Using Weight in Searches for PrestaShop 1.5

The search function in PrestaShop can be further configured so that search categories involved in the search can have a "weight" applied.  This allows this area of text for a product to have a stressed importance.  For example, if you want to have the product name have more weight than the product description, you can apply a higher numerical value to that category.  This affects the search so that even if the text for the product name is found less times than would typically be in a description, it would still be of more relevance to the search because of its given weight.  The following article explains how to apply weight for searches in PrestaShop 1.5. If you are looking for more information concerning configuring the Search options for PrestaShop, please go to Configuring Search for PrestaShop 1.5.

Applying Weight to Search Terms in PrestaShop 1.5

1. Login to the PrestaShop Administrator Dashboard.
2. Using your mouse, hover over the menu bar where it is labeled PREFERENCES.  Click on SEARCH when it appears in the drop-down menu and scroll down to the last section labeled WEIGHT.  You will see a screen as per the following:
   
   
   
   It is recommended to place highest values for the text field that will typically have the greatest value to a search of your products. Each of the items above are the text fields associated with the product.  An example of how this weighting would work is as follows:
   
   
   Product name= Apple iPhone 5 (weight of 6); search engine finds the term once
   Description = Apple iPhone (weight of 1); search engine finds item multiple times across the multiple versions of iPhone.
   
   Since the Product name is weighted at 6, it is six times more relevant for the search than the description which found multiple instances of Apple iPhone.  This helps to narrow the search and make it more relevant for your inventory.
   
   Search result returned = Apple iPhone 5 product
   
   
   
3. Apply weights to the product text fields, then click on SAVE in the top right hand corner to apply the change.

Using weight in a search is basically applying bias to the search, meaning that when a query is done, the search results will lean toward the text to which weight had been applied.  The results can be refined in this manner so that your product reference will have more relevance to the query as you have stressed it.  This is a difficult thing to visualize, but in understanding the way the search is operating, you can help your customers find the products most relevant to their needs.

For more information on Search Aliases, Indexation, and Configuration, please see 230: Understanding How to Configure the PrestaShop Search.