This page is for Hawksearch v2.0L-v4.0L (older Lucene versions). If you are on Hawksearch v4.0 (Elasticsearch version), please click here for the correct Autocomplete guide.

Autocomplete Overview

Hawksearch provides you with complete control over the display of your users' autocomplete choices. From displaying suggested keywords,matching content and more, this guide shows you how to configure your Hawksearch Autocomplete to display what you want to suggest to your users on your site.

In this article you will find:

1 Autocomplete Overview
2 Best Practices & Tips
3 Autocomplete Configuration Page
4 Configuring Autocomplete Sections
- 4.1 Top Facets
- 4.2 Popular Searches
- 4.3 Top Product Matches
- 4.4 Top Content Matches
5 Autocomplete Layout

Best Practices & Tips

The Right Tool for the Job

Autocomplete is made up of multiple sections that can each be turned on or off. Not all of the sections will display all of the time. The sections that display depend on the configuration of Autocomplete as well as the keyword typed by the user and the matches founds in Hawksearch.

Matching Suggestions in Autocomplete

When the user starts typing, matching values will start to display to the user:

Popular Searches
This section will suggest keywords that other users have searched that match the user’s keyword so far. Clicking on of these terms will initiate a search for the keyword clicked on. For example, if the user types “camp” and “camp chair” is suggested popular search. When the user clicks on “camp chair” the result page will display the search results for the keyword, “camp chair.”
Top Product Categories
This section will suggest values from facets to your user. The values will match the keyword entered and can pull from multiple facets, not only categories (i.e. color, brand, department, etc). Clicking on one of these facet values will display all the records that have that facet value. For example, the user types “camp” and “Camp & Hike” is a value suggested from the Category facet. When the user clicks on “Camp & Hike,” the result page will display all records in the Camp & Hike category.
Top Product Matches
Product records are used on sites that display, and often sell, products. If your site is content-only, this section will not apply to you. This section will display products that match the keyword that has been entered so far. These products would be the first products in the search results if the search was executed without any further characters in the search bar.
Top Content Matches
Content records are used on sites that index records like pages, articles, videos, blog posts, etc. If your site is products-only, this section will not apply to you. This section will display content records that match the keyword that has been entered so far. These would be the first content records in the search results if the search was executed without any further characters in the search bar.

Autocomplete Configuration Page

To navigate to the Autocomplete Configuration section, click on the "Workbench" tab in the top navigation.
Next, select "Keyword Search" from the left navigation.
From the list of subcategories, select "Autocomplete.”
The Top Facets section indicates if it is enabled and lists the facets that are included in Autocomplete. To modify the configuration of the Top Facets (a.k.a. “Top Categories”), click on Update Top Facets button.
The Popular Searches section indicates if it is enabled and the maximum number of popular searches that could be returned in Autocomplete. To modify the configuration of the Popular Searches (a.k.a. “Keywords”), click on Update Popular Searches button.
The Top Product Matches section indicates if it is enabled and the maximum number of products that could be returned in Autocomplete. To modify the configuration of the Top Product Matches, click on Update Top Product button.
The Top Content Matches section indicates if it is enabled and the maximum number of content records that could be returned in Autocomplete. To modify the configuration of the Top Content Matches, click on Update Top Content button.
If you need to modify the Layout or Label properties, click on the Layout tab. This includes updating the labels that can be displayed to users.

Configuring Autocomplete Sections

Top Facets

To enable Top Products, turn on Is Enabled.
Set the maximum number of facet values that you would like your user to see. You can specify up to five.
Review the list of facets and select the ones that you would like to have displayed. Turn on the radio button next to the ones you want displayed.
Make sure to click “Save” after setting up the Top Facets configuration.

Top Product Matches

To enable Top Products, turn on Is Enabled.
Set the number of results that you would like your user to see. You can specify up to five.
You have the ability to set HTML here to control the display of the results. Hawksearch strongly recommends that you only allow developers with experience in HTML to make these adjustments.
Make sure to click “Save” to save your settings.

Autocomplete Layout

Tweak the look and feel of your site's Autocomplete with the Layout enhancement page. CSS styles are exposed to provide enough control. Instantly see the look and feel before it gets applied on your site.

Use the "Items Style" section to update individual attributes for each item.
Use the "Sections Style" section to update attributes for sections.
"Instant Search & Preview" let's you review changes to the styling that you have made.
Use the “Labels” section to provide labels for each section of the Autocomplete.
Click “Apply” to save the label changes.
Once you have completed all of your updates, select "Save".

Hawksearch Knowledge Base

Autocomplete for Hawksearch v2.0L-v4.0L (Lucene version)