[Kasper Tikjøb Andersen]

I need to show a category with the category drop down and the search field, this seems to work by using:

[connections category_in='120' template='tile-plus']

But when you search the search only searches within that category – i need the search to work for all persons. How can i do this?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Kasper

Sorry, but if you enforce a limit with the shortcode category_in option, it can not be overridden. You only have two options, the first is to remove that option the second is to use the category shortcode option instead. Using that, a person would be able to change the category and then search within that category instead.

[Kasper Tikjøb Andersen]

That’s ok, i can use category instead, but i have just tried using category, and the page still only searches within the category set in the shortcode.

I need it search all persons, what should i do?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Kasper

To search in a different category, you first have to switch to it using the category drop down when using the category shortcode option. This is because you have effectively limited the “All Categories” by setting the manual override (the category shortcode option). If you did not have that category shortcode option, then the entire directory would be searched when there is no category selected in the drop down. This works pretty much exactly like when you search at Amazon you can either choose to search the entire store or limit the search to “department” (another word for category). However, the main difference is you’ve manually limited the initial results to your “default category” by using the category shortcode option.

Ok, I said the same thing in a couple different ways so I hope that makes sense!

Now, with this all said, there is something else that I forgot about that would allow you to override the category shortcode option when a search is performed. I just added a QuickTip about it discussing it in detail.

http://connections-pro.com/2015/04/23/quicktip-override-category-shortcode-option-during-a-keyword-search/

You can try this out. Like I said in the QuickTip, this has not been thoroughly tested nor is it supported, but other are using it to their satisfaction. I hope it helps you too!

[Kasper]

I have tried adding the function, but it didn’t change anything for me.

Also i notice i have another problem, when doing a search it changes all the connection shortcodes on the page, and it looks pretty silly when it does 4 searches on http://www.fcskanderborg.dk/kontaktpersoner.

I don’t understand why you don’t have a “default-category” argument to the shortcode.

But as a work-around, i think i can just change the page where the category drop-down and the search list sends the user. Then i can send the POST to a page only using one shortcode which shows all persons. Where in the Tile Plus, do i change this?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Kasper

re: I have tried adding the function, but it didn’t change anything for me.

Please try again. It seems there was a small bug which I just fixed.

re: I don’t understand why you don’t have a “default-category” argument to the shortcode.

Too niche. I already provide probably too many options. Between the core shortcode options and ones that template enables, there are over 60 already.

re: Also i notice i have another problem, when doing a search it changes all the connection shortcodes on the page, and it looks pretty silly when it does 4 searches

Yes, if you put the direct shortcode on the page multiple times, you’ll get the directory multiple times. Each shortcode instance is not aware of the other.

Here’s a few shortcode options which you can utilize to work with this:

• lock
• home_id
• force_home

You would not use home_id and force_home at the same time but you could use either to define a second page for the links to resolve to. You could use the force_home option to create “Results” page where all links and the form post would resolve to the Directory Home Page defined on the Connections : Settings admin page under the General tab. On this “Results” page you would only have the [connections] shortcode with no other options.

Hope that helps you out.

[Kasper Tikjøb Andersen]

Yes, now your code works and i can search on the same page.

Using lock=’true’ the search, doesn’t change the other 3 shortcodes, very good. But it still shows “You are searching for the keyword(s): kasper” on each shortcode block – even though it is actually only searching on the first. Is this a bug?

[Steven Zahm]

@ Kasper

Nope, not a bug… maybe, I’ll have to think about that.

Like I said each instance of the shortcode is not aware of any other on the page. Connections is primarily designed to be used on the page once. As you would find to be the case for other directory plugins too. I do provide enough configurable options to accomplish this though.

What you need to do is go to the Connections : Settings admin page, click the Display tab and disable the display search message option.

[Kasper Tikjøb Andersen]

Perfect, this works good – i am happy now :-)

[Steven Zahm]

@ Kasper

Great to hear!

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