Redesign of member directory [6316]

Last post 12-16-2009, 1:53 PM by Anonymous. 11 replies.
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  •  07-17-2008, 11:22 AM 8649

    • Sharon is not online. Last active: 05-13-2010, 2:23 PM Sharon
    • Top 75 Contributor
    • Joined about 4 years ago
    • Posts 22

    Redesign of member directory [6316]

    I am getting alot of compalints that the advanced search is not user friendly AT ALL.  Is there any way of going through your designers to get it to appear like this (I copy and pasted, but it's not really showing up correctly but it will give you an idea.)?

     

    Directory Search:

    You have three search options to find a solar firm in Canada:

    1. Search by company name;
    2. Search by location; or
    3. Do an advanced search selecting specific parameters.

    Search by Company Name

    1   2   A   B   C   D   E   e   E   F   G   g   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   s   S   T   V   W   X   Z   View All

    Search by Location

    To search by Location, please use either the Province/City or Postal Code options below. If both options have been entered, only the Postal Code search will be undertaken. Additionally, in order to return more accurate results, when searching by Postal Code only the first two letters of the Postal Code are evaluated.

    Province: Select Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Nova Scotia Ontario Quebec Saskatchewan Postal Code:
    City:

    Advanced Search:

    Instructions: Check off all fields you want to search for. The search is a multi-field search so you can, for example, search for retailers of solar pool retailers who service Nova Scotia.

    Services are available in:
    English
    French
    Market Sector:
    Residential
    Commercial
    Industrial
    Institutional
    Technology:
    Photovoltaic
    Solar Domestic Hot Water
    Solar Commercial/Industrial Water Heating
    Solar Pool Heating
    Solar Air Heating
    Solar Combi Systems (Water & Air)
    Day Lighting
    Passive Solar Heating
    Solar Cooling
    Industrial Activity Sector:
    Retail
    Installer – Contractor
    Distributor
    Manufacturer
    Engineer & Design Work
    Consultant
    Architect
    Builder
    Education Institute
    Government
    Utility
    Non-Governmental Agency
    Business Services
    (i.e. lawyers, insurance agent)
    Other
    Geographic Coverage:
    Alberta
    British Columbia
    Manitoba
    New Brunswick
    Newfoundland & Labrador
    Nova Scotia
    Nunavut
    Northwest Territories
    Ontario
    Prince Edward Island
    Quebec
    Saskatchewan
    Yukon
    International
    Export Regions:
    None/Not Applicable
    United States
    Central/South America
    Africa
    Europe
    Middle East
    Asia
    Oceania
  •  07-17-2008, 2:57 PM 8674 in reply to 8649

    Re: Member directory search options

    In the current version there is no way to do it exactly like you have described - but there are ways to get pretty close with some work. Basically you can create a number of separate directories and set them to default to advanced search with specific filters (saved searches). Then create a manual page with links to a number of different directories.

    I will leave this in our wishlist as we do want to make this easier in the future.


    Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
  •  05-30-2009, 1:26 AM 12773 in reply to 8674

    Re: Member directory search options

    I'd much rather have the ability to control which search filters are available to non-admin users.  The list can be really big the way it is now and the interface is cumbersome.  It would be nice to control which fields non-admin users can filter on and then clean up the method they use to apply those filters.
  •  05-30-2009, 7:24 PM 12789 in reply to 12773

    Re: Member directory search options

    In other words, you are looking for capability to specify which fields people will be able to search on, correct?

    What do you mean about 'method'?


    Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
  •  06-01-2009, 2:03 AM 12814 in reply to 12789

    • esl is not online. Last active: 05-21-2012, 12:29 PM esl
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    Re: Member directory search options

    Yes, We are looking for capability to specify which fields people will be able to search on.

     

    Currently all the data fields can be searched by visitors, which is not necessary. There are many fields that we don't want visitors to search.

    We should have control over what we want people to search on our database.

  •  09-17-2009, 4:24 PM 14349 in reply to 12814

    • Judy is not online. Last active: Jun 27, 2011, 8:28 PM Judy
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    • Arizona
    • Posts 21

    Re: Member directory search options

    I totally agree. I'm finding this to be very confusing. If I as he admin am having trouble, then visitors and members will even more so. Please, can we have a more precise way of doing searches or if there is such a function, let us know where and how to use it?

    thanks!

    Judy


    Judy
  •  09-30-2009, 10:51 AM 14468 in reply to 14349

    • Meagan is not online. Last active: 12-21-2011, 10:51 AM Meagan
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    • Posts 79

    Re: Member directory search options

    We are having similar seach problems.

    I don't quite understand how to remove search fields- Say phone number-  from the drop down menu of perameters to search by. We want people to input phone numbers in their profile, but there is no reason to have our website visitors have the option to search by a phone number or member level. It seems the search function is designed for us as admin at the back end. What we want is a searchable database online so that wesite visitor can find our members easliy. This is a big benefit to our members and we have had many complaints about how this utility functions for them as a way of advertising on our site.

    ALSO is there a way to have the searches come up randomly each time so that a company with name starting with A doesn't appear at the top EVERY time? 

    Thanks.

    meagan

  •  11-06-2009, 1:14 PM 15003 in reply to 14468

    Re: Member directory search options

    Meagan, there is currently no way to do random sorting - you might want to post about this on our wishlist.

    In our upcoming version 3.3 we are redesigning the member directory and I think it addresses a number of points discussed in this thread, including customization of advanced search fields.

    More information will be coming up soon.


    Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
  •  12-15-2009, 2:40 PM 15569 in reply to 8649

    • Joan Orr is not online. Last active: 03-09-2011, 8:03 PM Joan Orr
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    • Posts 4

    Re: Redesign of member directory [6316]

    I am new here, so I don't know what the search was like before. I knew the upgrade was coming so I waited to set up my search pages. I think the advanced search will work fine for our members. So far I am thrilled with WA!

    I think it would be good if the search returned to advanced mode after a search is complete. The default after a search seems to be simple search mode, which may confuse people since it looks so different from the search interface they just saw and they may not think to click on "advanced search"

    In the new documentation it says the following:

    People can also switch to the Advanced search mode. As you can see from the settings above, Advanced search can be setup with two options: Show all permitted fields and Show selected fields only. For example, you can create a directory limited to people belonging to specific group, selected by a certain custom field etc. Users will then only be able to search within these selected records. Advanced search fields are now explicitly setup by the administrator and cannot be changed by users.

    I would like to know how to create a directory limited to people from a certain group or selected by a query so as to limit the records than can be included in the user search.

    Before the upgrade I had been talking to a helpful support apricot about this and he told me that a directory can only be controlled by "Membership Level" and not by groups. From the above description it seems that directory records can now be controlled by group status or by a custom field selection.

    Can you please explain how to create a directory that restricts users to searching within selected records in these two ways?

    Thanks,

     Joan

     PS sorry if the is the wrong place for this question - if so please tell me where to ask it


    Joan Orr M.Sc.
    President, Doggone Safe
  •  12-15-2009, 2:48 PM 15570 in reply to 15003

    • Joan Orr is not online. Last active: 03-09-2011, 8:03 PM Joan Orr
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    • Posts 4

    Re: Member directory search options

    I like the fact that the search results come up in alph order. This way I can include a fake sample record that shows the members what they will get if they post a photo, their logo and allow access to their contact fields. The fake record always comes up first

     Joan


    Joan Orr M.Sc.
    President, Doggone Safe
  •  12-16-2009, 7:30 AM 15586 in reply to 15569

    Re: Redesign of member directory [6316]

    Joan,

    You can create the list limited by groups by creating a saved search - and using it as the basis for your directory. 


    Dmitry Buterin, Chief Apricot
  •  12-16-2009, 1:53 PM 15602 in reply to 8649

    • Anonymous

    Re: Redesign of member directory [6316]

    As Dmitry mentioned, we have released a new Member Directory with version 3.3 of Wild Apricot. You have access to the features immediately.

     There is an overview in the changes for the member directory here http://help.wildapricot.com/display/DOC/Member+directory+changes+from+v3.2+to+v3.3

    This thread is now archived. If you have any other suggestions or features you would like to see added to the Member Directory you can add them to our Wishlist forum.

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