A search configuration has three types of rules: redirection rules, result exclusion rules, and result positioning rules. These rule types are described in the table at the beginning of this chapter, Defining Search Configurations.

Each rule has two main parts: a condition and an action. When the rule is applied, the condition is evaluated, and if it is true, the action is performed. If the condition is false, the action is not performed.

The following example shows the rule editor for the Result Exclusion tab. In this example, the condition being evaluated is whether the search text contains the exact phrase “fuel injection”. If it does, the action—excluding products in the Carburetors category from the search results—is performed.

You create and modify a rule by clicking on portions of the rule that are enclosed in gray boxes. When you click on one of these areas, the editor displays a dropdown menu, a text field, or an asset picker for specifying that portion of the rule. For example:

Products vs. SKUs

Depending on how your site is configured, the results returned by ATG Search can either be products or SKUs. You can use Merchandising to create rules for either of these configurations. The examples in this chapter are based on a site that returns products. If your site is instead configured to return SKUs, you’ll see a few differences in the Merchandising UI:

Multiple Languages

If your site supports multiple languages, be sure to define rules that match the language that the target site user will search in. This might not be the same language as the language dimension of the search configuration. For example, the All Others dimension value is typically associated with the default language on your site, and text-based rules should be written in that language.