Search and filters

Most buyers arrive with something specific in mind, so search is the most used feature of any marketplace. This guide explains what Yclas search looks at, and the settings you can use to make it find more, or more precisely, what your buyers want.

What buyers can do

The exact layout depends on your theme; in Nova:

• The search box in the header (Search listings) and in the big search on the home page (What are you looking for?, with a category and Where).
• Filters beside the results: Keyword, Categories, Location, Price and your searchable custom fields, with Show results and Clear all. On category and listing pages they show when your sidebar has no widgets of its own (the search results page always shows them).
• Sort to change the order of results.
• Grid view and List view, a Map button (when the listing map is switched on in Maps), and 10, 20, 50 or 100 results per page.
• A distance button (for example 2 km from you) to see listings near them, when the Auto-locate add-on is on.

What the search box looks at

Looks in	When
Listing titles	Always. Every word typed must appear in the title (or in the places below).
Listing descriptions	When Include Search by Description is on in Settings › General › Search.
Custom fields	Fields with Searchable and Text searchable switched on. See Custom fields.

Searching descriptions finds more listings but also more unrelated ones (a search for bike finds a sofa whose description says “close to the bike lane”). On small marketplaces, turn it on; on large ones, try both.

Search matches parts of words: phone also finds iPhone and headphones. It doesn’t correct spelling or know synonyms. For instant, typo-tolerant search, see Algolia search.

Filters

Filter	Comes from
Category	Your categories. Choosing a category includes its subcategories.
Location	Your locations, including everything inside the chosen one.
Price	The Price field, as a from–to range.
Your own fields	Every custom field with Searchable on: a list of choices for Select and Radio fields, tick boxes for Checkbox fields, a from–to range for Numeric Range fields, and a time for opening hours.

To let buyers pick several categories or locations at once, switch on Multi Select Category and Location Search in Settings › General › Search.

Make only the fields buyers really filter by searchable: Make, Fuel and Bedrooms yes, Description of the garden no. A short filter panel gets used; a long one gets ignored.

Sorting

The order results appear in by default is Sort Listings in Publishing options. Buyers can change it with Sort; in Nova they can choose Newest, Oldest, Price (Low) and Price (High) (when the Price field is on), Featured, Favorited, Name (A-Z), Name (Z-A), and Distance when Auto-locate is on. Orders such as Rating or Event date can still be your default even though they aren’t in the buyers’ menu.

Search near me

With the Auto-locate add-on on, a visitor can share where they are; results can then be limited to a distance around them and sorted by Distance. Distances are shown in kilometres or miles according to Measurement Units in Settings › General › Regional.

Distance only works for listings that have map coordinates, which come from the Address field with maps set up. Listings without an address aren’t found by a distance search.

What search never shows

Search results and lists only include published listings. They leave out:

• listings waiting in moderation, unconfirmed, sold, deactivated or marked as spam;
• expired listings, and listings whose eventdate has passed;
• on a multilingual site, listings posted in another language.

If a seller says their listing “can’t be found”, check its status in Listings › All listings first. See also Listings disappeared.

Related guides

• Custom fields — make fields searchable.
• Algolia search — instant search as you type.
• Locations — the location tree buyers filter by.
• SEO for your marketplace — being found from Google, not only on your site.