Search Engine

Profile Manager Premium has an highly customizable search engine with which you can build your own search forms and listing pages. In this example we will create a search form that can integrate into our website.

Begin by logging into our admin panel. Click the setup button at the of the screen, then click the search forms menu item on the left menu.

Start by giving the new search form a name, this is the internal label given to the search form. Next give the new search form a title, this is the public name that members will see. Finally, click the create button.

On this screen, we are given the configuration options for this new search form. We will begin by adding a question which describes the criteria for the search the users will see. Click the add new link next to questions.

We are taken to a screen that allows us to specify the question criteria. Lets create a search question based on a state. Select state from the Search Criteria drop down menu. Next select the equals to option from the drop down menu adjacent to the Search Criteria menu. Finally click on the add button. We can more questions if we need to, there is no limitation.

Next we need to choose how the search results will be sorted when they are displayed to the user. In this example, we will sort by last name. Choose lastname from the sort results by drop down menu.

Next we need to choose how the search criteria will work together logically. In this example we will select the match all criteria from the Find Results drop down menu.

You can choose how many results will be displayed per page. In this example we will keep the default 10. Next click on the Update button to save the settings we have chosen so far.

Finally, we will select a listing page which will define how the search results look to the user. Begin by clicking on the add new link next to the Listing Page.

Enter a name for internal usage, Next select a starting style, in this example we will use the picture boxes style to display a picture of the users returned in the search results. Finally, we can choose the columns that will be displayed in the results. Finally, click the next button. A preview of the results will be displayed. Click on the Launch button. Next click on the update button to update the listing page option

Lets try out the search form by choosing some values in the Preview section. Select a state and gender then click the search button. The search form is now ready to be used on your website. You can return to the previous page and select the get source code link to copy the source for your search form.

Profile Manager Premium lets us create many powerful search forms making it a must have tool for your website.

If you are interested in learning more details about the PM Premium search engine, there is a search engine internals reference available here.