Indexing

Welcome

In this module, you will learn about the several types of search indexing to help you optimize your ecommerce site.

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe when to rebuild your Search Indexes.
• Identify where to find the rebuild functionality.

What is it?

An index in the context of Configured Commerce refers to a system used to organize and store searchable content, such as products, categories, and content, to facilitate fast and efficient searches. The Indexing page in the Admin Console allows users to manage these indexes, check their status, and perform rebuilds (either Quick or Full) to ensure that updates to content are reflected in search results. Rebuilding an index is necessary whenever changes are made to the content, allowing the system to correctly display new or modified data in search results.

Types of search indexes

Configured Commerce offers different types of search indexing.

The Indexing page under Marketing > Search > Indexing lets you view index status and perform rebuilds (for Products only). A Quick Rebuild updates only changed product records, excluding child items, while a Full Rebuild re-indexes all products and their child items.

When to rebuild

Rebuilding an index is necessary whenever changes are made to a respective content area. In most circumstances, modifying product records requires the Product Search Index to be rebuilt. Changes to products or child objects (categories, attributes, and so on) display on the website correctly without a re-index because they are loaded even after a search. However, new changes are not searchable until indexed. When adding a product/removing a product from a category, or adding/removing an attribute, those type of relational changes do not appear until after reindexing. Ultimately, it depends on if the changes are made to searchable content, and if it is important for new search terms to work immediately.

Another consideration is the amount of time it takes to complete a rebuild. Depending on the number of products, running a Full Rebuild can take quite some time. Running a Quick Rebuild takes considerably less time to complete. Therefore, it is worth the effort to be strategic in flagging products whose child objects are modified frequently with the Schedule for Quick Indexing option. These products will then always be included in the Quick Rebuild, even if the base product is not updated.

Rebuild the product search index

Click on below link in the Optimizely Developers documentation. Review the steps to rebuild the product search index using custom development in Configured Commerce.

Try it

It’s time to play in the Configured Commerce sandbox!

The following practice exercises take place in the Knowledge & Learning training site. Before jumping in, please log in to the Training site using the following credentials:

• Username: TrainingUser
• Password: Opticon1!#

After logging in, do the following:

1. Rebuild the product search index

Wrap up

Congratulations! You have completed the Indexing module. You should now be able to:

• Describe when to rebuild your Search Indexes.
• Identify where to find the rebuild functionality.

Learn more

While we covered a lot, there's always more to learn about products and how to work with them!

Check out the below link for an up-to-date collection of helpful guides and technical documentation.