference between a category and custom page, so you might want to aggregate those results. Here's an example of a site that we built that does this: http://www.hairdirect.com/search.aspx?keyword=testIf you want to get more accurate search results, try using Microsoft Indexing Service. |
Aaron Sherrick
BV Commerce
Toll-free 888-665-8637 - Int'l +1 717-220-0012 |
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