WT JoomShopping Finder

Description

WT JoomShopping Finder is a Joomla Smart Search package that adds published JoomShopping products to the search index. The package installs two plugins: the finder plugin Smart Search - JoomShopping products and the JoomShopping bridge plugin JoomShopping - Smart Search reindex bridge.

The finder plugin builds searchable product documents. The bridge plugin helps keep those documents up to date after JoomShopping product and manufacturer changes.

Installation

The extension can be installed by using either standard Joomla method: upload the extension ZIP package from your computer or provide the package URL in the installer.

Upload ZIP Package

1. In Joomla administrator, open System -> Install -> Extensions.
2. Open the Upload Package File tab.
3. Upload the extension ZIP package.
4. After installation, check that both package plugins are enabled.

Install from URL

1. In Joomla administrator, open System -> Install -> Extensions.
2. Open the Install from URL tab.
3. Copy package URL from the "download" button (right click) and paste it
4. Click Check and Install, then check that both package plugins are enabled.

Finding the Plugins

Open System -> Manage -> Plugins and search for JoomShopping. The package installs two plugins. To configure indexing, open the plugin with type finder: Smart Search - JoomShopping products.

Indexing Settings

The settings are located on the Smart Search - JoomShopping products plugin page. All main additional text sources are enabled by default. Dependent switches are shown only when their parent data source is enabled.

How It Works

The plugin works as a Joomla Smart Search adapter. During indexing it reads published JoomShopping products, respects access, publication state and Joomla languages, and creates searchable documents of type Product. On multilingual sites one product can produce separate Finder records for different languages.

The main product search text is extended with selected sources: manufacturer, characteristics, dependent attributes, independent attributes and free attributes. Attribute and characteristic descriptions are intentionally excluded because these fields are often used for technical notes.

The JoomShopping bridge plugin reacts to product and manufacturer changes. When a product is saved, published, unpublished or deleted, or when a manufacturer changes, affected product Finder links are updated or removed.

Changing Indexing Parameters

Changing plugin parameters changes the text composition used by the next indexing run. Existing Smart Search records are not rebuilt automatically only because the settings were saved.

Important. After changing any indexing parameter, save the plugin and run a full Smart Search reindex. Without reindexing, existing records may still contain text built with the previous settings.

New or changed products will use current settings on the next normal index update, but a full rebuild is required for consistent results across the whole catalog.

Reindexing from Administrator

1. Open Components -> Smart Search -> Index.
2. Click Index or use the indexing action in the toolbar.
3. Wait until the process finishes. JoomShopping products will then be rebuilt with current plugin settings.

Reindexing from CLI

On the server, switch to the Joomla site root and run the standard Smart Search command:

php cli/joomla.php finder:index

CLI indexing is useful for large catalogs, scheduled jobs and planned rebuilds after changing settings. The command runs the global Smart Search indexer, so enabled finder plugins other than JoomShopping products may also be processed.