[Matthew Purdom]

Hi,

I recently purchased a few plugins from you as I am building out a directory of medical professionals and organizations for the state of New Mexico. I have two questions regarding Connections and possible addons.

1. For the most part, the fields that are available in the form sections works for each professional, but I would like to add some customization to the form that they fill out. I believe this can be done with the custom fields, but I wanted to make sure. Example: I would like to add a section for Accepted Insurance Providers, or Hospital Residencies.
2. I need a way for the general public to search the database based on the criteria of First Name, Last Name, City, Zip Code, Specialty (Brain Surgeon, Pediatrician) and perhaps Accepted Insurance. I saw mention of the Advanced Search addon that you make available for Pro purchasers. Is there any way I can purchase that plugin, I am used to using shortcodes so that shouldn’t be in issue, and I really need a way to search through the directory with specific fields.

Thank you so much!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Matthew

RE: I wanted to make sure. Example: I would like to add a section for Accepted Insurance Providers, or Hospital Residencies.

Yes, it would be possible to to add those with custom fields. I would think that adding “Accepted Insurance Providers” would be best added as categories. There is a way to “break” those categories out in a separate box like that already exists for categories. This would also be compatible with the advanced search. Would that work?

In regards to searching by “First Name, Last Name, City,“, those fields are already searched by the keyword search field. Even in the advanced search addon, these are not broken out into separate search field inputs. Is that a requirement?

Searching by “Specialty “, I would enter those as categories too.

RE: I saw mention of the Advanced Search addon that you make available for Pro purchasers. Is there any way I can purchase that plugin

The Pro Pack can be purchase from this page.

Here’s the link to an addon that will allow you to “split” or “break” categories into the own box:

https://github.com/Connections-Business-Directory/Split-Categories

I would recommend a category structure like this:

• Accepted Insurance Providers
  • Provider One
  • Provider Two
  • and, so on..
• Specialty
  • Brain Surgeon
  • Pediatrician
  • and, so on…

Hope this helps, let me know.

[Matthew Purdom]

Hi Steven,

It is a requirement to break out searches in a form for the following fields that are showing on this page: http://www.nmms.org/doctor-search

I’m building a new site for them, but they have had the most success with a form like the above when searching. I would also like to add the Insurance taken field as one of the search fields eventually.

I saw someone mention this site: https://infoshield.co.uk/searches/advanced-search/ and I suppose I’m looking for a similar search function. Will the advanced search work in this way?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Matthew

The advanced search, the first/last name is a single search field. There is a zip code search which not only searches by zip but limits the results to a defined radius from the user defined zip. There is not a city field because that is a little redundant with the zip/radius search.

Here’s another site using the advanced search which seems to more closely mimic what you wish to achieve:

https://sscit.org/directory/

Hope this answers your question!

[Matthew Purdom]

Ok great! If I purchase the PRO package for 1 site, but I use the Advanced Search for this website, can I use the other extensions in the package on another website, since I have already purchased CMAP, Link, Importing CSV, and Form for this site? I just don’t want your extensions to go to waste and not be able to use them on one other site in the future, just to get the advanced search for this site. I need that advanced search function, but I don’t think I can get approval at $74 if I can’t use them for a future site build.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Matthew

Yes, the various addons in the Pro Pack can be utilized on separate sites. If you do not need all the items in the Pro Pack, you could opt for the Extension Pro Pack instead. It does cost less so approval may be easier to secure.

[Matthew Purdom]

Excellent! I didn’t realize that was an option to get the advanced search. I just purchased the extension pro pack and will definitely be using this for an upcoming website. However, I don’t see the search in the downloads. Is that something you can send to me? I am hoping I can get that in very soon. Thank you so much for your support and awesome products!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Matthew

I just sent them email with the download link and shortcode instructions. Let me know if you do not receive it.

[Matthew Purdom]

This reply has been marked as private.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Matthew

In short… never copy/paste stuff into the WP Visual editor from a webpage or email. Lots of unseen content also will be copy/pasted. Always switch to the Tab tab before you paste.

Basically you were seeing the shortcode, but it was not due to all the underlying content.

I corrected it. You can now set it up. I recommend making changes to shortcode while only in the WP Text tab.

Hope that helps!

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