Search function

@ Robert

It is possible not to show any entries until a search is performed…

Install the Code Snippets plugin.
Add a new snippet with the following code:

function cn_initial_search_filter( $posts, $WP_Query ) {
    global $wp_query;

    if ( ! class_exists('cnTemplatePart') ) return $posts;

    $shortcode = 'connections';
    $pattern   = get_shortcode_regex();

    // Grab the array containing all query vars registered by Connections.
    $registeredQueryVars = cnRewrite::queryVars( array() );

    foreach ( $posts as $post ) {

        // If we're in the main query, proceed!
        if ( isset( $WP_Query->queried_object_id ) && $WP_Query->queried_object_id == $post->ID ) {

            /*
             * $matches[0] == An array of all shortcode that were found with its options.
             * $matches[1] == Unknown.
             * $matches[2] == An array of all shortcode tags that were found.
             * $matches[3] == An array of the shortcode options that were found.
             * $matches[4] == Unknown.
             * $matches[5] == Unknown.
             * $matches[6] == Unknown.
             */

            if ( preg_match_all( '/'. $pattern .'/s', $post->post_content, $matches )
                && array_key_exists( 2, $matches )
                && in_array( $shortcode, $matches[2] ) )
            {

                // Parse the shortcode atts.
                $atts = shortcode_parse_atts( $matches[3][ array_search( $shortcode, $matches[2] ) ] );

                // Remove the cn-image query vars.
                $wp_query->query_vars = array_diff_key( (array) $wp_query->query_vars, array_flip( array( 'src', 'w', 'h', 'q', 'a', 'zc', 'f', 's', 'o', 'cc', 'ct' ) ) );

                // Show the just the search form w/o showing the intial results?
                // If a Connections query var is set, show the results instead.
                if ( isset( $atts['initial_results'] )
                    && strtolower( $atts['initial_results'] ) == 'false'
                    && ! (bool) array_intersect( $registeredQueryVars, array_keys( (array) $wp_query->query_vars ) )
                   )
                {

                    // Add return = true to $atts so template part are returned instead of echoed.
                    $atts['return'] = true;

                    // Enqueue the CSS and JS. We need to use the action because we're hooked 
                    // way to early in WP to use wp_enqueue_style() and wp_enqueue_script().
                    add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', array( 'cnScript', 'enqueueStyles' ) );

                    // Add action to enqueue Chosen.
                    add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'cn_enqueue_chosen' );
                    add_action( 'wp_print_footer_scripts', 'cn_init_chosen', 999 );

                    // Passing the shortcode $atts incase there are any template part specific shortcode options set.
                    $category  = cnTemplatePart::category( $atts );
                    $search    = cnTemplatePart::search( $atts );
                    $formOpen  = cnTemplatePart::formOpen( $atts );
                    $formClose = cnTemplatePart::formClose( $atts );

                    // Create the final output.
                    $replace = $formOpen . $category . $search . $formClose;

                    // All returns and tabs should be removed so wpautop() doesn't insert <p> and <br> tags in the form output.
                    //$replace = str_replace( array( "rn", "r", "n", "t" ), array( ' ', ' ', ' ', ' ' ), $replace );

                    // This needs to be wrapped in a div with an id of #cn-list so the CSS styles will be applied.
                    $replace = '<div id="cn-list">' . $replace . '</div>';

                } else {

                    // Rewrite the $atts array to prep it to be imploded.
                    array_walk( $atts, create_function( '&$i,$k','$i="$k=\"$i\"";' ) );

                    $replace = '[' . $shortcode . ' ' . implode( ' ', $atts ) . ']';
                }

                // Replace the shortcode in the post with something a new one based on you changes to $atts.
                $post->post_content = str_replace( $matches[0][ array_search( $shortcode, $matches[2] ) ], $replace, $post->post_content );
            }

        }

    }

    return $posts;
}

function cn_enqueue_chosen() {

    // If SCRIPT_DEBUG is set and TRUE load the non-minified JS files, otherwise, load the minified files.
    $min = defined('SCRIPT_DEBUG') && SCRIPT_DEBUG ? '' : '.min';

    wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery-chosen', CN_URL . "vendor/chosen/chosen.jquery$min.js", array( 'jquery' ), '1.1.0', true );
}

function cn_init_chosen() {

?>

<script type="text/javascript">/* <![CDATA[ */
    jQuery('select[name^=cn-cat]').chosen();
/* ]]> */</script>

<?php

}

add_filter( 'the_posts', 'cn_initial_search_filter', 1000, 2 );

Save and activate the new snippet.

That should do it.

re: Related, let’s say we offer searching on Company Name, City and Zipcode. Is there a way we can have those search options in a pulldown or radio button format?
That too is possible but would require custom coding that into the template. I can recommend i dev if you would like to pursue that. Let me know.

Hope this helps!

@ Robert

I just emailed the dev. He’ll stop by this forum thread so you and he can make contact.

I have added this code to my site and the results are not showing on page load until the search, as expected.

However “uncategorized” is showing in the drop down list of possible search selections. I do have show_empty_categories=’false’ and exclude_category=’1′ in the shortcodes. I’m still testing and only have 2 listings in the tool, both are set to category 2. And when the results show, uncategorized is not in the list on the left side.

How can I get rid of uncategorized in the drop down? (Market is my default template)

Thanks for the suggestion. I do code in the text mode, and not the visual. Here is the code exactly as I have on the page: (just to make sure, I’ve copied the code into a text editor, and re-typed the single quotes.)

[connections show_empty_categories='false' image='logo' image_fallback='none' initial_results='false' show_alphaindex='true' repeat_alphaindex='false' force_home='true' exclude_category='1']

I’m still getting the uncategorized in the drop down list.