What’s New
In June 2018, Skava released version 7.5 of its Commerce platform. No major new features were added to the Search microservice in the 7.5 release. See below for the current Admin User Guide for Search.
| For details about the technical implementation of the Search microservice, please see Search Microservice under the Skava Commerce 7.5 section of this portal. |
Introduction
The Search Admin Guide provides instructions for navigating Skava’s Search microservice administrator tool (Search Admin) and configuring the Search microservice.
Features
The Search Admin functionality automates Search configuration, minimizes manual intervention, and reduces the need to write queries against the Search microservice’s MySQL database. An Admin can enhance end-users’ standard and type-ahead search experiences based on business need and industry best practices and can leverage analytics data collected as part of the Search microservice. Several key benefits of Skava’s Search solution include:
- Adjusting product position in search results
- Configuring and refining search suggestions
- Configuring and refining search term weightage
- Configuring sort order
- Creating curated searches
- Customizing search settings by locale
Intended Users
This section of the Developer Portal is intended use by Business Administrators (Business Admins).
Key Terms
| Term | Definition |
| API | This refers to Application Programming Interface (API), which is a software intermediary that allows two (2) applications to talk to each other. |
| Business/Businesses | This refers to business(es) owned and managed by a Skava Commerce client.
For example, a worldwide retailer running stores across the United States, Europe, and Australia can have three (3) different businesses created under one Skava Commerce instance. |
| Client | This refers to a Skava Commerce customer. |
| Default Locale | This refers to the locale information used when no locale information is specified in an API response. See also, Locale. |
| Instance | This refers to a full deployment of Skava Commerce platform that is used to host one (1) or more client businesses.
An Instance is a dedicated environment in which a client can manage ALL of its Businesses. |
| Locale | This refers to a parameter that defines an end-user’s language and location (i.e. en_US, fr_FR, etc.). See also, Default Locale. |
| Service | This refers to an Instance of a microservice associated with a Business. |
| Skava Commerce | This refers to a microservice-based architecture in which all capabilities are served by individual microservices (i.e. Customers, Stores, OMS, PIM, Inventory, Lists, Promotion, Search, Segmentation, Reporting, and Recommendations), which plug-and-plays into other systems cohesively.
For more details about Skava Commerce microservices, see the Skava Microservices section of this portal. |
| SOLR | This refers to an open source enterprise search platform, written in Java, from Apache on which the Skava Search microservice has been built. |
Accessing the Search Admin Console
Login to Skava Commerce
1. Navigate to the Client’s Skava Commerce Log In screen (https://<domain>/mcadmin/v2/login.jsp).
2. Enter a valid Email address and Password.
3. Click 
to login or 
to reset your password.
Navigate to the Search Admin Console
1. On the Instance or Business landing page, click the name of the Business for which Search is to be configured to navigate to the Business Instance page.
2. On the Business Instance page, click 
for the PIM Service Instance for which Search is to be configured.
3. On the PIM Admin console, click the Launch Service link to launch the Search Admin in a new browser window.
The Search Admin console is launched:
Search Admin Tool User Interface (UI)
User Interface (UI)
The Admin Tool UI includes two (2) tab-based sections:
1. Dashboard – displays Search analytics for a chosen date range:
2. General Settings – provides access to Search configuration parameters:
Search Analytics
Time Options
The Dashboard tab displays Search Analytics for the selected data range, which includes:
- Today
- Yesterday
- Last 7 Days
- Last 30 days
- Last Month
- User-Defined (via a Calendar Selector)
Retrieve Search Analytics
To retrieve Search Analytics data:
1. Click the Dashboard tab.
2. Click the Select Date Range dropdown in the right panel and select the desired date range:
Search Analytics data for the selected range will be displayed:
Configurations
The General Settings tab contains available configuration options for the Search microservice, grouped in two (2) accordion-based navigation sections:
- SUGGESTIONS – contains the configuration parameters for Search Suggestions
- SEARCH – contains the configuration parameters for Search
Suggestions
Configurable Suggestions Options
| Option | Description |
| Configure boost values |
See Configuring Weightage for Suggestions for details. |
| Default Suggestions |
See Adding Default Suggestions for details. |
| Enable Contextual Typeahead |
See Enabling or Disabling Contextual Typeahead for details. |
| Typeahead Minimum Characters |
See Setting Minimum Characters for Typeahead for details. |
| Group Suggestions |
See Adding/Removing Group Suggestions for details. |
| Enable Predictive Search |
See Enabling or Disabling Predictive Search for details. |
| Enable Increase Boost for Top Searches |
See Enabling or Disabling Increase Boost for Top Searches for details. |
Configuring Weightage for Suggestions
Feature Description
The Search Admin Tool allows Admins to configure the weightage for each Suggestion property. Acceptable weightage values range from 0 to 100, and includes decimal values. The higher the weightage value, the higher the data element’s position in the Suggestion list (boosting).
Search Weightage
The standard data elements for Search boosting are below with their associated weightage values (other data elements can be added as well):
| Data Element | Value |
| name | 10 |
| brand | 40 |
| division | 30 |
| categorylevel1 | 100 |
| categorylevel2 | 90 |
| categorylevel3 | 80 |
| categorylevel4 | 70 |
| categorylevel5 | 60 |
During the SOLR indexer job, a suggestion file is created based on the above configuration and is uploaded to SOLR.
| Category Hierarchy | Suggestions File | Example |
 |
 |
Assuming the brands are samsung and lg and a user starts to type sh, it is matched with all suggestions uploaded in SOLR.
Search results are displayed based on the configured boost. Suggestions result for sh will be shirts and shoe. The shirt category is displayed first as it has a higher boost value (100) than the shoe (80) category. |
Adjusting Weightage for Suggestions in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Adjust the weightage values for the desired data elements under the Configure Suggestions Weighting section, by clicking the up/down arrow to increase or decrease the weightage value or manually entering the weightage value.
6. Click the Add more button to add a new data element and weightage value.
7. Click the Minus button next to an existing data element to remove it.
8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Adding Default Suggestions
Feature Description
The Search Admin allows Admins to configure a list of suggestions to display, by default, before the end-user begins to key in search terms. Default suggestions are displayed as soon as an end-user places the cursor in the Search text box.
|
Adding Default Suggestions in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. In the Default Suggestions section, enter the desired default suggestions.
6. Click the Add more button to add a new suggestion.
7. Click the Minus button next to an existing suggestion to remove it.
8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Setting the Minimum Number of Characters for Typeahead
Feature Description
Admins can configure the minimum number of characters that an end-user must type to trigger typeahead suggestions.
Configuring Typeahead Minimum Characters in the Search Admin
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Select the desired number of characters in dropdown under the Typeahead Minimum Characters section.
5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Adding or Removing Group Suggestions
Feature Description
Admins can configure Search to display grouped suggestions (e.g. category, brand, and popularity).
Configuring Group Suggestions in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Add desired suggestions to the box in the Group Suggestions section. To remove a suggestion, click on the x button associated with the suggestion to be removed.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Enabling or Disabling Contextual Typeahead
Feature Description
Provides search results based on the contextually related suggestions. For example, for the search term Shirts, search displays suggestions like Shirts in the Men’s category, Kid’s Shirts, etc.
Configuring Contextual Typeahead in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Click No to disable or Yes to enable Contextual Typeahead under Enable Contextual Typeahead:
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Enabling or Disabling Predictive Search
Feature Description
Displays predictions for incorrectly entered keywords in the Search results.
Configuring Predictive Search in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Click No to disable or Yes to enable Predictive Search under the Enable Predictive Search section.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Enabling or Disabling Increase Boost for Top Searches
Feature Description
Provides the top-searched keywords from Google Analytics during Suggestions display.
Increase Boost for Top Searches in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SUGGESTIONS accordion.
5. Click No to disable or Yes to enable Boost for Top Searches under Enable Increase Boost for Top Searches.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Search
Configurable Search Options
| Option | Definition |
| Configure Search Weighting |
See Configuring Weightage for Search for details. |
| Configuring Search Curation |
See Configuring Search Curation for details. |
| Enable Increase Boost for Historical Sales |
See Enabling or Disabling Increase Boost for Historical Sales for details. |
| Enable Personalized Search |
See Enabling or Disabling Personalized Search for details. |
| Synonym Map |
See Using Synonym Map for details. |
| Sort Order Config |
See Configuring Sort Order for details. |
Configuring Weightage for Search
Feature Description
Search Admin allows Admins to configure the weightage for each search property. Acceptable weightage values range from 0 to 100 and includes decimal values. The higher the weightage value, the higher the position in the search list.
Search Weightage
The default data elements for Search boosting are listed below with their associated weightage values (other data elements can be added, if desired):
| Data Element | Value |
| skuid | 9.5 |
| productid | 10 |
| name | 5 |
| brand | 6 |
| variant | 3 |
| color | 4.5 |
| size1value | 4 |
| size2value | 3.5 |
| division | 3.5 |
| category | 9 |
| categorylevel1 | 8.5 |
| categorylevel2 | 8 |
| categorylevel3 | 7.5 |
| categorylevel4 | 7 |
| categorylevel5 | 6.5 |
| description | 1 |
All searchable data elements are indexed in SOLR with the configured boost values. During Search, these configured boost values are used by SOLR for searching and deriving the score for a product.
For example, if shirts is the search term, and if this term is present equally in the category, product name and description data elements, then:
- Products with category (boost value = 9) containing shirts will be displayed first
- Products with name (boost value = 5) containing shirts will be displayed next
- Products with the description (boost value = 1) containing shirts will be displayed third
Adjusting Search Weightage in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. Adjust the weightage values for the desired data elements under the Configure Search Weighting section, by clicking the up/down arrow to increase or decrease the weightage value or by manually entering a weightage value.
6. Click the Add more button to add a new data element and weightage value.
7. Click the Minus button next to an existing data element to remove it.
8. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Configuring Search Curation
Feature Description
The Search Admin Tool allows Administrators to configure Search curation by category, brand, size, color, model, gender, name, and synonym.
| Curation | Description | Examples |
| Categories | If the same category name is present in more than one level of categories, this curation helps us to restrict the search to the required category. | Mobiles in Category Level 1 Tablets in Category Level 2 Accessories in Category Level 3If ‘Mobiles’ category is present in the ‘Category Level 1’ and ‘Category Level 2’, and if you mention ‘mobiles’ in the ‘Category Level 2’ curation, then only the products in ‘Category Level 2’ are displayed during a search. This helps NOT to display the irrelevant products in ‘Category Level 1’. Without the curation here, it displays the accessories product also when we search with ‘mobiles’. |
| Brand | All the brands which are required for search can be mentioned here. When the user types any brand and if that matches with the curated brand list, then only the products available in that brand are displayed. | |
| Size | All sizes required for search can be mentioned here. When the user types any size and if that matches with the curated size list, then the products available in that size are displayed. | |
| Color | All the colors which are required for search can be mentioned here. When the user types any color and if that matches with the curated color list, then only the products with that color are displayed. | |
| Gender | When this configuration is used with gender-specific values, it displays the gender-specific products on the search result. | When ‘men’s shoes’ is searched, the search pulls up all the products with the gender as ‘men’ or ‘man’ or ‘gent’ or ‘gentleman’ or ‘gentlemen’ etc., and displays the results accordingly. |
| Model | All models which are required for search can be mentioned here. When the user types a model and if the model matches with the curated model list, then the products available in that model are displayed. | |
| Name | When this configuration is used with a name and alternate name values, it displays the products that fall in the same categories on the search result. | When ‘americana’ is searched, the search looks for the products with the name as ‘americana’, ‘usa’, ‘america’, ‘american’, ‘fireworks’, ‘flag’, ‘july’, ‘patriotic’, ‘olympics’ and the search results are displayed accordingly. |
| Synonyms | All the possible words which are required for search can be mentioned here. When the user types any word and if that matches with the curated synonym list, then the products available in that synonym mapping are displayed. |
Curation List Boxes
As part of a customer’s Search microservice deployment, Skava implementors can enable curated search functional, if called for by customer requirements. If Curated Search is enabled, curation lists appear within the Search Admin Tool in the Search accordion under the General Settings tab; otherwise, no Curation List boxes are visible. See several example Curation Lists below:
Curation
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. For each desired Curation List:
- Click the Add button below the Curation List box.
- Select a term type from the dropdown from the Keyword modal.
- Enter the Search term or terms.
- Click the Done button at the bottom of the modal.
- Keyword
- Substitute
- Search All
- To remove one or more keywords, select (highlight) the term in the Curation List box and then click the Remove button. Alternatively, to select all terms at once, click the Select All checkbox at the bottom right side of the Curation List box and then click the Remove button.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
| Option | Description | Example |
| Keyword | This refers to a desired search term | shoes |
| Substitute | This refers to substituting an entered term with another and returns results based on the substituted term | back | backpack If end-users search the term back, the system returns search results based on the term backpack |
| Searchall | This refers to expanding search results that include a searched term as well as terms similar to the searched term | women ~ girls If end-users search the term women OR girls, the system returns search results based on the term women AND girls |
Enabling or Disabling Increase Boost for Historical Sales
Feature Description
Increases the boost for products with higher historical sales.
Adjusting Boost for Historical Sales in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. Click No to disable or Yes to enable Boost for Historical Sales under Enable Increase Boost for Historical Sales.
6. When enabling Boost, choose the desired historical sales period (i.e. 24 Hours, 1 Week, 1 Month).
7. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Enabling or Disabling Personalized Search
Feature Description
Provides personalized search which is tailored to end-users’ interests (preferred categories). The Administrator needs to send the end-user’s preferred categories using the category tag. Then, for a given search, products belonging to those categories will get a higher boost.
Adjusting Personalized Search in the Admin Tool:
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. Click No to disable or Yes to enable Personalized Search under Enable Personalized Search.
6. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save changes.
Using Synonym Mapping
Feature Description
The synonym map contains similar product Keywords, which fall into the same category. All similar product/category keywords are mapped in a TSV input file. Administrators can also provide redirect URLs for each synonym map. If the keyword in the search falls in any one of the categories present in the input file, the page is redirected to the keyword’s mapped category.
In the above example, Sneakers is the root word and the synonym is snek. When an end-user searches for ‘Snek’, the results are displayed for the root word and the synonym (i.e. snek and sneakers).
Configuring Synonym Mapping in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. Manage the Synonym Map options under Redirect URL Map.
| Option | Description |
| Import | This refers to importing a synonym mapping file from the local computer to the server. |
| Export Existing | This refers to exporting the existing (active) synonym mapping file from the server. |
| Sample File | This refers to displaying a sample synonym sample mapping file that can be used as a template. |
Configuring Sort Order
Feature Description
This provides keywords with a list of products to be displayed in the Search results for each keyword. When a Search is made and the search keyword term is available in the JSON file with the list of products, the products are prioritized and shown at the top of the Search results. The remaining products for the searched keyword can be shown ONLY after displaying the configured products.
Adjusting Sort Order in the Admin Tool
1. Login to Skava Commerce.
2. Launch the Search Admin tool.
3. Click the GENERAL SETTINGS tab.
4. Expand the SEARCH accordion.
5. Manage the Sort Order options under Sort Order Config.
| Option | Definition |
| Import | This refers to importing the sort order configuration file from the local computer to the server. |
| Export Existing | This refers to exporting the existing (active) sort order configuration file from the server. |
| Sample File | This refers to downloading a sample sort order configuration file. |
Revision History
2020-03-30 | AM – Minor copyedit.
2019-06-23 | PLK – Content uploaded.
2019-06-15 | PLK – Page created.
