This document discusses creating a user-friendly search UI with Drupal using the Search API and Solr. It covers setting up a search index in Solr, adding fields and filters, configuring facet blocks, and creating Views for search results. Facets allow filtering search results and can be configured as multi-select widgets. Views integrate search into the website and allow contextual filters and pagination. Additional modules like Facet API Tabs and Current Search Blocks can enhance the search experience.

1. CREATING A USER-
FRIENDLY SEARCH UI WITH
DRUPAL
Suzanne Dergacheva
@suzanne_kennedy

2. Drupal Consulting, Development, andTraining
evolvingweb.ca
Suzanne Dergacheva, Co-founder
@suzanne_kennedy

3. TRAINING PROGRAM
evolvingweb.ca/training

4. UPCOMINGTRAININGS
• Intro to Drupal inToronto - May 5
• Panels inToronto - May 6
• Intro to Drupal in Ottawa - May 21
• Drupal Site Building in Ottawa - May 22-23
• Views in Austin - June 2
• WxT-Drupal Site Building - June 12-13
• Drupal Module Development - June 19-20
http://evolvingweb.ca/training

5. SEARCH UI EXAMPLES

7. LINKEDIN

12. WHAT MAKES SEARCH
USER-FRIENDLY?
• Consistency of filtering options
• Results that reflect your content
• Search integrated into the website experience
• Complexity matches the task
• The search engine actually works

13. WHY USE SOLR?
• Flexibility about what you search
• Create multiple search indexes and interfaces
• Provides search faceting
• Hides search options that don’t give you results
• Better performance

14. SETTING UP SEARCH API
1. Set up your search index
2. Add fields to the index & choose filter options
3. Select and configure the facets (this is the fun part!)
4. MakeViews for your search results

15. SETTING UPYOUR SEARCH
INDEX

16. ADDING FIELDS

17. FIELDS
• Fulltext fields:
• Choose a ‘weight’
• Searchable using the fulltext search
• String / integer fields:
• Available as facets
• Can be used as sorts

18. ADD MORE FIELDS
Create a property
for the info you
want to index
Add a callback
function to return
the value

19. CHOOSING FILTERS

20. HIGHLIGHTING

21. MORE FILTER OPTIONS
• Make search case insensitive
• Exclude unpublished content
• Enable ‘Complete entity view’ - for full text search

22. FACET API

23. FACET BLOCKS

24. MULTI-SELECT
Show the # of results for each facet item

25. OTHER WIDGETS
Show the # of results for each facet item

26. COMBINING FACET +
RESULTS

27. CHOOSING FACETS

28. CHOOSING FACETS
• Facets come from ‘fields’
• If you’re not indexing it, you can’t facet by it
• You can’t facet by fulltext fields

29. CONFIGURING FACET
BLOCKS
• Type of widget
• Number of facet items
• Show or hide empty
facets
• Sorting
• AND vs. OR

30. FACET INTERACTIONS
ANDVS. OR
• OR: adding a facet item expands the search, results can match
any facet item
• AND: adding a facet limits the search results. Results must
match all selected facet items

31. FACET INTERACTIONS
• Example 1: Topics for courses.
• Courses can be assigned many topics. If I choose.
• Choosing a topic should reduce the results (AND)
• Example 2: Instructors for a course:
• Courses can have many instructors, but it’s unlikely to search
based on the fact that two instructors are teaching the same
course.
• Choosing an instructor should expand the results (OR)

32. “OR” EXAMPLE

33. “OR” EXAMPLE

34. “OR” EXAMPLE

35. “AND” EXAMPLE
nymag.com

36. HOW MANY FACETS?
• You can choose to limit the number of facets or show a fixed
number and include ‘show more’ links
• If you don’t show all the facets, how do you choose which to
show?
• Sort by ‘facet name’ or by ‘number of results’

37. ORDERING FACET ITEMS
• Example:‘Filter by Instructor’
• Sorted by # of courses the
instructor is teaching
• Alternative: sort by alphabetical
order

38. ORDERING FACET BLOCKS
• Most used at the top (e.g. Faculty,Terms)
• Smaller # of choices at the top (e.g. undergrad vs. grad)

41. CHANGING FACETS

42. SEARCH APIVIEWS

43. CREATEVIEWS
• Create aView on the search index (e.g. Coursecal Content)
• Add exposed sorts and filter (for fulltext search)
• Contextual filters for ‘search within a section’

44. ADVANTAGES
• Use views handlers for displaying data
• Use display plugins
• Pagination and contextual filters
• Site builders can do it

48. LINKEDIN

51. EXTRAS

52. CURRENT SEARCH BLOCK
• See what filters are selected
• Reset link

53. CUSTOM SEARCH FORM

54. SEARCH APITABS

55. MODULES
• Search API / Search facets / Search views / Solr search
• Facet API / Facet API bonus
• Current search blocks
• Optional widgets: Facet API tabs / Date facets

56. Drupal Consulting, Development, andTraining
evolvingweb.ca
Suzanne Kennedy, Co-founder
@suzanne_kennedy