Admin search problem

We have a nasty problem with the admin search, its not working, we did a clean install of zen and then had a programmer do other bits, he insist's he did not touch anything near that section so it could not be anything he has done, we are not sure if it was working before he started the work.

We search for an item in the admin side of the site, and it always comes back with no results, even though the product we are searching for is found with the search function on the main pages on the site, its just the admin side.

Please somebody help, we really need this search function, any ideas of what the problem could be, or the location of the file we need to find, to see if there is any difference between the file on our server and the main zen cart files,

Thanks for any help anybody can provide us

What version of Zencart? Where are you using the search at? In products or in the customers area? Is it an add-on module?

HI,

I am using 1.3.9c and have the same problem.

Can anybody help me?

Cheers

Fresh Install for me...

Same problem

I'm using the same version - 1.3.9c but the admin and the customer search feature work fine.
Do you try to search in the admin area -> categories/products ? What do you enter for keyword - the product name or a description word?

I've got the same problem, with 1.3.9e fresh install. Search works fine on the main page, but searhc in admin only seems to find categories not products...

Here's a clue that might be the issue for mine:

My database was imported from OScommerce.

When I create new items, it seems to be able to find them in admin search, but for the items imported, it does not find them...

Is there a way of re-indexing the database perhaps?

If you go to phpMyAdmin and look at the structure of the products_description table ...

What is the Collation on the products_name, products_description and products_url ...

If you look at the structure of the categories_description table ...

What is the Collation on the categories_name and categories_description ...

Looking in phpmyadmin, and selecting the table, all entries seem to have latin1_general_ci as their collation.

I can't specifically see the names "products_name" or "products_url" though, only the following ones in the main list:

products
products_attributes
products_attributes_download
products_description
products_discount_quantity
products_notifications
products_options
products_options_types
products_options_values
products_options_values_to_products_options
products_to_categories
products_with_attributes_stock
product_music_extra
product_types
product_types_to_category
product_type_layout

categories
categories_description

Can you check that all of your Products in the products table have master_categories_id set and products_type set and products_price_sorter ...

master_categories_id are all set to "0",
products_type are all "1",
products_price_sorter varies from 0 to other numbers.

Do you use Linked Products? Or, are all of your Products just in 1 Category each?

We use both, depending on the catagory. Some are just listed in one catagory, other are listed in a main catagory and linked in other catagories.

BTW Thanks for your time, much appreciated!!!

The problem is, these fields need to complete for things to work right in Zen Cart ...

Products "belong" or are "owned" by 1 categories_id which is used for the master_categories_id of the Product in the products table ...

You are going to have to fix this more carefully as you use Linked Products ...

In your Categories ... when you use Linked Products ... do you have your Categories setup where ALL Products in a specific Category would be the master_categories_id ...

The master_categories_id is used for:

Sale Maker sales

Navigation to Products when a category is not known such as sideboxes or searches or listings not related to Categories ...

So if a Product is Linked to 2 or more Categories ... and the product is clicked on during a search ... 1 of these Categories is the "better" Category to go to ...

How many Categories do you have?

How many Products do you have?

A fast way to fix the master_categories_id is in the Tools ... Store Manager ... with the Rest Master Categories ID ...

However, this is going to pick the lowest value of the categories_id that the Product is linked to ... and this is not always the "best" choice ...

What running this will do, however, is get you started on fixing the master_categories_id for your Products ...

Next, you can run the Update Products Price Sorter on the Store Manager ... this will fix the products_price_sorter field ...

You can edit Products once this is all done and fix any Master Categories that are not set right ...

If you have any Categories where ALL Products should use that Category as their master_categories_id that can be done in the Catalog ... Categories/Products ... and click on the C for Copy then go to the Multiple Categories Links Manager ...

There is a setting at the bottom of the page for:

Quote:

---

Reset ALL Products in the selected Category to use the selected Category as the new Master Categories ID ...

---

Wow, didn't know it was that complicated.

I have not experienced any problems in the site. Are there any other implications for not having a master catagory? If it just mean I can't search in admin, it mioght not be such a big deal...

I have about 15 catagories, another 15 sub-categories, and a few hundred products.

I can see what you mean... if I click on any of the items directly from the home page, it has a cpath=0 in there, where I assume the "0" refers to the master category.

I can't really see too much of a problem if the most appropriate category is not selected if I reset, so perhaps it's worth a go?

I would recommend running from the Store Manager:

Quote:

---

Reset ALL Products Master Categories ID
to be used for Linked Products and Pricing:

---

Quote:

---

Update ALL Products Price Sorter
to be able to sort by displayed prices:

---

in that order ...

Then Products that are not set correctly can be adjusted on their master_categories_id after that is done ...

Otherwise ... you will have a lot of problems now and in the future ...

Thank you Ajeh!

Done! Everything seems to work fine, and the admin search is working like a charm now! :clap:

Thank you for your great help!:clap:

Amazing, eh? :cool:

As you go through your Categories with Products that are Linked Products, check to see what the master_categories_id are ...

See if you have Categories where you might want to clean these up ...