[Steven Zahm]

@ boerup

I’ve looked at what others are doing, and for the most part, they all only have one category search though they do provide additional filters in addition to the category search. This is one area that I can improve and will be. I have a new store locator type of extension in the works now. The basic search includes category, radius and keyword which are all fairly standard offered by other products.

The issue with offering multiple category drop down search comes right down to how to provide that feature in a flexible package that is easy to configure so it can meet everyones differing expectations. I just don’t see that as a basic feature, so we’ll disagree :)

[Steven Zahm]

@ Bree Emmerson

Well, one reason for not integrated search is that Connections uses its own custom tables, not a custom post type (CPT). The using custom tables excludes it from being able to be searched from using the WordPress post/page search. Why use custom tables? Well, Connections is older than that WP feature and the db schema for posts are, well, optimized for posts. The db schema of the custom tables Connections uses are more optimized for a relational directory. There are users powering directories with over a thousand categories and hundreds of thousands of entries with no more performance impact than those with a much smaller number. I considered converting Connections to a CPT which would make a bunch of things easier for me but scalability would suffer because some of the advanced queries I can do now would be CTP meta queries and those are quite expensive to perform. I only mention this because if Connections used a CTP, then integrating with the core WP search would be possible. Another benefit to the custom table useage is I more control and can implement a search method called FULLTEXT search, which Connections will do by default, if the current db setup supports it. This can yield more accurate and rated results. This is superior to the way WP does page/page search. (plugins are available that can enable better WP search with FULLTEXT support, thought I’d mention that as sort of a disclaimer)

So, I hope that kind of explains the technicalities in a way that makes sense to you.

Lastly, there is a search widget that comes with the Widget Pack. Drop that widget anywhere a widget can be added to the theme you’re using.

Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ cheryl

Yes, copy everything from in the cn-user.css into the custom print CSS option in Print O Matic. It is a settings on the plugins admin page, not a file.

Hope that helps.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Phil

Visited the site, seems to be sorted by anniversary when I look at it. Starts at 1940 and goes up to 1972. Am I missing something? What is the exact shortcode you are using?

You only have two options to hide the categories, use CSS or edit the template.

Here’s the CSS that can be added to the theme’s custom CSS area:

span.cn_category_label, span.cn_category {
  display: none !important;
}

Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Bree Emmerson

Sorry, no, the answer is still the same. Connections does not integrate with the core WordPress search. It has its own search… just like major plugins like bbPress do.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Jason

There is a new helper function, I just update the gist to show the useage. Hope that helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ anja

Apologies! I assumed since you were making PHP changes you knew how to use WordPress filters.

I recommend using Code Snippets.

Add a new snippet with the code I can, Save and activate the new snippet.

[Steven Zahm]

@ Christina

Ok, I added the FAQ and updated the product page for Excerpt and Excerpt Plus to make this more clear, I hope!

Here’s the link to the FAQ. really, it is not much more than what I;ve said here. But hope it helps!

[Steven Zahm]

@ Christina

re: Firstly, the images seem to be cropped in exactly the same way no matter which option I select

There’s a FAQ that give the details. Basically, those settings do not affect the images in Excerpt Plus because it dynamically creates an image of the correct size. That said, if you pre-crop the image and ensure it size ratio is the same before uploading it to an entry, you can ensure the results you want.

I did just update the FAQ to be a bit more specific walking thru two image size examples. I hope that helps. It is quite difficult to convey what needs to be done because it is a bit technical.

re: Secondly, clicking on the organisation name does not make the full entry open as new page.

That is exactly how the template is designed to function, fade in the full bio text, but it can be configured to work the other way too. I could have sworn I had a FAQ for this too, but guess not. I’ll have to fix that after I finish this reply. To keep this short, use this shortcode:

[connections link=true enable_bio_head=true enable_note=true enable_note_head=true show_title=true show_org=true show_contact_name=true show_family=true show_addresses=true show_phone_numbers=true show_email=true show_im=true show_social_media=true show_dates=true show_links=true]

re: Lastly, what is this in the images below, and how can I get rid of it?

That is very likely being caused by the theme… it overriding styles of elements that are hidden. I can give you a fix from looking at a screenshot, you’ll need to share a link of your directory with me.

Hope that helps.

[Steven Zahm]

@ anja

Well, I’ve got good news for you, you do not need to make that change to the file at all. This change can be done using a filter.

add_filter( 'cn_output_default_atts_address', 'cn_change_address_format');

function cn_change_address_format( $atts ) {

  $atts['format'] = '%label% %line1% %line2% %line3% %zipcode% %city% %state% %country%';

  return $atts;
}

Hope that helps!

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