XT Search for Algolia

What is Algolia?

Algolia is a hosted full-text, numerical, and faceted search engine capable of delivering real-time results from the first keystroke. Algolia delivers products to accelerate search and discovery experiences across any device and platform.

Help customers find what they are searching for. Create frictionless find-to-conversion paths by connecting users with exactly what they're looking for, with lightning fast and highly relevant search.

Create a path for customers to discover. Go beyond the search box with navigation, browse, and content discovery experiences powered by Algolia.

Design predictive and natural interactions. Build immersive experiences that surface unexpected and relevant content to surprise and delight users.

FAQ: Do I have to buy the Algolia service?

Algolia has an offering to accommodate most project requirements. It has a COMMUNITY "Forever Free" tier and several paid subscriptions.

The benefits of the COMMUNITY "Forever Free" tier are:

• Lightning fast search
• Customizable relevancy engine
• 10K Records/100K Operations
• Must display "Search by Algolia"

For more information, https://www.algolia.com/pricing

Benefits

• Integration of your site with Algolia, with no more complications than the connector configuration.
• Integration with Joomla Content (Articles), K2, SobiPro, JCalPro, EasyBlog, JReviews, HikaShop ... and more coming!
• Improved navigation by instant search and autocompletion. Modules for instant search and autocompletion.
• Search relevance: textual, business and personalization at user and group level, powered by Algolia engine.
• Search beyond the box: improve the UX by browsing, faceting, and suggestions.
• Multi-Connector Sitewide search: one single search with immediate results for the whole site.
• Multi-Section search for SobiPro: search for SobiPro in all indexed sections and entries.
• Full Multi-lingual site search: one single search box to query in all the site languages.
• Module sample layouts for Bootstrap 2 and Bootstrap 3, with images and links.
• Autocomplete Module for the Administrator

Main Features

XT Search for Algolia has mainly three features to implement Algolia Search.

1. XT Autocompletion module

This is the primary module that renders a simple search box. This module displays search results “as you type” in an autocomplete menu using Algolia’s search engine.

2. XT Instant Search module

This module allows creating an instant search results page where the whole page (results, filters, facets and pagination) is updated as you type, to provide end-users with a lightning-fast search experience.

3. XT Browse by Facet module

The module shows a cloud of tags to offer shortcuts to the advanced search. The module can be positioned in other pages of the site as a way to lead the user to the advanced search.

XT Indexer

The indexer process is the heart of the extension. It crawls the site and processes the information to submit it to Algolia’s search engine. At this time, it has connectors to Joomla Articles, K2, SobiPro, JCalPro, EasyBlog, JReviews and HikaShop. The indexer process can be executed from the backend, externally via an URL or from the server command line (CLI).

Advanced Customization

Once you become familiar with Algolia, XT Search and the associated modules, there is more one level of customization that can be achieved to configure the User Interface Widgets.

• Extra Facets
• Custom sortBy
• Custom transformData
• Custom templatesItem

Examples and Demos

In our demo site, you can check how XT Search for Algolia works with SobiPro. Please, check it here in the demo site http://demo.xtdir.com, where you can find a SobiPro v1.4.7 business directory, with 2.000 more entries to fill the catalog.

Demo Site   Documentation

Leading Case: San Juan Turismo

Advanced Search

XT Search for Algolia in a Smartphone

XT Search for Algolia - Instant Search and Autocompletion for Your Site