Keyword As A Dropdown Box In Advanced Search

[SteveCollins]

I was wondering whether it would be possible to create a dropdown box for the keyword section of the Advanced Search page? I am looking to try to customise the latest version so that I can advertise peoples homes for sale.

In order for this to work I have been trying to corrupting the manufacturers box for the areas and trying all sorts of ways to get the following fields in the advanced search page:

Dropdown Box - amount of bedrooms -1 bed - 2 bed- 3 bed etc.
Dropdown Box - to rent - to buy etc.
Dropdown Box - Area - Avon - Hampshire - Bedfordshire etc.
Dropdown Box - Price From - £100,000 - £200,000 etc.
Dropdown Box - Max Price - £200,000 - £300,000 etc.

I think you get the point with what I am asking. I need to limit what my visitors search for in order to make the advanced search work all of the fields or just some of them together within the search page.

I also need to transfer this to a box that will sit at the top of the main page so that my visitors do not need to click any more than they have to in order to use the main function of my site. I will also need this to display on all other pages with exception of the product page which will become just a listing page.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kuroi]

I think you're talking about something like this. This is done by adding fields to the database's products table and submitting them as part of the form that goes to the advanced search page whose database query needs to be upgraded to handle them (on this site it was taken further and a new product type was built - you can see this if you click on one of the plans products and look at the URL - it clearly has a custom product info page).

There would also be work needed in the admin to allow manage which options are valid and to attach them to products.

[SteveCollins]

Wow!! that was quick Kuroi!! thanks for the speedy response I wasn't expecting it at this time of night.

Is there any easy way around this problem? I am not oo good with adding tables and queries.

Is it a big job and very indepth?

Do you think i would be better off getting someone to do this for me?

[kuroi]

It's not a huge job, but by the time you have allowed for all the data maintenance work in the admin, it could easily take 2-3 days of a professional's time.

You would need a solid, though not advanced, understanding of SQL databases to do this yourself, as you would need to extend or adapt the existing search query.

[SteveCollins]

Is there an explanation of what to do that you can give or is it too much to do?

[kuroi]

There's not a single solution to this. How you do it would depend on precisely what you wanted to do, and how "correct" you wanted to be about doing it.

The biggest questions would be whether to create a new product type or use the general product, and whether to use an extension table for the new data, or just add the extra fields to the products table.

Answers to these questions would then shape the way in which the development would be done. But I would say that this most likely fits into the "if you have to ask how, you probably need professional assistance" category of changes.

[SteveCollins]

Can I pm you about your services please?