search function not very functional / modern

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1

Hello,

After using the system for a while we find that the way search works in SuiteCRM is a major usability issue. For instance, in the email module you need to define where to search (e.g. subject, title), instead of just having one box that searches everything. And you can’t search in the body of the text!

In other modules search is also counter intuitive. In accounts for instance, if you search for an account it will only find the account if you type the first word of the account name. For us this is a problem since we have many Asian customers with long windy and difficult to remember names.

We would be happy to hire a developer to fix these issues and contribute it to SuiteCRM (depending on the details of course;). But I can’t imagine that we are the only ones to run into these problems. How do other users deal with the search function?

Kind regards,
Benjamin

2

Hi Benjamin,

A within module full text search would be a nice feature. There are somethings you can do to improve this however.

There is a full text search, although admittedly this is global. Searching using the search bar in the top right will find occurrences in all fields (although in all modules). There is work to change this to filter by module. I appreciate however that this search may not be of use to you.

For the second point adding an entry to the config for search_wildcard_infront. I.e. adding

$sugar_config['search_wildcard_infront'] = true;

will automatically add a wildcard prefix to searches. This means searching for, say ‘ana’ will return accounts called ‘Banana’.

Hope this helps,
Jim

1 Like
3

Hey Jim,

Thanks for your reply! I’ll look at adding the wildcard code. Does that also address the problem that search in the account module will only look at the first word of the name of the account?

And your other comment is not completely clear: when you say ‘there is work to change this to filter by module’ do you mean that you guys are working on it and that it will be part of a future patch?

Kind regards,
Benjamin

4

Hi Benjamin,

The wildcard char used for searches is % as default.

If you insert this char before e.g. %ana this will find anything containing ana, as in Banana.

This way you can use both search methods (beginig with or contains).

If you are used to * as wildcard char, you can edit this character in config.php:

    'search_wildcard_char' => '%',

defining whatever you prefer as wildcard.

Regards

V Barroso

1 Like
5

Hi Benjamin,

Yes, with that change the search will look for the search term everywhere inside the name field.

Yes, this is being worked on by us and will be in a future release.

Thanks,
Jim

1 Like
6

Hi Jim and V Barroso,

Thank you both for your replies. I was trying * as wildcard, but now using % I see it works as I hoped it would work. Also thanks for pointing me towards how to change % to * :slight_smile:

I am looking forward to the future search improvements!

Kind regards,
Benjamin

7

Hi Jim,
Can you tell me where in the config.php I can write ( $sugar_config[‘search_wildcard_infront’] = true; )

I have try, but it does not work.

Thanks!

8

To add the wildcard behaviour I mentioned you would add:

$sugar_config['search_wildcard_infront'] = true;

to the end of config_override.php.

Thanks,
Jim

1 Like
9

Works, great after chage!!!

Thank you!

10

Hello,
is it possible to include a wildcard also at the begginning of a Quick Search?
Regards,

Rossella

11

Is this still the proper way to implement this feature? I can’t seem to find the file config_override.php

12

Hi,
You may like this look up on this product , which makes searches Super fast.

https://store.outrightcrm.com/product/suitecrm-enhanced-global-search/