There are several settings that determine how certain search inputs function. See the following sections for information:
Setting up Exclusivity for the Search Text and Category Inputs
Search text and category are the most commonly used search inputs in a search test because they are best suited to narrowing the result set. Consequently, users are required to specify one of these two inputs for all search tests. By default search text and category are cooperative, meaning that users can use both in a given test. You can, however, set up ATG Merchandising so that these two inputs are mutually exclusive, thereby preventing users from selecting both search text and category as inputs.
If the goal of your search tests is to troubleshoot behavior on your Web site, consider your site design when you are deciding which configuration, cooperative or exclusive, is right for you. If the searching capabilities on your site resemble these implementations, your site uses a cooperative strategy:
Users navigate through selections implemented by facets.
Users can navigate to a particular grouping and then search within it for a particular item. The grouping could be, for example, a selection that’s dynamically generated by facets or a category that’s part of the static catalog structure.
Users can navigate to a particular grouping, and they can search across the catalog for a particular item. The grouping could be, for example, a selection that’s dynamically generated by facets or a category that’s part of the static catalog structure.
Alternatively, sites that have the following elements use an exclusive strategy:
Users navigate through a static category structure only (no facets), and they can search across the site, but aren’t able to constrain a search with a user-selected category. (Search Text only)
Users navigate the site using only selections that are dynamically generated by facets. (Category only)
To change the relationship between the search text and category inputs, find the Search Testing Form Handler in the /atg/search/web/assetmanager directory and change the categoryAndSearchTextMode property from cooperative to exclusive, or the reverse. If the property is empty, cooperative is used.
Setting up Sorting Options
Users can specify the order in which the products or SKUs appear in the results list. The only option provided out of the box, Score, uses relevance to place products or SKUs that have the highest relevancy score at the top of the list and consequently, those that have the lowest relevancy score at the bottom. You can, however, sort results by any meta-property that’s defined for the type of asset, product, or SKU, that’s been indexed. It may be beneficial to provide the same sorting mechanisms that your Web site provides, so merchandisers can replicate the experience site visitors have.
For example, to provide inventory status, price, and response language as sort options for a configuration that displays only SKUs, update Search Testing Service located in the /atg/search/testing directory by setting the sortByPropertyNames property to:
stockAvailabilityStatus,childSKUs.price,language
For each property that you add, the Search Testing UI provides two entries in the Sort By control: one for descending order and one for ascending order. Only one sort option can be applied at a time. Regardless of the number of sorting options, the Score is always the default selection.
Permitting Multi-Selectable Facet Selections
For users who have defined facets, after running a search test, a list of facets (Price, Size, Color, for example) displays, accompanied by facet selections ($0-50.00, $50.01-100.00, etc.) on the bottom of the inputs portion of the Search Testing screen. To see only the products and SKUs in a given facet selection, you run a secondary test with that selection checked. The default setting lets you specify one facet selection per test; however, you can configure ATG Merchandising to permit multiple selections.
If users create tests to troubleshoot their Web site’s behavior, whether you want to use single or multiple selection depends largely on how the site implements facets. The single-select option replicates sites that use faceting:
As a navigational tool that permits users to click one facet before displaying the products and SKUs it contains. For example, clicking the Women faceting selection displays all clothes for females.
As a searching tool, so that when users search for a given term, the results are facet selections. Clicking a facet selection displays the products and SKUs it contains. For example, searching for “shoes” returns two selections: Men and Women. Clicking Men displays individual shoes suited for men.
The multi-select option represents sites with inherited and/or nested facets that employ faceting:
As a navigation tool by permitting users to click successive selections to filter out certain results. For example, clicking the Women selection causes the selections Clothes, Shoes and Accessories to display. In turn, clicking Shoes returns another group of selections, some representing prices (up to $100, $100-200, $200- 300) others representing sizes (5, 5.5, 6. 6.5), and a third for sale items. These selections hold products.
As a searching tool where users can use faceting selections as search criteria. For example, a user might define criteria to find all shoes from $100-200 in size 7 that include the search text “high heels.”
When ATG Merchandising is configured to use multi-select, you are able to specify multiple selections for a given facet (up to $100 and $100-200) as well as specify selections derived from different facets ($100200 and size 7).
To change your setting from single-select to multi-select, find the Search Testing Form Handler in the /atg/commerce/search/testing directory and change the facetInputMode property from single to multiple. If the property is empty, multiple is used.
Specifying a Default Price List
If your site uses price lists and you want pricing information to display in test results, you must provide a default price list to search testing. A default price list is necessary if you configured the Sort by option to order test results by price or customized the search testing page to include price as a column in the results table. Typically ATG uses the active profile to determine the price list to apply. In the absence of an external profile, the default price list is applied for all tests, which may cause the pricing to be inaccurate for some users if your site uses multiple price lists. For information about other options for obtaining a price list for search testing, see Using Profile Properties as Search Test Inputs.
Note: If you use SKU Pricing rather than price lists, you set up sorting as you would with any other property.
To specify a default price list:
Find the ID for the price list that will act as the default.
A price list ID begins with
plistand it is located at the top of the Details pane when a price list is selected. For information about locating price lists, see Views for Price Lists.Create a properties file for the Price List Property Mapping component with the
defaultPriceListIdset to a specific price list ID and save it to/atg/commerce/search:$class=atg.commerce.search.PriceListPropertyMapping
$scope=globaldefaultPriceListId=plist90002If you prefer to have a global default price list available to all modules, create a component of class
atg.commerce.pricing.pricelists.PriceListManagerand set thedefaultPriceListIdproperty to the price list ID that will act as the default.
Specifying a Default Catalog
If you use custom catalogs, you must specify which catalog to use as the default for search tests. The default catalog is required to determine which results are returned when searching within a category and which facet set is applied to search test results. Typically, ATG uses the active profile to determine the catalog to apply. In the absence of an external profile, the default catalog is applied for all tests. For information about other options for obtaining a catalog for search testing, see Using Profile Properties as Search Test Inputs.
To specify a default catalog for search testing:
Find the ID of the catalog that you want to use as the default. The catalog ID appears at the top of the Details pane when you select a catalog in ATG Merchandising.
In your local configuration, create a properties file for the following component:
/atg/commerce/search/testing/FacetSearchToolsSet the
catalogIdproperty to the ID of the catalog you want to use as the default, for example:catalogId=masterCatalog
Configuring How to Determine Locale When Using Preview Profiles in Search Testing
When you use a preview profile to test the search configuration tree, search testing takes the segment and language dimension values from the preview profile. However, some sites use profiles only to determine the user’s segment and not the user’s locale. If you want to prevent search testing from using the Locale property of the preview profile, or you want to use a different profile property for determining the language dimension, you can change the value of the testProfileLocaleProperty property of the LanguageDimensionService component.
Note: If you choose not to use the preview profile locale (you clear the testProfileLocaleProperty property) but your search configuration tree includes language as a dimension, then the All Others language dimension is always used when testing with a preview profile.
To use only the segment dimension of a preview profile when testing the search configuration tree:
In your local configuration, create a properties file for the following component:
/atg/search/config/LanguageDimensionServiceSet the
testProfileLocalePropertyto null, as follows:testProfileLocaleProperty^=/Constants.null
To use a different preview profile property to determine the language dimension:
In your local configuration, create a properties file for the following component:
/atg/search/config/LanguageDimensionServiceSet the
testProfileLocalePropertyto the name of the property you want to use. The default setting is:testProfileLocaleProperty=Locale
Using Profile Properties as Search Test Inputs
If your site uses profile properties such as price lists in search queries and you want to be able to specify values for those properties in search testing, you can use one of the following methods:
Customize the search testing user interface JSP to include an input for the profile property. This allows merchandisers to select a value when they run search tests. See Customizing Search Testing Inputs and Outputs.
Add the profile property to the management profile for ATG Merchandising and manage its values from there.
For pricelists and custom catalogs, the default value is used for the search test unless you specify otherwise. See Specifying a Default Price List and Specifying a Default Catalog.
