Summary:

🧠 Smarter Search, Faster Results:
Search functionality is a crucial part of any directory website—it allows users to quickly locate the information they need.

The Predictive Search Function add-on takes this a step further by providing instant search suggestions. As users start typing in the search bar, relevant results begin to appear automatically, helping them find what they're looking for more quickly and with less effort.

Let me know if you'd like a shorter or more promotional version!

🛒 How to Get the Add-On

✅ Free to Use: Predictive Search Function add-on comes included. Simply activate it directly from the Manage Plugins section in your Admin Panel.

Activating the Add-On

To adjust the auto-suggestion feature on your website, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Content and select Auto Suggest Settings from the menu.


2. Here are the various features included with this add-on.

Configure Auto Suggest Settings by Post Type

• Set Max Auto-Suggest Limit: Define how many suggestion items should appear in the dropdown list.

• Enable Auto-Suggest for Specific Post Types: Select the checkboxes for the post types you want to include in the auto-suggestions.

For each enabled post type, you can customize the following options:

• Search Limit: Set the number of characters a user must type before suggestions are triggered.

• Show Header: Choose whether or not to display a section header in the suggestions.

• Show Post Image: Decide if a thumbnail image should be shown alongside each result.

• Show Post Location: Enable or disable showing the location of each post in the suggestions.

• Show Post URL: Choose whether to display the link to the post.

• Show Post Details: Enable showing a short snippet or summary of the post in the dropdown.

3. 

Enable Auto-Suggest After How Many Characters
This setting determines how many characters a user must type before auto-suggestions begin to appear.

Maximum Auto-Suggest Limit
Specifies the maximum number of suggestions that will be displayed. For example, if there are 25 possible matches but the limit is set to 10, only 10 items (including section headings) will be shown. Suggestions will appear in the order defined in the “Select the features the admin would like to be searched in the autosuggest rule” section.

4. 
As shown in the image above, the system displays suggested post types along with their relevant details, based on the configured auto-suggest limit.


For example, if the value entered in the search field is "a"...

For example, if you enter the word 'expert', the system will suggest all posts from various categories that containing this word.



Auto-Suggestion Criteria Settings:

Enable Listings:
This setting controls whether listings should appear in the auto-suggest results. A similar option is available for each category and feature.

Search Limit:
Defines the number of listings that can be displayed, provided the maximum limit hasn't been exceeded.

Photo:
Allows the admin to choose whether a photo should be shown in the auto-suggest results. It’s recommended to enable this for both Listings and all Features.

Link:
When enabled, users will be redirected to the relevant page upon selection. If disabled, the selected item will simply fill the search box, allowing users to still enter a location. It's advised to disable this for categories and enable it for other types.

Show Header:
This option controls the visibility of the section’s main title (header). The example below displays three features with the "Show Header" option enabled.

Location:
When enabled, the location associated with a member or data post will appear in the auto-suggest results. For example, in the image above, Listings have this option set to "Yes".

Details:
Enabling this will display an additional line of information beneath each suggestion. The content of the details depends on the item type:

• Listing Details: Displays the main category name.

• Sub-Category Details: Shows the top-level category. If it's a sub-subcategory, the parent (sub-level) category is displayed.

• Feature Details: Displays the name of the feature. Many users prefer this option over using the "Show Header" setting.