You have two types of data fields:
Basic Fields
Basic fields are data fields that Spotler Activate Search uses for displaying information in the template. These fields need to be appropriately mapped to attributes from your data feed.
They are divided in two types: required and optional. Required basic fields must always be mapped in order for Spotler Activate Search to work, whereas optional fields offer additional information to your clients. It is highly advised to map your optional fields as well, as this improves findability of products incredibly.
Required basic fields
- Unique Identifier: Spotler Activate Search uses this field to recognize which item is which.
- Title: the name of the product or content item.
- Detail URL: the URL leading to the web page of the product or content item.
Optional basic fields
- Image URL: the URL to an image representing the product or content item.
- Description: a (short) description of the product or content item.
- Price: the current price of a product.
- Normal price: the old price of a discounted product. The new, discounted price should be in the “Price” field.
Changes need a refresh
Any changes in your basic fields will only take effect after your next feed refresh!
Custom Fields
With custom fields, you can tell Spotler Activate Search what fields in your data feed you would like to use. Every field in your data feed is listed with 3 options:
Use field
This option should be enabled if you want to use the field in Spotler Activate Search. For example, if you want to be able to add this field to your search fields, or use it for a filter, this box should be activated.
Disabling unused fields prevents it from being sent to the Spotler Activate Search database, meaning less data having to be updated during feed refreshes. This, in turn, means your feed will refresh faster!
Use for Auto correct
Enabling the auto correct feature here will make sure that, if the field is set up as a search field, Spotler Activate Search automatically corrects the user’s spelling mistakes when searching for terms contained in this field.
It can make a miss-or-hit difference for words like “blal” (ball), “atuogarph” (autograph), and “mseencehpaoln” (mesencephalon, the most rostral part of the brain stem).
Settings
The Settings button opens an overlay containing several more advanced options for your data field.
- The first one, data type, concerns the kind of data contained within the data field. A description field, for example, would be of the “text” data type, as it contains text. A stock field, on the other hand, should be of the “int” (stands for “integer”, a number format) type. Several specifications for field types and their use in Spotler Activate Search are outlined below:
Common field types: -
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Text: used for text-based search fields, such as title and description
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String: used for text-based filter fields, such as category and brand
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Double: used for numerical search or filter fields that use decimal numbers, such as price
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Int: should be used for numerical sorting or filter fields that only use numbers without decimals, such as stock
Uncommon field types -
Singlestring: used for fields related to grouping, will usually only be used by Spotler Activate Search employees
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Boolean: used for boolean fields, meaning fields using a “true/false” structure
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Date: used for date formatted fields
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The second setting, split values on, relates to fields that have multiple data points in them split by a certain character. For example, a category field may contain the full category tree for that article (e.g. “Electronics > Bathroom Electronics > Electrical Razors”). In the example, using > as the split symbol will make “Electronics”, “Bathroom Electronics” and “Electrical Razors” show up as separate categories in a category filter, rather than it showing up as the category “Electronics > Bathroom Electronics > Electrical Razors”.
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The third and final setting, field code, will attach a label to the field that can be used by various advanced JavaScript options that Spotler Activate Search offers through its code snippet. Since some knowledge of JavaScript is required, this will generally just be used by developers.
Changes need a refresh
Any changes in your custom fields will only take effect after your next feed refresh!