Product Support

Combo Multi-Search

A Participants Database Add-On providing two different configurable multiple-field search capabilities.

Product Setup

The Combo Multisearch Plugin offers two main search control types: a single text input (like a search engine) or a set of selectors/checkboxes/text fields that provide a search term for each field. Both search types may be used, but in most cases, you’ll be using one or the other.

Setting up the Combination Search

Combo Search provides a single-input search that will look in multiple fields for a match to a single input. Use this search type in situations where a simple easy-to-use interface is desired to search the database.

To set up the Combo Search, you’ll need the names of all the fields you want searched with the user’s input. Type the names as a comma-separated list into the “Combination Search Fields” setting. To disable the combo search, leave the setting blank.

The “label” and “placeholder” settings give you two ways to prompt the user. The “label” is shown alongside the text input, and remains visible when the user types in their search. The “placeholder” is shown inside the text input, and disappears when the user begins to type in a search. A placeholder is good when you don’t need to explain much and want a clean, simple interface. The label is good for situations where you want to explain a little bit what the search is for. You can use either, neither, or both if you want.

Combo Search Modifiers

The “combo search modifiers” are a set of radio buttons to allow the user to set the type of search desired: “any,” “all,” or “phrase.” When enabled, these radio buttons will be shown next to the combo search input. There is a default search type that will be initially selected, and this is also the search mode that will be used if the combo search modifiers are not shown.

Autocomplete

“Autocomplete” is also known as “autosuggest” and provides the user with a list of suitable search terms. The list of suggested search terms is shown as a pop-up window when the user begins typing, and the list is pared down as the user types in more letters. The list of autosuggest words is drawn from the database, so it can reliably guide the user to search terms that will yield results. The fields that the autocomplete terms are drawn from is defined in the “Combo Search Autocomplete Fields” setting. It is a list of field names like the “combination search fields” setting. This means that the combo search can search on fields that don’t contribute to the autosuggest. This is helpful in cases where some of the fields searched contain blocks of text, which could add a lot of useless terms to the autosuggest list.

The terms that are available to the autosuggest are limited by the list shortcode filter, so data from records that are prevented from getting displayed won’t show up in the suggestion list.

Multi Search provides a comprehensive interface for searching on multiple fields using a separate input for each field. This is best for situations where a precise, complex search is needed (such as a technical database) or in situations where you want to show the viewer what kind of information they can search by (for example, a services directory).

Starting with version 2.0, the multisearch fields are defined in a special interface under the “Multi Search Fields” tab in the plugin’s settings. In this new interface, each field in the multisearch can be customized in several different ways, changing how it looks, how the user may interact with it, and how it finds matches. Which options are available to a field depends on the type of field it is as defined in Participants Database.

If you already had Combo Multisearch set up and are updating from an older version, your fields will still be configured as before, only now you can fine-tune how each field works.

shows how to interact with the multisearch fields interface
Configuring the Multi Search Fields

On this page, you configure which fields will appear in the multisearch and in what order. The display shows a list of all the fields configured for the Multi Search so you can edit the parameters of each one. You can add as many fields here as you want, you can also also delete and re-order them.

Note that fields that are included in the Combo Search configuration are not available for Multi Search; remove them from Combo Search to make them available in the “Add Field” selector.

Field Parameters

Each field in the list of fields has its own parameters where you can change how it is presented or how it works. There are several parameters, and which ones are available to each field depends on the field type. Here is a description of the parameters:

  • Label – This defaults to the normal field title, but if you want to give it a different label in the search interface, you can do that here.
  • Help Text – defaults to the field’s help text, but you can choose a different help text for the search interface.
  • Attributes – allows the addition of HTML element attributes, such as the “required” attribute to selectively make fields required in the search interface.
  • Input Type – depending on the original field type, there will be several different ways the field can be shown in the search interface.
  • Include Label in Result Summary – when checked, the field’s label will be shown along with the searched-for value in the search result summary.
  • Database Values in Selector – for any kind of selector input type, instead of showing the configured field options, the options shown in the control will be drawn from the database.
  • Show “Any” Option – for selector input types, enabling this shows an option that will match any value in the database: this is essentially a “reset” for the selector, removing it from the search. Uncheck this if you want to force the user to make a selection.
  • “Any” Option Label – when the “any” option is shown, this is how it will be labeled. You can leave it blank for a blank option.
  • Multiselect “Or” Mode – (only for multiselect input types) if this is checked, the search result can match any of the values selected, instead of needing to match all of them when using “filter” mode. This setting makes no difference when not using filter mode because the values will be treated as an “or” in that case anyway.

Multi Search Field Input Type

Some field types will have several options available for the “Input Type” selected in the Multi Search Fields interface. A text field can be shown as a text input (of course) but also as a dropdown selector that shows a list of values taken from the database entries. Dropdown fields can be shown as a dropdown or as a multiselect, giving the user the ability to select several possible matches for that field.

Normally, a list shortcode configured to show the Combo Multisearch control will show all the fields you have configured in the Multi Search Fields interface. It is possible to determine on a per-shortcode basis which fields will be shown in the interface, as explained in the “Showing the Search Control” section. If you want to do this, you must configure all the fields you will show in all shortcodes, and then use the “search_fields” attribute in the shortcode to determine which of the configured fields to show in that particular display. In other words, you cannot add a field in the shortcode that has not been added to the Multi Search Fields configuration.

Filter Search Mode

The Combo Multisearch has two general modes of operation: Filter Mode on or off. With filter mode “on,” all chosen search values must match the record’s values for it to be included in a search result. If filter mode is “off,” a record will be included in the results if any of the provided search terms matches the record’s values.

When filter mode is on, any multi search fields that are configured with the “multiselect or” option will only require that one of the selected values in that field is a match. With “multiselect or” deselected, all the options selected for that field in the search must match.

Each search type, combo or multi, has a “Whole Word Match Only” switch so that text searches will only match a complete word in the search, not portions of a word. For multi-search controls, this only affects text inputs where the user types in the search term.

Searching on Date Fields

“Date” type fields can be presented as a single input or as a range with two inputs.

When using a single input, the search will attempt to include all records that correspond to the entered date.

When using the ranged inputs, the range will always include the date entered for the end of the range. For example, if the range is entered as “June 1, 2020” through “June 10, 2020” records that have a date of June 10, 2020 will be included in the result.

Partial Dates Supported

When using “date” fields in multisearch, it’s possible for users to enter partial dates, such as just the year, a month and a year, or just a month. For example “2010” will return all results with dates within that year. Entries like “March 2010” would return all dates within the month of March 2010. It’s als possible to enter a month: an entry of “May” will return all records with dates that are within the month of May in the current year. Partial dates can be used with ranged searches also: for example a search of “2000” through “2010” will return all dates between 2000 and 2010, inclusive.

When using a ranged input, if one of the inputs is left blank, it is assumed to be the current date. You can override this behavior by adding “required” to the attributes setting for the date field in the multisearch fields configuration.

Returning to the Search Results

Under the General settings tab is an option to enable restoring the previous search when returning to the search page. This is convenient for users who need to navigate away from the search page and wish to return to the same page of results. If this is unchecked, the search page will be reset every time it is loaded.

Showing the Combo Multi-Search Control

The Combo Multisearch Add-On provides its search capabilities through the use of a special template. There is a template for the list display and for the stand-alone search display. Once the plugin settings are defined, the template must be called in the shortcode like this:

[pdb_list template=multisearch ]

The plugin now also includes a table-less responsive template for the list multisearch shortcode:

[pdb_list template=multisearch-responsive ]

Or for the standalone search like this:

[pdb_search template=multisearch ]

If you are using the pdb_search shortcode, be sure to read Using the Search Shortcode as it can be tricky to configure.

It is possible to define the list of multisearch fields to search in the shortcode, drawn from the list of fields configured in the mutisearch fields setup. For example:

[pdb_list template=multisearch search_fields='company,city,state']

If you have both combo and multi searches configured, the combo search will only show if “combo_search” is included in the field list.

If you want a particular shortcode to show the combo search only, you can set that up like this:

[pdb_list template=multisearch search_fields='combo_search']

It is not possible to determine which fields are included in the combo search in the shortcode due to search optimization.

If you need to have the search control in a different location then where the results are displayed, you can do that with the [pdb_search] shortcode. You need to use the “target_page” attribute to tell the search shortcode where the results are to be displayed. The [pdb_list] shortcode is used to display the results. (Check this page for more on using the search shortcode…) For example, if your results are displayed on a page named “listings” then your search control shortcode will be like this: [pdb_search template=multisearch target_page=listings]. That shortcode can be placed anywhere. If you want to put it into a sidebar widget, you’ll need a plugin that will allow a shortcode in a widget. Then, on the “listings” page, put [pdb_list]. There is no need to set the template to multisearch unless you want another search control to appear at the top of the results.

Target Instance

In cases where the [pdb_list] shortcode is on a page with other Participants Database shortcodes, you may need to set the “target_instance” attribute to target the specific list shortcode where you want the results to appear. To find the target instance value, you must inspect the HTML. At the top of the list display, you will see a classname in the wrapper such as “pdb-instance-2” That means the list is instance 2, and you would need to put that value as the target instance in the search control shortcode, like this: [pdb_search template=multisearch target_page=listings target_instance=2].

F.A.Q.

Can I use both the Combo Search and Multi Search at the same time?

Yes, you can, but the set of fields selected for the Combo Search Fields should be different than the fields configured in Multi Search Fields. It will still work, but the results might not be as expected because the combo search will override the multi search if both are searching on the same field.

Is it possible for the user's last used search to be restored when they return to the search page?

Yes, there is a setting under the “General” tab in the Combo Multisearch settings called “Remember the Last Search” and if checked, it will store the search parameters for the last search on the user’s browser. This means that even if they leave the site and come back later, the last search they used will still be there. If “Clear” is clicked the stored search is erased.

I want to pre-load the search terms when linking to the search page. How do I do that?

Yes, it is possible to place the search terms in the URL, and they will pre-load into the search form.

For Multi Search, each field you want to preload a search term into needs to be named and given a value. For example, you want to take the user to the search page set up to find all the brewpubs in Seattle. Your link would look something like this:

https://xnau.com/search/?city=seattle&business_type=brewpub

The “city” and “business_type” fields would then be filled with the vales in the URL. Of course, the fields named must be configured to appear in the Multi Search inputs.

You can do the same for the Combo Search, but there is only one field, named “combo_search” so if you wanted to do the same kind of thing as our example above, you could use a URL like this:

https://xnau.com/search/?combo_search=seattle%20brewpub

You’ll notice the %20 in the search term: this is code for a space, this is needed because URL’s cannot contain spaces. Take a look at this reference to learn more about using query strings in URL’s.

I want to combine Combo Multisearch with Locations Map to show search result locations in the map. How can this be done?

Right now this doesn’t work using the “auto placement” of the locations map. You can get it all working together using a custom template I’ve created a template that will do the job here:

https://gist.github.com/xnau/39afbf647d78e85a7acdba4b0da30530

You’ll need to download that template, and place it where Participants Database can find it. This is explained here:

Using Participants Database Custom Templates

Once that’s done, change your shortcode to something like this:

[pdb_list template=multisearch-map]

I've got a very large database, are there any problems with this plugin with large databases?

Mostly, the size of the database is not going to matter at all, MySQL is pretty efficient with large databases.

There is one setting that will be affected, that’s the “Autocomplete” feature of the Combo search. For a very large database, you could get some memory errors with this feature. Two things you can try for that problem: limit the number of of fields that are going into the autocomplete (using the “Combo Search Autocomplete Fields” setting) which will cut down on the number of terms loaded into the autosuggest. Second, if your database is realy, really large, you may need to turn autocomplete off altogether.

If you are concerned with database performance issues, it’s a good idea to tune your server for better performance. You may want to ask your web hosting provider about that, it is a fairly technical subject and requires server configurations you may not have access to.

Support Discussions for Combo Multisearch

  • AWESOME plugin.

    But I am hitting a hurdle. All of the dropdown options are automatically loading one of the values into the multi search instead of having something like “Please select one” or simply being empty. The only work around I have right now is to use the “any” setting, which I don’t want to use if I don’t have to.

    • You can define a “blank” item. If it is the first one in the list of values, it will be selected by default. For example:

      null_select::Choose…

      The details are on this page in the “values” section:

      Defining Participants Database Fields

      • I tried that, but realized when it didn’t work that I did a really poor job of explaining my issue. Sorry, I will try again.

        This is only happening on the combi multi search extension. Any chosen dropdown option (and any text field, when “Text Fields as Dropdown Selectors” is checked) are automatically populating with the first option in the list. There is no issue with the chosen multidropdown. Chosen multidropdown says “select an option”, which is perfect. I would like for the chosen dropdown.

        If I check only use values in the database, then it shows the first value in the database.

        I need the default value to be empty. Because I have the filter set to “all” the non-empty values are skewing the filtering results.

        The only workaround that I have right now is enable the “Add an “Any” Option”, which is not optimal for my situation, because the any doesn’t automatically clear when you select an option.

        • Using the ‘add “any” option’ is how you do this. I don’t understand what you mean it doesn’t automatically clear? Can you explain the problem?

        • Sure, I can explain further. But first I want to clarify, there is no way to have first chosen dropdown option from showing in the multisearch extension?

          As for explaining what I mean, for a chosen multidropdown there is the “any” option with a small x next to it. If I select something a value from the dropdown, then the “any” option is still there, which negates the usefulness of selecting an option from the dropdown.

          I included the link. (the site is under development right now)

        • Wait, I take that back, it doesn still properly filter and doesn’t use the “any” value. But I find that very confusing that the “any” is still there, because logically that means it will show any value. I will try using a dot or something that isn’t easily visible or change it to “choose one” so that it doesn’t confuse people.

        • I understand now, it places an “any” option in the chosen multiseslect. It should not do that because it’s not needed in that case. Where it is needed is in single select drodpdown selectors only. I’ll have to put in a fix for that…thanks for bringing it to my attention.

          You can define a blank “title” for the “any” option, but it won’t fix the issue with the chosen multiselect.

        • Thank you so much! So should I just look out for the next release?

        • It should be available already.

        • Thank you. I upgraded, but it still showing the same issue. I tried it in incognito as well.

        • If I understand what you want correctly, you should have the “add any” option checked. Then, your multiselect fields will load with nothing selected, while your single select fields will load with “any” as the default selection.

          If it’s not doing what you expect it to do, email me a link (if possible) so I can see what it’s doing. support@xnau.com

  • Good afternoon. Like everyone else, I’d like to say thanks for the great plugin!

    My question has to do with multiple searches within the same search field. I thought I had it working at one time but I don’t know how and now it is gone. For example, I want to pull all of the “Tom” and “Jerry”s listed in the database. Previously I typed “Tom” “Jerry” and it would pull them up but that doesn’t work anymore. How can I make this happen?

    Thanks again!
    Ryan

    • This is controlled by the “Enable Filter Mode” and “Default Search Modifier” stting in Combo Multisearch. If you go to the “Combo Search” tab in the settings, there is an explanation of how these settings affect the search results.

  • In the simple search, I’m able to pass search queries through the URL (e.g. ?search_field=country_iso&value=US). When I pass that into a multi-search, it doesn’t seem to accept those values. Is there a way to pass specific search variables from another page? Thanks!

    • Hi Jeff,

      The multi search form is not set up to accept terms in the URL, although this is a good idea. I’ll add this in the next update.

    • Jeff, I just released an update to Combo Multisearch that includes the ability to preload the search terms using a URL. Details here…

  • Hi Roland
    This plugin is brilliant! I’m not a developer but got it working in no time at all following your excellent documentation and guidance. I just have one question. On your demo page where you can try out the search function you can click a ‘View Detail’ link which goes to a single page record. I can get this working but only by adding a ‘View Detail’ field so that it displays at the end of the other fields in the default template. How have you got the ‘View Detail’ link positioned where it is? I have used the ‘suppress’ attribute so the list is hidden until searched and ideally I would like to initially display just a few key fields and then click view detail to see more as per your demo.

    Thanks in advance for your help.

    • Take a look at the Manage Database Fields page. For each field, there is a column marked “display” A number in this column represents in which column the field will show in the list display. A zero means the field doesn’t display.

      This can also be accomplished in the shortcode using the “fields” attribute with a list of the fields you want shown. The fields will show in the order named…for example:

      [pdb_list fields="first_name,last_name,city,state,country"]
      • Hi Roland
        Thanks for the reply.
        Sorry but I still need some help with this. I have set up a ‘view more’ ‘link field’ and put a number in the display column as per this screen shot http://prntscr.com/ibx112. If I put a number in the display column the field appears in the search drop down as per this screen shot http://prntscr.com/ibx50q which isn’t right.
        However, if I don’t put a number in the display field it doesn’t appear here http://prntscr.com/ibx3kh so I can’t select it as a field to put a link to the [pdb_single] shortcode?

        Also this is the shortcode I am using [pdb_list search=true suppress=true sort=true display_count=true list_limit=10 fields="provider,expertise,contact,email,view-more"order="asc,asc" filter="approved=yes"] It seems the field attribute doesn’t enable the chosen fields to display? The only way I can get them to display is to put a number in the display column. So the shortcode doesn’t seem to overide the display column numbers?
        I am probably misunderstanding this so would really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance.

        • It looks like you have a syntax error in your shortcode. There is a space missing between the list of fields and the next attribute. It should be:

          [pdb_list search=true suppress=true sort=true display_count=true list_limit=10 fields="provider,expertise,contact,email,view-more" order="asc,asc" filter="approved=yes"]

          If you are using the “fields” attribute that will completely override the global settings. Make sure the fieldnames you use in that list are all correct according to the field definitions.

          Also, the “order” attribute needs the “orderby” attribute as well to tell it which fields to order the list by.

        • Hi Roland
          Thanks for the reply. I couldn’t reply below your last message as the page has an error? I can see your answer OK on a mobile though.
          I made the changes you suggested and I am almost there. Please can you confirm the settings for the ‘view more’ field. If I create it with the form element ‘Link Field’ it doesn’t appear in this drop down http://prntscr.com/icrdyt I assume I can’t get it working because I can’t select it there? If I create the ‘view more’ field with any other form element, e.g. ‘text-line’ it does appear in the drop down but of course these form elements don’t work for URLs. I would really appreciate your further help and thanks in advance.

        • You cannot use a “link” field for your single record display, because such a field is for displaying a link from the record, not a plugin-generated link to another page on your site.

          I would suggest you use a “placeholder” field for your Single Record Link, then you can use the “default” value as your clickable text. That’s how I do it in the demos.

        • Hi Roland

          Thanks for the reply and I have it working as clickable text link. However, ‘view more’ displays in the search drop down and has a field title as per this screen shot: http://prntscr.com/id89n7 On your demo ‘View Details’ doesn’t display in the drop down and it doesn’t have a field title, just the clickable text link next to the record. Please can you let me know how you have achieved that? It would be much appreciated and thanks in advance.

        • A “placeholder” field should not appear in the dropdown, that is something I need to change. I achieved that in the demo by making the “title” of the field blank.

          Another approach is to use the “search_fields” attribute of the list shortcode to determine which fields are available in the search dropdown.

        • Hi Roland,
          Thanks for the reply and that’s me sorted. Thanks for all your help it was much appreciated.

  • Hi Roland,

    I’m trying to setup the Combo Multisearch autocomplete function in a different way and was hoping you’d have some insight.

    What I need is:

    When the user clicks on the autosuggest menu listing, it will instead link to the appropriate listing of the “pdb_single” shortcode for that entry. Rather than narrowing down the current search results on the page.

    How could I accomplish this? Thank you for the wonderful plugin!

    • I don’t exactly understand what you want, but the search control autosuggest can’t be configured to display a list of links to single records.

      I assume you want the autosuggest to show links to the records according to the letter that is typed in? You’d pretty much have to do that from scratch, using a custom template where you can set up your input with the autosuggest.

  • Hi again Roland, not sure if this is the right forum for this question exactly but it does involve the combo search. Theses issue seems to have started recently although I haven’t changed anything to my knowledge, it had all been working like a dream …

    So on my Search page I have set up two tabs using my theme shortcodes, first is “Simple search” which is the default search option, and the second is “Advanced Search” which has the combo search. Both are using custom templates which output the results in a masonry grid format.

    Problem 1: (This is definitely a new issue) – results for Advanced search now output in the Simple search tab, even though I have “target_instance=2” in the shortcode. Full shortcode for advanced search is: [pdb_list template=multisearch-responsive-grid target_instance=2 search=true filter='approved=yes' display_count=true fields="material_title, type, level, topic, main_skills_and_language_areas, tags_new"]

    Problem 2: If combining the fields “topic” and “tags_new” in an Advanced search, both of which use the Chosen Multi Dropdown/other add-on, I get taken to a 404 page. Other combinations of fields don’t seem to reproduce this behaviour although suffer from Problem 1.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    • For your first problem, I would take a look at the HTML of your page and check on the instance number of the list where you want the results to show up. This can change if the arrangement of the page changes, because each time a PDB shortcode it processed, the instance number is incremented. A “2” means that it was the second shortcode processed, so if the page arrangement changes the order in which the shortcodes are processed, then the instance number could change.

      Your second problem is harder to diagnose, especially without being able to see the page. 404’s can result if, for instance, a security rule gets triggered by the content of the request. (each search is a request)

      • Thanks for getting back to me. Problem 2 is now solved, I’m guessing down to interference from another plugin as I’ve recently disabled several.

        Problem 1 persists and looking at the html I can’t see what’s changed, the instance numbers are the same as when I set it up. If in the end I have to set up two separate search pages then it’s no big deal, it was just nice having them on tabs on the same page while they were both outputting results in the correct tab.

        Don’t know if this is any kind of clue, but when doing a simple search on the first tab a spinning icon appears briefly before the results are output, while doing it on the second tab with the advanced/multisearch actually refreshes the page, bringing you back to the first tab which displays the results, with /#participants-list-1 now added to the url. (Before, a spinning icon would appear there too, and the page wouldn’t refresh.) Meanwhile, if you click back to the second tab, you have there the same results, with the additional info about the terms you searched for.

        • This sounds like possibly the target instance values aren’t set up right yet. If I could see the page it might be clearer to me what is happening. What you’re attempting to do is possible, I’ve done this before using Visual Composer.

  • I need to search on a checkbox field looking for those records where the box is checked. What’s the best way to accomplish this? I’ve tried where the field “is not” blank (by use double quotes for blank.””) The results are inconsistent. Sometimes I get the record, sometimes not.

    • When filtering for checkboxes, you can only reliably filter for the “active” value of the checkbox: in other words, the value that will be written to the record when the user checks the box. If your checkbox is defined with the values of “yes,no” you must filter for “yes” or “not yes” this is because records that have not been updated will have no value. You will also run into trouble if you have changed the “values” parameter of the field after records have been saved…some will have the old value.

      Taking a look at the database values directly (such as with phpMyAdmin) will help you understand what is happening.

      • I hadn’t set a value for when the checkbox was ‘active’. Will give that a try. I appreciate your very prompt reply!

  • Hello! Great plugin and add-on.

    I am using the multi search add on using DB fields for all dropdowns (which is working fine) but I need to configure the search to accept selecting the option “any” for all the fields so a results showing all database records is possible. Currently, I cannot leave all dropdowns with the option “any” selected.

    • Hi Luiz,

      Are you using the “suppress” attribute in your shortcode? If so, then it won’t show anything if all your dropdowns are set to “any” because there is no search. (the “any” selection removes that item from the search) If you want it to show all records, you will need to remove the “suppress” attribute.

    • Hi Roland, thank you for the reply. No, I am not using the “suppress” attribute. I am using the following: [pdb_search template=multisearch target_page=search-results].

      If I leave all fields with the “Any” option selected, I get the alert “Please select something to search for” and no search is performed (I am not redirected to the “search-results” page).

      I would like to have the ability to make a search to return all database records without any filtering.

      Thank you!

      • I see…that happens if nothing is clicked on. You can certainly select “any” and get the results, but if the user does nothing except click on “search”, they’ll get that message. I’ll have to see about that, because most of the time, you want the user to actually select something before doing the search.

        • I understand… but in this specific case, the visitors to the website I’m working on might want to view all database records. Please let me know if we will be able to change this. Thank you once again for the quick responses.

        • OK, I am still considering what the solution is.

  • Best wishes for 2018!
    – Pre-sales question –

    I’m looking at buying your plugin and add-on (Combo Multisearch) in order to get a result like on this page: https://cdr.ssvv.nl/#/zoeken
    That’s a hidden list of participants that will only give results when there is an exact match (you can try “Naam- en geboortedatum” for last name: Jansen and date of birth: 01-01-1977)
    I was wondering if I will be able to style the page with CSS somewhat like the aforementioned URL?

    Thank you in advance!
    Steven

    • Hi Steven,

      Yes, the add-on will allow you to do this. As to whether you can create a page to look like and work like the example you gave…of course it will depend on your abilities…but technically, the plugin can do this. For instance, it is possible to determine which fields are presented for searching in the shortcode, like this:

      [pdb_list template=multisearch search_fields="last_name,first_name"]

      Which means that you could have two pages, each with a different search control, like in your example.

  • Yes Roland you were right, the terms in that field were phrases. After a lot of experimenting, it seems the global setting I need for one type of search contradicts the one I need for the other. If I’m going to run both types of search, Global Filter OFF seems like the optimal setting for multisearch (otherwise it needs to find the item in every field, which doesn’t make sense in my case), while ON is needed for the combo search – otherwise you’re not able to combine filters.

    So yes please, the ability to apply different filter settings to each type of search would be great!

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